Kirkuk in limbo as law addressing political balance is scrapped

Photo: Bahar Jassim/Metrography

Kirkuk is home to Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen

KIRKUK, 14 October 2013 (IRIN) – The scrapping of part of a law encouraging political balance in Iraq’s most ethnically divided province has added to growing pessimism among residents of Kirkuk about the resolution of long-standing disputes over power-sharing.

The province is home to Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and other ethnic groups, but many argue their representation on the governing Provincial Council does not accurately reflect their percentage of the population. Provincial elections – seen by many as the solution to the perceived power imbalance – have not been held since 2005.

In late August, the federal court of Iraq struck down two paragraphs of Article 23 of the Provincial Election Law, which aimed at consensus among Kirkuk’s ethno-religious groups on when and how to hold the province’s much-needed and long-delayed elections.

The court argued that a multi-ethnic committee established by the article was not an effective way to draft an election law. Instead, the legal committee inside Iraq’s Council of Representatives, the national legislative chamber, has just completed drafting a new special election law for Kirkuk, which now awaits first reading. The committee has three representatives from Kirkuk, one from each of the main ethnic groups.

“We believe the federal court did a good job when it cancelled the paragraphs in Article 23 because it was based on having consensus – and this seems to be impossible in Kirkuk,” said Awat Mohammed Amin, a Kurdish member of Kirkuk’s Provincial Council. “We shouldn’t expect all parties should agree 100 percent. Instead we should work on the basis of majority agreements.”

But the move has been met with despair by Arabs and Turkmen, who argue the law tried to ensure they were properly represented. Without it, they feel decision-making may be taken out of their hands and that any future election might not be fair.

Kirkuk’s population is around 40 percent Arab, 40 percent Kurdish, 19 percent Turkmen and 1 percent Christian, according to an unofficial count of the civil registration, figures from the Ministry of Trade (which distributes food ration stamps to Iraqi families) and the voter register. No official census has been taken.

“Article 23 was a symbol of the consensus of Kirkuk,” said Hasan Toran, leader of the Provincial Council and a member of its Iraqi Turkmen group. All parties agreed to the law when it was put into place in 2008, he said, but not everyone was consulted before it was cancelled.

Decades of disagreement

Kirkuk’s residents have been subjected to political manoeuvring for decades, first under the policies of former president Saddam Hussein, who forcibly removed Kurdish families and brought Arab families to the oil-rich province from the south and centre of Iraq, in an attempt to change its demographics. Now, the territorial dispute remains between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shia-led government in Baghdad and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the north, both of which are jockeying for power over Kirkuk and other territories along the unofficial dividing line.

Under Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, introduced in 2005, Hussein’s “Arabization” policy was reversed. Arab families were given money to relocate and Kurdish families encouraged to move back. But a referendum due in 2007 on who would take power – Baghdad or Erbil – never took place, leaving Kirkukis in limbo.

“From the perspective of the Iraqi Arabs and Iraqi Turkmen, Article 23 was the countervailing force against Article 140,” said Ahmed Ali, a research analyst at the Institute for the Study of War. “The recent changes to it will make them feel that decisions pertinent to the province are subject to politics rather than an attempt to find a solution.”

The Provincial Council has 26 members representing the Kurdish alliance, nine members representing the Turkmen group; and six members representing the Arab group.

“For Turkmen, Article [23] was imposing some balance to Kirkuk Governorate. It emphasized the participation of all ethnic groups,” said Raad Rushdi Agah, a Turkmen member of the Provincial Council. “After the cancellation, the [Kurdish] majority in the council can get all the key positions, according to voting in the council.”

Photo: IRIN

Old Turkmen market in Kirkuk

The Kurds argue the lack of Arab representation on the council is due to an Arab boycott of the 2005 provincial election.

Article 23 provided for power sharing by aiming to divide the administrative and security powers and public posts equally among the three ethnic groups. It also tried to set out a roadmap for elections in Kirkuk, via the establishment of a multi-ethnic committee required to reach a consensus on the terms for a provincial election, but no agreement was reached.

After the annulment of these provisions, some groups in Kirkuk now feel they are even further from a resolution over the province’s power-sharing problems.

Exploiting differences

Analysts say this political infighting has weakened and destabilized the province, opening the door to increased violence by militant groups operating across the country, largely along Sunni-Shia dividing lines.

“Both [al-Qaeda and Jaysh Rijal al-Tariqa al-Naqshbandia (JRTN)] exploit the ethno-sectarian tensions in the province and the fluctuating Iraqi Arab-Iraqi Kurdish dynamic,” said ISW’s Ali.

Local interethnic tensions add to the instability in Kirkuk.

“After a political development, we find violence in Kirkuk,” said a senior political analyst in the city. “Most of the violations are politically motivated.”

As such, a resolution to the problems of local representation could go some way to reducing attacks in the city, residents and experts said. Arabs and Turkmen argue that better representation within the Kurdish-led security forces would help curb the violence.

But an agreement on local power-sharing will likely have little impact on the wider territorial dispute between Maliki’s government and the Kurds, the senior political analyst in the city said.

Earlier this year, Maliki’s forces engaged in a stand-off with Kurdish security forces over control of territory in the oil-rich province. They avoided outright conflict, but the incident raised fears that the Baghdad-KRG split could turn violent.

Interethnic social ties

While Kirkuk Province is divided into Kurdish, Turkmen and Arab areas, Kirkuk City is a microcosm of all the ethno-sectarian groups. Osama Falah and his friends – a group of twenty-somethings interested in socializing, smoking sheesha and drinking tea in the city’s cafés – are a perfect example.

Falah is an Arab from Baghdad, who came to Kirkuk in 2005 after his cousins were kidnapped by militia in the capital. But his friends cross Kirkuk’s ethnic divides and “this is normal for me,” he said.

Kirkuk’s residents intermingle, intermarry, and speak a variety of tongues. In one Turkmen/Arab household in the guarded neighbourhood of Arafa, Kurdish and Assyrian Christian friends come and go. Rice with currants steams on the stove as family members translate for one another: four languages can be heard between generations.

Yet however strong interethnic ties may be socially, the ethnic balance is still fragile, even for people like Falah.

“It will be wonderful to have an election in Kirkuk because we need a change in the governorate. It is not important who I will elect, but it is important that they will love Iraq.”

“They are not looking out for us in the Kirkuk government; they protect just the Kurdish people,” he said.

Politicians divided along ethnic lines continue to blame each other for the province’s problems, as bombings by al-Qaeda and other militant groups continue with worrying regularity, and residents feel unsafe.

In 2005, Wael Yousif, a general with the Kirkuk police force, was assassinated outside his home after receiving threats because he worked for the police and was a Christian.

His family’s home is now securely guarded by high walls. The living room is full of emblems of church and family life – carvings of Jesus and angels, pictures of Yousif and his daughters. Over slices of cake, his wife Maha describes years of living in fear. She dreams of living in a safe place. His daughter, Rita Wael, thinks elections could be part of the solution, if all groups work together.

“It will be wonderful to have an election in Kirkuk because we need a change in the governorate; we hope that the [politicians] will work for Kirkuk and not for personal goals.” If an election happens, she adds, “it is not important who I will elect, but it is important that they will love Iraq”.

co/ha/rz

http://www.irinnews.org/report/98942/kirkuk-in-limbo-as-law-addressing-political-balance-is-scrapped

Article 140 Returns to the Iraqi Political Agenda

Posted by Reidar Visser on Wednesday, 30 June 2010 1:34
http://gulfanalysis.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/article-140-returns-to-the-iraqi-political-agenda/


Amid an increasing number of meetings between State of Law and Iraqiyya, it is interesting that there is increasing debate about the stance of the two sides on an issue that could potentially unite them: Article 140 of the constitution relating to so-called “disputed territories”, including most importantly Kirkuk.

Some of this discussion has reflected continued disappointment among Iraqi nationalists about what was perceived as a “soft” (i.e. pro-Kurdish) stance by the State of Law alliance (SLA) headed by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki during the debate on the election law last autumn, when their failure to argue for more robust measures against perceived Kurdish heavy-handedness in controlling the elections in Kirkuk was seen as a reversion to the “old politics” of 2005-2007 with Shiites and Kurds united in an ethno-sectarian alliance against Sunnis. However, there are now also growing signs of another – and opposite – trend within State of Law: Attempts to reassure voters that there will be no “sell-out” as far as Kirkuk is concerned, which is pretty much what many Iraqiyya politicians also demand.

One example of this is Sadiq al-Kaabi of State of Law, who recently told reporters that SLA would rather be in the opposition than do a bargain on 140. Kaabi, who currently has a leading position at the new Najaf airport, has an interesting background: Like many in Daawa, he spent long years in exile, but instead of staying in Iran, he completed his education in Cairo and Beirut, thus clearly preferring the environment of the Arab world. In the 1990s he lived in Syria (also like Nuri al-Maliki).

There is nothing new in this. After all, divisions within the old all-Shiite alliance precisely on issues like 140 and Kirkuk were instrumental in bringing about its demise, with Fadila and Sadrists joining Iraqiyya and Hiwar in the 22 July front, and with Maliki adopting many items on the 22 July agenda when he eventually chose to challenge the more pro-Kurdish ISCI in the January 2009 local elections. But it is interesting that these issues should come to the forefront again at this particular time, after de-Baathification had threatened to kill any prospects of the kind of inter-sectarian alliances based on Iraqi nationalism that were seen in 2008 and 2009.

Kerkuk problem and the Article 140: Defining Alternatives

SOITM PRESENTATION AT THE CONFERENCE
‘Kerkuk problem and the Article 140:
Defining Alternatives
The views of Kerkuk’s Turkmens and Arabs”
At the European Parliament in Brussels

23rd June 2008.

Kerkuk

Today, we are going to discuss the Kerkuk issue, which is considered as one of the major and long standing problems of Iraq. It is now about to worsen the already deteriorated condition of Iraq.

Kerkuk region is famous for its huge oil reserves,1 natural gas and sulfur, the shallowest oil wells, the best oil qualities, and the vast fertile lands. In Kerkuk there are grounds which burn with scratch.

Kerkuk city is the city of the eternal fire burning day and night; it streams continually as if from a spring, illuminating the skies of Kerkuk for millennia. Kerkuk is also the city of Prophet Daniel.

Kerkuk is one of the richest cities in the world, it is constantly ignored. Kerkuk has an excellent river bed but without water, the infrastructure remained ill-developed as the municipality services have never been improved. The healthcare was by no means developed. It is a city with a very poor urbanization. Additionally, Kerkuk has been regularly exposed to the demographical changes and its original inhabitants suffered continuously.

Kerkuk problem is the main factor which displaced forcedly or willingly hundreds of thousands of Iraqis from the south to the north, the same factor exposed the original Kerkuk communities to the deportation and systematical assimilation. After the occupation another phase started which saw the great wave of the northerners being brought into Kerkuk and the Kerkuk communities’ exposed to marginalization.

In all these events, the non democratic racist mentalities played a major role. Additionally, the unwise policies of the occupier amplified the extremism and further complicated Kerkuk problem. It is the time for us as the Iraqis to adopt the principles of democracy and work to spread the culture of human rights.

Western Literature

And Kerkuk city

Whereas the unopposed Ba’ath regime worked to own Kerkuk region before occupation, the Kurdish authorities who has already gained the compassion and the huge political support of the west started to control the city and claim the ownership of the region.

No doubt that the impressing of the Kurdish nature over the Kerkuk region in the western literature can be considered one of the significant factors which play today an important role in complicating the Kerkuk problem. A large numbers of western publications, even some academic sources, of the later half century had almost imposed the Kurdish nature over the Kerkuk region and even over the city of Kerkuk.

· Willium Safire, an author, columnist, and former USA presidential speechwriter considered Kerkuk the Kurd’s ancestral home.2
· Paul McEnroe, an award-winning investigative reporter made Kerkuk city the Jerusalem of the Kurds and claimed that the city is populated mostly by the Kurds.3
· Luke Harding a Guardian correspondent considered Kerkuk a predominantly Kurdish city.4
· Maggy Zanger, teaches journalism and was the director of the Institute for War and Peace in Iraq said that Kerkuk city has been with Kurdish majority for hundreds of years.5
· Carole O'Leary is a Research Professor in the Center for Global Peace considered Kerkuk as historically Kurdish city and predominately Kurdish.6
· The Middle East specialist Robert Soeterik described Kerkuk as historical Kurdish region.7

In fact, Kerkuk city has never been with a Kurdish majority and no even a single expert source describes the city as the Kurdish city. Kerkuk city has always been described by the specialists on the north of Iraq with a Turkmen majority until 1970s.8-28 Thereafter, the Arabification processes increased the Arabs and, later on, the Kurdification processes increased the number of the Kurds in the city.

I would present another two interesting cases which demonstrate how the realities of Kerkuk region are distorted in the western literature in favor of the Kurds:

In a long article entitled “Kurdish Ambition” for Mr. Lolke van der Heide, published in NRC newspaper at 25 January 2007. He says: “Kurdistan smells oil… The largest obstacle in the region is the position of Kerkuk. This original Kurdish city remained in the 1970s out of the Autonomous Kurdistan”29

I called him and asked him: how he knows that Kerkuk is a historical Kurdish city, and if there was an autonomous Kurdistan before 1970s? He simply said to me that he is not a specialist in the region.

In his study entitled “The Shabak and the Kakais: Dynamics of Ethnicity in Iraqi Kurdistan” Dr. Leezenberg commits a serious mistake in favor of the Kurds. He says:30
“In the 1970s, Turkmen nationalists wanted to present the Kikais as a Turkmen subgroup: thus, the Kakai poet Hijri Dede, who had written works in Persian, Kurdish and Gorani (but not in Turkish) was made a member of the Turkmen Writer's Union in Baghdad”.

Please note, he says, in 1970s Dede was appointed by Turkmen, while Dede died on 11 December 1952. He also says that Dede did not write in Turkish, Dede wrote mainly in Turkmen and has only a few poems in Kurdish.31

By hundreds of such publications, the western community had been taught a large number of misleading information about the region’s history, geography and even about the Kurdish sufferings. The several hundreds Halapja victims made several thousands and the number of the victims of Anfal atrocity operations of 1988 increased more than 10 folds in the western literature.

And Kerkuk province

Relating to the population nature of Kerkuk province as a whole, until the end of the 19th century, there is almost no a source which describes Kerkuk province of 1976 as a Kurdish inhabited region other than the district of Chamchamal. Despite that the Kurdish movement toward the west into Iraq continued along the 19th century, the Kerkuk region remained with the Turkmen majority. This can be easily learned from the narratives of tens of the western travelers passed through the Kerkuk region.32-79

Unfortunately the early history of the modern Iraq was written by the political officers of the English mandates: Longrigg, Edmonds, Lyon, Hay, Soane and others. They were all politically minded and most of them were well known supporters of the Kurdish interests.

Professor Fieldhouse, from Jesus college of Cambridge describes the English political officer Lyon as a devoted supporter of the interests of the Kurds.80 Lyon himself considers Edmonds as a supporter of the Kurdish interests.81

The Kurdish issues were disproportionally and intensively treated in the works of these authors imposing directly or indirectly the Kurdish nature on the north of Iraq and on Kerkuk region. This had been synchronized by the marginalization of Turkmen in Iraq due to the different geopolitical factors, of which the main was the Mosul problem.

With the intensification of the Kurdish settlement in Kerkuk region along the 20th century, the Kerkuk province started to be described as with a Kurdish majority mainly by Edmonds. He can be considered the first author who greatly exaggerated the size of the Kurdish population in the province of Kerkuk as a whole.

In his estimation of the Kurdish population size in Kerkuk province in 1947, Edmonds unusually increases the percentages of the Kurds to 53%.82 Edmonds wrongly considers the language of many Bayat regions Arabic and regards the Amirli regions as a Kurdified region.83 Figures of the Iraqi census of 1957 falsify Edmonds and put the percentage of the Kurds in Kerkuk province to 48%. If we consider the continuous Kurdish immigration into Kerkuk between 1947 and 1957, then the figure of Edmonds should be further decreased. Unfortunately, the majority of the writers in Kurdish issues repeats the figures of Edmonds and considers Kerkuk with such high Kurdish majority, as an example David McDowall in his very well known and widely distributed book “A Modern History of the Kurds” describes Kerkuk with 53% Kurds.84

Furthermore, in the census of 1957; the total population number of the Turkmens in Iraq was put into only 136.200, which makes 2% of the general population. Certainly, there are no experts in the history of Iraq who agree today with this percentage of Turkmen population size.

Moreover, in contrary to the statistics of the census of 1957, the experts on the Iraq, McDowall and Batatu, considered the Turkmen population size in Kerkuk city just above half. As a result the error in the figures of the census of 1957 is about 13%.

Additionally, the figures of the Total population number of the Iraqi Turkmens were corrected to 567,000 in the statistics of the year 1958. This puts the percentage of the Iraqi Turkmens to 9%. This information was approved by the report number 735 of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, which states: 85, 86

“No reliable contemporary data are available on the size of Turkmen population. The 1957 Iraqi census – the last in which the Turkmens were permitted to register – counted 567,000 Turkmens (9% of the population) among Iraq’s population of 6,300,000. The census also counted 819,000 Kurds (13% of the population).

This means that the Turkmen population size was about 5 folds underestimated. Despite this miscalculation, the Turkmens were the majority in Kerkuk according to the census of 1957.
(Table 1)

As a result:
· The statistics of the census of 1957 related to Kerkuk province should be considered unreliable, which should not be used for the determination of the fate of such an important city with different ethnic communities.
· And the widely spread data that the Kurds are the majority in Kerkuk province as a whole should also be questioned.

Please click on the link below to read the presentation:

http://www.turkmen.nl/1A_soitm/15-F2108.doc

Dr Hassan Aydinli, ITF Europe Representative's intervention at Kerkuk Conference at EU Parliament on 23 June 2008

Dr Hassan Aydinli, ITF Europe Representative’s interventions at

Conference: “Kerkuk Problem and Article 140: Dealing with Alternatives”

The views of Kerkuk’s Turkmen and Arabs

at the EU Parliament in Brussels on 23rd June 2008.

What follows is a résumé of Dr. Hassan Aydinli’s interventions.

First intervention:

At one point during the conference a Kurdish ‘agent provocateur’ (who had previously been taking individual photographs of all the people who attended the conference) and who presented himself as a ‘Middle East Journalist’, abruptly and vehemently interfered saying that the conference was pure propaganda, that Kurds had not been invited as speakers and adding that he defied anyone to give instances where Kurds had killed Assyrians or Turkmens.

Dr. Hassan Aydinli immediately disputed his allegations by showing the attendees a list of names and photographs of Turkmens who have been massacred by Kurds in 1959.

Ms. Ana Gomes, MEP, answered the Kurd’s false claims that no Kurds had been invited as speakers at the Conference, saying that she had sent out invitations but that no Kurdish representative had shown their willingness or accepted to attend.

On hearing this, the Kurdish agent provocateur left the conference.

Second intervention:

Later during the conference Dr. Hassan Aydinli took the floor to react to MEP, Ms. Ana Gomes’ speech, during which she said that the ‘pragmatist Kurds had recently declared in Dubai that they were willing to compromise and to share power in Kerkuk’ .

Dr. Aydinli said that when KRG Prime Minister, Mr. Nechirvan Barzani, made this statement he was addressing Arab media in Dubai, and that what he had declared is quote “that Kurds were willing to share power with Arabs in Kerkuk” unquote, he deliberately omitted to mention the Turkmens who are the original inhabitants of Kerkuk, the main components of the city and the first to be concerned by the issue of Kerkuk and the future of this city. Dr Aydinli added that the Turkmens who represent 12% of the Iraqi population are Iraq’s third main community, and the second main community in the north of Iraq where they represent over 30% of the population.

He further said that Kurds tend to consider the entire north of Iraq as ‘Kurdistan’ and that they want to divide Iraq in two regions: Kurds and Arabs, thereby denying the right of the Turkmens to be recognized as the third main community in Iraq by considering them as a ‘minority’.

Dr Aydinli pointed out that in the draft of the “Kurdish Region Constitution” Kurds have included Turkmen cities and towns in the Kurdish region and they consider Turkmens, Arabs and Keldo-Assyrians as ‘minorities’ living in ‘Kurdistan’. Furthermore, these so-called ‘minorities’ have no right to have their own region or autonomy within Kurdistan (Articles 2, 3 and 6).

Dr Aydinli said that Turkmens are a stabilizing factor for the unity of Iraq and that the denial to recognize the Turkmens’ rights would be a destabilizing factor.

Referring to democracy and fairness he gave the example of the Federal system in Belgium where there are three communities: the Flemish, the Walloons and the German-speaking Belgians, emphasizing that the latter who are the smallest group, with their 72.000 people, have their own region and government in Belgium’s federal system, although they represent less than 1% of the Belgian population, while the 3 million Turkmens in Iraq are being denied the right to have their rights and their own region.


Dr. Aydinli continued on the subject of the marginalization of the Turkmens in today’s Iraq despite the false claims of democracy, by giving the example of the German speaking Belgians, who with their 72.000 people, represent Belgium’s third community. He said that this small group of German speaking Belgians had exactly the same rights as the two main communities in Belgium, the Flemish and the Walloons. Adding that unfortunately Iraq’s 3 million Turkmens are still suffering from discrimination and marginalisation in today’s Iraq.

He further complained about the process of normalization and about the Iraqi Property Claims Commission (IPCC) which to-date has not done anything to compensate the Turkmens for the loss of their properties and lands under the former regime, he said that from the 35.000 claims which have been handed to the commission in Kerkuk four years ago, the Commission has dealt with less than 5.000 claims, all belonging to Kurds, while the remaining 30.000+ claims, ALL belonging to Turkmens, are still pending




Notes taken by Merry Fitzgerald
Assistant of ITF Europe Representative

Iraqi Turkmen Front Europe Representative's comments and recommendations to Representatives from the EU Parliament and the EU Commission

Iraqi Turkmen Front Europe Representative’s comments and recommendations to Representatives from the EU Parliament and the EU Commission

at the Heinrich Böll Foundation

On Thursday 26th June 2008 at Regus House - Brussels.

Iraqi Turkmen Front Europe Representative, Dr Hassan Aydinli

and Mrs. Merry Fitzgerald of the Committee for the Defence of the Iraqi Turkmens' Rights were invited at the Heinrich Böll Lecture.

Is the security situation in Iraq improving?

According to US General David H Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq who has been nominated to head American forces in the Middle East, the security situation in Iraq has improved significantly since September 2007, even though the progress that has been made since spring is "fragile and reversible". In other words, the surge is showing effect. French Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner during his visit to Baghdad on 1 June expressed the feeling "that things are better as statistics show a drop in security incidents". Is this assessment shared by the EU institutions? How should the EU's involvement in Iraq develop and what can we expect from the French presidency? Finally, what will change under the new US administration (McCain or Obama) and (how) are the US presidential election already influencing the US policy in Iraq?

Speakers:

Ilana Bet-El, academic, author and policy adviser, Brussels

Karin Gatt-Rutter, European Commission, DG External Relations, Unit F2, Iraq Desk

Ivana Vuco, independent consultant, formerly deputy head of human rights office with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)

William H. Wiley, Director (Rule of Law) Tsamota Ltd; International Law Advisor, Iraqi High Tribunal (2006-2008)

Moderator:

Claude Weinber, Director EU Regional Office Heinrich Böll Foundation Brussels.

***
25 People had been invited to this lecture, among whom:

Mr. Nickolay MLADENOV, Member of the European Parliament, Vice-Chairman of Inter-Parliamentary delegation for Relations with Iraq

Ms. Sabine MEYER, Adviser on International Relations, Security and Coordination of urgent resolutions at the European Parliament

Mr. Alexander BLYTH, Chief of Staff, Eujust Lex

Ms. Alina CHRISTOVA, Political Adviser at the European Parliament

Several senior advisers at the European Parliament, representatives of European Institutions and a representative of the U.S.



Organizer:

Ms. Marianne EBERTOWSKI, Director Foreign and Security Policy Heinrich Böll Foundation.

Iraqi Turkmen Front Europe Representative's comments and recommendations

Dr. Hassan Aydinli, ITF Europe Representative, took part in the discussions and made a general assessment of the situation in Iraq since the invasion of the country in March 2003, he condemned the aggression on the Iraqi people by the Anglo-American forces which has caused the deaths of over one million two hundred thousand Iraqis, has made more than one million widows and four million orphans, has caused the displacement of over 4.5 million Iraqis inside and outside Iraq, and has destroyed the entire infrastructure of the country as well as the social fabric of the Iraqi society.

Dr. Aydinli contested the propaganda of the American and British occupiers who claim that by changing the regime in 2003 they brought democracy in Iraq; he added that democracy cannot be imported and that the Occupation is illegal and a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.

He said that the January 2005 and December 2005 elections were rigged and were anything except ‘democratic’ adding that the people in the government are mostly inefficient and corrupt and are not working in the interest of the Iraqi people, that they do not represent the Iraqi people and that if true democratic elections were held the majority of the Iraqi people would not vote for them.

Concerning the Constitution Dr. Aydinli said that it is totally unfair as it classifies the Iraqi people in two categories: the Arabs and Kurds as first class citizens and the rest of the Iraqi population, namely, Turkmens, Keldo-Assyrians and others, as ‘minorities’ and hence as second class citizens. Furthermore he deplored the inclusion of some unusual terms such as ‘contested territories’ in the ‘new’ Iraqi Constitution, as within the boundaries of a sovereign country there are no such things as ‘contested territories’.

He also deplored the inclusion of some disputed articles in the Constitution, such as article 140 which was supposed to deal with the so-called ‘contested territories including Kerkuk’ through a three phase process: normalization, census and a referendum which was supposed to be held before 31st December 2007.

He said that the terms ‘contested territories’ and article 140, which was supposed to deal with these ‘contested territories’, have been written and included in the Iraqi Constitution under pressure from the Kurdish parties who took advantage of the chaos caused by the invasion and occupation of Iraq to maximize their gains. The Kurds’ objective is to annex these so-called ‘contested territories’ which consist mainly of Turkmen districts, cities and towns, i.e. Turkmeneli, which is the region inhabited by Turkmens, as well as the plains of Ninewah which is the region inhabited by Keldo-Assyrians and some Arab districts in the north of Iraq to the Kurdish autonomous region.

Kurds pretend that the entire north of Iraq is ‘Kurdistan’ therefore, they want to annex the territories of Turkmens, Arabs and Keldo-Assyrians to their Kurdish autonomous region, including the cities of Kerkuk and Mosul which have never been Kurdish, and this after having been given the Turkmen city of Erbil (a historical Turkmen city since 1.200 years) by the Ba’ath regime in 1970, against the will of the Turkmen inhabitants of the city.

The Kurds’ ambition and illegitimate demands to incorporate the ‘contested territories’ to their autonomous region have turned the entire north of Iraq and especially the oil rich city of Kerkuk into a powder keg.

Moreover, Dr. Aydinli pointed out that the new Iraqi Constitution as it is written is undemocratic seeing that it gives the Kurdish minority the right to veto any modification of the Constitution even if the modification is demanded by the majority of the Iraqis !

Dr. Aydinli said that one must stop referring to the Iraqi people as: “Kurds, Sunni and Shi’a” because this classification is an invention of the neo-cons to divide the Iraqi people along ethnic and sectarian lines, he said that this classification has no legitimacy and is irrational as it mixes ethnicity (Kurds) with religion (Sunni, Shi’a) and deliberately omits to name the Arabs, the Turkmens, the Keldo-Assyrians, and other ethnic groups which together represent at least 84% of the Iraqi people.

The Turkmens with their 3 million people, representing 12% of the Iraqi population, are the third main ethnic group composing the Iraqi people, they represent 30% of the population in the north of Iraq where they constitute the second most important ethnic group after the Kurds, however, despite these facts, the Turkmens are unjustly referred to as a “minority” in the Iraqi Constitution. Furthermore, Turkmens are also unjustly considered as a “minority” in the “draft Constitution” of the Kurdish region.

Dr. Aydinli also complained about the process of normalization and about the Iraqi Property Claims Commission (IPCC) which to-date has not done anything to compensate the Turkmens for the loss of their properties and lands under the former regime, he said that from the 35.000 claims which have been handed to the Commission in Kerkuk four years ago, the Commission has dealt with less than 5.000 claims, all belonging to Kurds, while the remaining 30.000+ claims, ALL belonging to Turkmens, are still ‘pending’.

Dr. Aydinli urged the Europeans to get more involved in Iraq; he said that all countries which had not participated in the aggression would be welcomed by the Iraqi people.

He asked the EU representatives to put pressure on the Iraqi government and especially on the Kurdish parties asking them to stop their policy of marginalization and discrimination against the Turkmens, and asking them to proceed with the revision of the Iraqi Constitution without delay in order to eliminate discriminatory articles and terms, so that it can be accepted by ALL Iraqis, including the Turkmens and Keldo-Assyrians.

Dr. Aydinli further stated that the majority of the Iraqi people want the withdrawal of all foreign occupation troops as their presence is the source of all the problems in Iraq.

He insisted on the necessity to send EU observers for the coming elections in Iraq, especially in the north of the country, to prevent the frauds and cheatings in favour of the Kurds which characterised the last two general elections.

He asked the EU representatives to put pressure on the Iraqi government to improve the human rights in Iraq, saying it is urgent to improve the living conditions of Iraqis who have suffered too much and too long from lack of security, lack of basic services such as potable water, electricity, lack of jobs, healthcare and education.

Finally, Dr. Aydinli insisted that special attention should be given to Iraq’s Turkmens and Keldo-Assyrians who are very vulnerable and are suffering under Kurdish hegemony in the north of Iraq.

KERKUK CONFERENCE AT THE EU PARLIAMENT

POINTS OF VIEW OF THE PARTICIPANTS AT THE KERKUK CONFERENCE AT THE EU PARLIAMENT IN BRUSSELS ON 23rd JUNE 2008

اراء المشاركين في مؤتمر كركوك في العاصمة البلجيكية بروكسل

Please click on the link below:

http://www.turkmentimes.net/Default/wesima_articles/reports-20080622-13806.html

Iraqi Turkmen Conference at the EU Parliament in Brussels: "Kerkuk Problem and Article 140: Defining Alternatives"

“Kerkuk Problem and Article 140: Defining Alternatives"

The views of Kerkuk’s Turkmen and Arabs

Organizers: Organized by the Iraqi Turkmen Human Rights Research Foundation (SOITM) in partnership with Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) with the assistance of the office of Ms. Ana Maria Gomes, Member of the European Parliament

Location: European Parliament, Brussels, ASP 5G2

Date: 23 June 2008, 01:00pm – 04:30pm

Topics: Kerkuk is a city rich in both oil and history. Home to Turkmens, Kurds, Arabs, Chaldeo-Assyrians, and other indigenous communities, Kurdish claim of the city is at present subject to both conflict and controversy. The Turkmen and Arab leaders, citing their historic presence in the city, have expressed opposition in particular to its proposed inclusion in the nearby Kurdish region.

Selecting from article 58 of the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) for Iraq, article 140 of the Iraqi constitution was extracted to mandate a resolution of this dispute through a process of normalization and a census, followed by a referendum to be held no later than 31 December 2007. This mechanism had however proved largely ineffectual and was not realized. The referendum appears as a consequence potentially set to deliver yet further instability and volatility.

The shortcomings of the process so far stem in part from a failure to define adequately a number of the key provisions outlined in article 140; the link between the components of normalization, census, and referendum; eligibility to vote; the threshold needed for a decision; and the boundaries of voting districts. Most crucially however, there has been little discussion of what options are to be presented to voters in an eventual referendum. This, in particular, has resulted in discussions reducing to a simple dispute between those who would see Kerkuk included in the Kurdish region and those who oppose this.

There has consequently been little room for constructive compromise. Acknowledging that the prevailing status-quo serves none of its citizens, Iraqi Turkmen participants opposed to the city’s inclusion in the Kurdistan region will be invited to present a proposal by which Kerkuk might be administered as a distinct Governorate or federal region within Iraq.

This is already the solution preferred for Baghdad, as well as many other disputed cities around the world.Iraqi Turkmens have remained marginalized during the process of reconstructing the Iraqi state after 2003, arguing that relatively little has been achieved with respect to correcting the past injustices they have suffered.

The recent waves of disproportionate Kurdish immigration into Kerkuk raises suspicions of the role this might play in the imminent referendum on the city’s future status. The conference would aim therefore to begin a process of rephrasing the discussion of Kerkuk’s future status in more constructive terms, principally by offering an alternative picture of its final status.

This conference aims to convene representatives of Iraq’s new institutions with European policy makers with an interest and opportunity to influence the reconstruction of the Iraqi state. The concerns of the Kerkuk’s Turkmens and Arabs will be presented by some of their most prominent figures in an effort to ensure that the next crucial steps in the reconstruction process proceed in a manner consistent with the principles of democracy, human rights, and the genuine inclusion of all affected not-ruling communities (minorities) in the region. These are principles without which a stable Iraq will inevitably remain illusive.

Invited contributors:

Ana Maria Gomez, MEP, Parliament’s Rapporteur on Iraq

Ali M. Sadeq, member of Kerkuk City Council

Marino Busdachin, UNPO General Secretary

Mohammed Kh. Nasef, Member of Kerkuk City Council, member of article 140 committee Mohammed Mahdi Ameen, Member of the Iraqi Parliament

Muzaffer Arslan, Advisor on Turkmen Affairs to the President of Iraq H.E. Jalal Talabani

Rakan S. Ali, member of Kerkuk City Council

Sheth Jerjis, SOITM Chairman

Tahsin Mohammed Ali Wali, Member of Kerkuk City Council, member of article 140 committee

Yako Michael Jajjo, Foundation Assyria

Kürtler Brüksel konferansından rahatsız

Dilşat Terzi-Erbil İçinde bulunduğumuz ayın 23'ünde Belçika'nın başkenti Brüksel'de yapılması planlanan Kerkük konferansı Kürtleri rahatsız etti. Bu konuda Erbil'de Kürtçe yayınlanan ve Barzani taraftarı Hewler Gazetesi'ne konuşan Kerkük il meclisi Kürt üyelerinden Awat Ahmed, konferanstaki geniş katılımın kendilerini rahatsız ettiğini ifade etti.

Ahmed " Kürtler Kerkük'te iktidarı ellerinde bulundurdukları için konferansa çağırılmadı"diye konuştu. Gazetenin verdiği bilgiye göre Temsil Edilmeyen Toplumlar Organizasyonu tarafından düzenlenen konferansa Irak'tan 70 kişi ve 45 yabancı katılacak. Kerkük il meclisinin Kürt başkanı Rizgar Ali ise gazeteye verdiği demeçte, Kerkük'ün içişlerine müdahale etmemek şartıyla tüm grupların konferans düzenlemekte serbest olduğunu söyledi.

Ali, Temsil Edilmeyen Toplumlar Organizasyonu'nu eleştirerek organizasyonun Kürtleri konferansa davet etmemesinin hayret verici olduğunu iddi ederek şöyle konuştu : " Organizasyonun devletlere sahip olmalarına rağmen Türkmen ve Arapları çağırırken, devleti olmayan Kürtleri çağırmaması hayret vericidir".

Kerkük il meclisinin Türkmen üyesi Ali Mehdi, aynı Kürt gazetesine verdiği mülakatta konferansa Irak Başbakanı Nuri Maliki'nin yanı sıra Kerkük İl meclisinden 2 Türkmen üyenin katılımıyla başlayacağını iddia etti. Ali Mehdi, konferansın Kerkük'te iktidar paylaşımının tüm gruplar arasında adil biçimde sağlanmasını hedeflediğini belirtti.

140. Madde Anayasa Mahkemesine Gönderildi

Irak Parlamentosunda Anayasa kanunu düzeltmeleri komisyonu Başkanı Hemam Hammudi’nin açıklamasına göre: 140. Madde ile ilgili, Perlemnto Başkanlık Heyeti ile Siyasi Partiler Gurup Başkanları arasında anlaşma varıldı. Anlaşma gereği, yeniden gözden geçirilmek üzere Kerkük’ün normsallaştırılması ile ilgili 140. Madde Anayasa mahkemesine gönderildi.

Hammudi’nin Bağımsız Irak Haber Ajansı(Irak’ın Sesi)’ne verdiği demeçte “Anayasa komisyonu üyeleri bu sabah Perşembe günü Irak Parlamento Başkanı Mahmut Meşhedani ile bir araya geldi. Görüşmede Kerkük’ün normsallaştırılması ile ilgili 140. Madde’nin değiştirilmesi ve düzeltilmesi ile Irak Bayrağının değiştirilmesi konuları ele alındı. Bu maddelerinin yeniden gözden geçirilmesi ve düzeltilmesi için Anayasa mahkemesine gönderilmesi kararına varıldı. Ayrıca, Hammudi: Birleşik Mahkemenin (Anayasa uzmanları- Belir kişiler) vereceği rapor doğrultusunda Anayasa komisyonunda bu madde düzeltilecek.”

Öte yandan Abbas Bayatı de ( Irak’ın Sesi) ne bir açıklama yaptı:
“ Bugünkü toplantıda Irak’ın Kuzeyinde Şubat 2008’de yapılacak olan Arap Parlamenterler Kongresinden kullanılmak üzere geçici olarak Irak bayrağının değiştirmesi tamamladı. Bayatı ayrıca Bayrağın simgeleri ve figürleri özellikle de 3 yıldız (Vahde-Hürriye-İştirakiye) konusunda da açıklamasının değiştirilmesine uzlaşmaya varıldı. Ancak bu açıklama yani(Tefsir) ne olacağı henüz tespit edilmedi.”

Ayrıca, Meşhedani Kasır El- Mutemerat’ta 140. Madde ve Irak Bayrağının değiştirilmesi ile ilgili Anayasa Komisyonu üyeleri ile bir takım özel görüşmeler yaptı. Eyat El-Samarrai1, Kasım Davut2, bir araya gelerek konuları ele aldılar.

Kaynak: Arapça:
http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/article.tpl?IdLanguage=17&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=65593&NrIssue=1&NrSection=1
Bağdat; 10 Ocak 2008, Perşembe,
Tercüme: Şemsettin KÜZECİ

Turkmens of Iraq addressing Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the U.N.

Honorable Ban Ki Moon
Secretary General of the United Nations
New York – U.S.A

As the representatives of the Turkmen nation in Iraq, we regretfully condemn the irresponsible actions of your personal representative to Erbil, Iraq.

We were appalled that Mr. Stephan de Mistura who without paying any attention to the constitutional requirements in Iraq – and obviously by the demand of the Kurdish parties in northern Iraq – suggested to extend the time limit of article 140 of the Iraqi constitution for a further six months.

This article was a temporary article expiring on 31.12.2007 with no right to any body or entity to extend its duration because amendments to constitution requires prescribed conditions such as the acceptance of two third of the members of the parliament and a referendum in whole of Iraq.

We appeal to you to immediately stop these arbitrary actions and procedures. We know that the role of the United Nations is positive and objective and has never been biased and ill informed to the constitutional requirements of its member countries.

Cordially yours.

140. Madde Artık Yok

Ali Mehdi
Türkmeneli Partisi

Başkan Yardımcısı

27 Aralık 2007

Kerkük, Irak ve bölgeyi yaklaşık iki yıldan beri meşgul eden Irak Anayasasının 140. maddesinin geçerliliği nihayet 31 Aralık 2007 günü saat 24’te sona erecektir. Madde kendi kendini feshedecek, madde ile ilgili yürütülen bütün çalışmaların da geçerliliği sona erecektir ve yasal zemini ortadan kalkacak. Söz konusu madde ile ilgili sürdürülen faaliyetlerin durdurulması ve kurulan komisyonların feshi için bazı Türkmen ve Arap kuruluşları Irak Federal Yüksek Mahkemesine başvuracaklardır, çünkü anayasayı yorumlamaya tek yetkili organ yüksek mahkemedir. Söz konusu mahkemenin dokuz üyesinden üçü Şii, ikisi Sünni, ikisi Kürt, birisi Türkmen ve birisi de Hıristiyan’dır. Üyeler profesyonel hukukçulardır.

Yüksek mahkeme konuyu gündemine alırsa kuşkusuz ki sağlıklı bir karar verecektir, ancak Irak’taki gerçeklerden dolayı 140. madde gibi önemli bir konuyu gündemine alabilmesi için Amerikan engeline takılmaması gerekir.

Maddenin uzatılması veya ertelenmesi gibi hususlarda ne Birleşmiş Milletler, ne ABD, ne Irak hükümeti, ne de Irak parlamentosu yetkilidir, tek yetkili merci Irak halkının bu madde ile ilgili görüşünü yeniden ortaya koymasıdır. Ancak iki Kürt partisi konuyu Irak halkına bir kez daha götürmeye cesaret edemezler, zira halkın %80’den fazlasının görüşü Türkmen tezi olan Kerkük Federe Bölgesinin kurmasından yanadır.

Türkmenleri temsilen Anayasa hazırlama komisyonuna katılan Sn. Riyaz Sarıkahya’nın Anayasa taslağını imzalarken 140. madde ile ilgili çekince koyması haklılığımızı bir kez daha ortaya koymuştur. Çünkü bu maddeye iki Kürt partisinin dışında Irak’taki bütün partiler bugün karşı tavır takınmışlardır, dolayısıyla 140. maddenin ortadan kalkması ile birlikte Türkmen harekatının Irak Anayasası ile sıkı bir ilişki kurma zamanı gelmiştir. Bilindiği gibi Irak Anayasasında Türkmenlerin de yararlanacakları birçok husus mevcuttur, Irak devleti Irak’taki bütün toplumların malıdır, Anayasa da devletimizin tapusudur ve Ulusal mukavelesidir. Her Türkmen aydının, entelektüeli ve siyasetçisi söz konusu mukavele ve sosyal sözleşmeyi (Anayasayı) iyice inceleyip idrak etmesi gerekir, bunu yapmamak sorumsuzluktan da öteye bir durumdur.

Kerkük’te referandum tehlikesini ortadan kaldıran güç ve iradenin bugünden de sonra Irak halkının yanında olacağından kimsenin kuşkusu olmasın, Ankara’nın baştan beri izlediği doğru, haklı ve akılcı strateji meyvesini vermiştir ve barışa büyük katkısı olmuştur. Teşekkürler Ankara.
Artık Kerkük ve Kuzey Irak’ta yaşayan kardeş halklar arasında ilişkileri olumlu ve sağlıklı bir zemine oturtma zamanı gelmiştir, buna herkes yardımcı olmalı, başta Türkmenler olmak üzere, Kerkük’te herkesin çıkarı bundadır.