REPORT: THE TRAGEDY OF THE TURKMENS OF BEŞİR (BASHEER) IN KIRKUK PROVINCE - IRAQ

FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE HONOURABLE MEMBERS OF THE DELEGATION FOR RELATIONS WITH IRAQ IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT.

THE TRAGEDY  OF THE TURKMENS OF BEŞİR (BASHEER) IN KIRKUK PROVINCE - IRAQ

TWO GENOCIDES  HAVE BEEN COMMITTED AGAINST THEM IN THE PAST 28 YEARS 

            THE FIRST ONE IN APRIL 1986 AND THE SECOND ONE IN JUNE 2014.

By Dr. Hassan Aydinli,

Iraqi Turkmen Front EU Representative

Brussels, 25th March 2015.

 Notes:

1- Above is a map where the sub-district of BEŞIR (Basheer or Bashir in Arabic) is indicated.

2-The area in green on the map is where the Turkmens have settled in Iraq 1000 years ago.

BEŞIR (Basheer) is the name of a large Turkmen agricultural sub-district situated 25 km south west of Kirkuk whose name has become famous as a symbol of the Turkmens’ sufferings in Iraq after it was mentioned in the Preamble of the new Iraqi Constitution in 2005, along with the names of the Arab sub-district Al-Dujail and of the Kurdish sub-district Halabja, whose populations have suffered the most in Iraq under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.

Indeed, the ordeals of the Turkmens of BEŞIR (Basheer) under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein from 1980 up to 2003 have been acknowledged by the legislators and the authors of the new Iraqi constitution as ‘crimes of ethnic cleansing, racial oppression and massacres amounting to genocide, committed against the Turkmens of Basheer’.

 HISTORY:

The history of BEŞIR as a Turkmen agricultural settlement in the north of Iraq goes back to more than 1000 years and its first recorded history goes back to 1556, it is mentioned in the Ottoman registers (Dafter Tahrir of Kirkuk N° 111 of the year 1556 AC) dating back to the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and kept in the Turkish Archives in Ankara.

According to these registers there were 89 Turkmen families and 9 bachelors living in BEŞIR in 1556, all of them farmers who had been issued official deeds (certificates) registered in their names.

After WWI, when the new Iraqi state (the Kingdom of Iraq) was established the deeds and property certificates issued during the Ottoman era were renewed in 1936 and registered as deeds being issued by the Iraqi state.

The property ownership situation in Iraq remained unchanged until 14th July 1958 when the Monarchy was overthrown by a coup d’état and the Republic of Iraq was declared.

First genocide: Land confiscation, ethnic cleansing and racial discrimination

During the early years of the Republic the Iraqi Communist Party and their Kurdish leftist allies became predominant and they influenced the political and social orientation of the regime. The government issued many new laws, among them the ‘agrarian law’ which limited the land ownership to a maximum of 2.000 donums (500 hectares) per family.

Many hectares of land were taken from Turkmen families in BEŞIR to be distributed to landless Iraqis such as the Arab nomads and poor Kurds, to help them to settle around BEŞIR.

Furthermore in 1968, when the Baath party came to power in Iraq by a military coup, it embarked in a policy of arabization of the Turkmen region in Kirkuk Province, they issued new laws limiting the property ownership to 200 donums (50 hectares) per family (law number 117 of 1970) and more agricultural lands belonging to the Turkmen families living in BEŞIR and in the other Turkmen villages around Kirkuk were confiscated.

From 1970 to 1980 the Revolutionary Command Council of the Baath regime issued several decisions by which they confiscated lands belonging to Turkmens, supposedly for the purpose of general public interest (protection of oil fields, enlargement of the military installations, new air base, etc.), i.e. Decision Number 369 of 1975, Decision Number 824 of 1976, Decision Number 949 of 1977, Decision 1065 of 1978 etc... This is how 1.300.000 Donums (325.000 hectares) of agricultural land belonging to Turkmens of Kirkuk were confiscated (as indicated in the letter from the Judicial Adviser of the Ministry of Agriculture in Kirkuk to the Minister of Agriculture Ref 16784 dated 25/11/2010).

All these confiscated Turkmen lands have been registered as ‘lands belonging to the Iraqi state’ in the names of:  the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Local Administration.

In 1982 after the start of the Iraq-Iran war, and despite the enrolment of several hundreds of Turkmens from BEŞIR in the army to fight against the Iranians, the Iraqi security forces arrested hundreds of intellectuals from BEŞIR, accusing them of being opponents to the Baath party and affiliated to the forbidden Al-Dawa Party (Shi’a).

In 1984, after summary judgements by a revolutionary court,  93 intellectuals of BEŞIR were sentenced to capital punishment and were hanged  and 71 were sentenced to life imprisonment in Abu Ghraib prison, among them young boys  aged 16 and elderly men over 60.

In 1986 while the young men of BEŞIR, were still fighting on the front in the war against Iran, the Baath regime, not satisfied with the above mentioned unjust punishments of innocent Turkmens of BEŞIR, ordered the expulsion of their families, giving them 48 hours to pack their personal effects and leave their homes. They were forcibly moved to some communal compounds which had been built in a rush to serve as ‘transitional accommodation’ on the road to Tikrit. Their houses were razed to the ground and their agricultural lands were confiscated and were given to Sunni Arabs supporting the Baath regime, in application of a policy designed to arabize Turkmen towns and villages in Kirkuk province.

Each of these Arab families were given 10.000 Iraqi Dinars in cash (equivalent of 33.000 USD) as incentive to build their house on Turkmen lands, while the unfortunate Turkmens were displaced without any valid reason or any legal justification and without receiving any compensation.

After a year spent in the communal compounds the Turkmen families from BEŞIR were dispersed to cities throughout Iraq: Nasseriyah, Diyala, Diwania, Kut and Erbil, without being provided with housing and without being compensated for the loss of their livelihoods, houses and agricultural lands.

From being landowners and farmers since centuries in Iraq, the Turkmens of BEŞIR became refugees in their own country and were left completely destitute.

Meanwhile the Baath regime had arabized the name of the village calling it “Al-Bashir” instead of BEŞIR.

After the regime change in April 2003, when the U.S. military occupied the north of Iraq they did not take control of the area around BEŞIR and the Arabs which had been installed there by the Baath regime remained in the area.  The original Turkmen inhabitants of BEŞIR came with tents and camped near the village, demanding the departure of the Arab settlers, they wanted to recuperate their agricultural lands and be compensated for the loss of their properties and loss of earnings since 1986.

A Turkmen NGO built 100 houses for the families of the martyrs, which became the nucleus of the new reconstructed sub-district of BEŞIR and little by little other Turkmen families returned and built their houses there.

In July 2003 the newly returned Turkmens from BEŞIR wanted to remove the Arab settlers by force, the U.S. occupation authorities intervened, they led and controlled a “mediation” in September 2003, but this mediation did not resolve the property dispute, it was only a ‘short-term agreement’ which allowed the Arabs who had settled in BEŞIR to stay on the land for the Winter agricultural season on a ‘non-renewable basis’, it granted them the Winter harvest. The requirement was that they would leave BEŞIR within one year of the signing of the ‘agreement’. After this one year period the Turkmens would be allowed to return on their ancestral lands.

Unfortunately, the Arab settlers did not respect this ‘agreement’ and they refused to leave BEŞIR, despite the new Iraqi government’s offer to give them a sum of money to help them return to the region they came from. To make things worse, they built more and more houses on Turkmen lands.

On 15th January 2004, the Coalition Provisional Authority issued Regulation Number 8, authorizing the Governing Council of Iraq to establish the Iraqi Property Claims Commission. Soon after its creation, the Commission created Tribunals to look at the claims presented by the Iraqis who had been unjustly dispossessed.

The Turkmens of BEŞIR followed the procedures set up by the Commission and in early 2005 they introduced 1.150 claims to the Tribunals set up by the Property Claims Commission in Kirkuk for their confiscated agricultural lands situated in BEŞIR which had been registered in their names in the official old Cadastral Sector of BEŞIR (Sector numbers 36, 38, 45, 46, 47 and 48).

In July 2005 the Tribunals examined these 1.150 claims introduced by the Turkmens of BEŞIR, they found them receivable and justified and they ordered the return of all the agricultural lands to their original owners.

Notwithstanding the decisions of the Tribunals being in favour of the Turkmens of BEŞIR, only 350 of the 1.150 claims have been finalized to-date. This shows that the discrimination against the Turkmens continues in Iraq, despite the regime change and despite a special decree (number 59 / 2088) on 3rd October 2005 from the President of the Republic ordering the central and local authorities in Iraq to execute the decisions of the Tribunals of the Property Claims Commission swiftly and without any further delay.

Regrettably, the Iraqi Ministers of Finance and of Local Administration, under the pressure of the Sunni Arab political parties, have appealed the decisions of the Tribunals for the remaining 800 claims,  arguing that they need these lands supposedly ‘for general public interest’. Consequently, the cases are still pending and the Arab settlers are still living around BEŞIR and exploiting Turkmen agricultural lands.

In 2006, under the government of Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafary, the actual Prime Minister, Dr. Haidar Al-Ibadi, who was his adviser and was nominated the President of a Committee to investigate the Crimes committed against the people of BEŞIR (under the Baath regime) had asked (on 5th February 2006 in a letter ref.MRW/12/2006) the Governor of Kirkuk, Abdurrahman Mustafa, to update him about the progress of the local authorities of Kirkuk in helping the people of  BEŞIR  to recuperate their lands and to return to their homes.  He asked the Governor to send him a report about the problems still faced by the people of BEŞIR.

On 30th March 2006, the Iraqi Council of Ministers decided to reconstruct the sub-district of BEŞIR and it allocated 43 Billion Iraqi Dinars (about 32 Million USD) for this project and ordered the Finance Ministry (in a letter dated 2nd April 2006 ref. 8/1/5/4423) to allocate 14 Billion Iraqi Dinars to the Ministry of Reconstruction and Housing for the year 2006 to start the reconstruction.

Today, twelve years after the removal of the Baath regime and nine years after the decision of the Iraqi Council of Minister to reconstruct Bashir and despite the budget allocated in 2006 for its reconstruction, not a single house has been built by the Iraqi Government for the Turkmens of BEŞIR, the only realization by the Iraqi Ministry of Reconstruction and Housing and by the Governorate of Kirkuk is a publicity board at the entrance of Taza (near BEŞIR) announcing the ‘Project for the Reconstruction of BEŞIR’.

Second genocide: mass killings, rapes, ethnic cleansing and looting by ISIS terrorist groups

To make things worse for the Turkmens of BEŞIR, the Arab settlers who remained around BEŞIR welcomed the ISIS terrorists when these came to area and they supported them in the attacks on BEŞIR which started on 14th June 2014. BEŞIR inhabitants resisted ISIS attack during 3 days with their small weapons and only little ammunition. Unfortunately, because they did not get any help from the Iraqi forces or from the Kurdish peshmerga, they could not stop the invasion and occupation of BEŞIR by ISIS terrorists.

ISIS occupied BEŞIR on 17th June 2014 and expulsed its entire Turkmen population composed of about 1.500 families, totalising about 10.000 people. ISIS terrorists looted all the homes and properties.  A few days after they had occupied BEŞIR, they published some videos on their websites, showing the demolition of schools, offices, mosques, religious shrines and the library. To terrorize and humiliate the Turkmens, ISIS published photos of their unfortunate victims, some had been beheaded and their bodies had been left in the open to be eaten by wild animals, and some others had been tied to lamp posts.

ISIS has committed war crimes and ethnic cleansing in BEŞIR. During the first three days of their attack they killed 36 unarmed Turkmens. They kidnapped women and children, tortured, raped and savagely killed some of them.

A few days after the occupation of BEŞIR, a group of Turkmen volunteers composed of youths from other Turkmen localities (Taza, Tisin, Tuz Khurmatu and Kirkuk) came to help the people of BEŞIR, together they tried to dislodge ISIS terrorists. Unfortunately they failed, 21 were killed and many of them were injured by ISIS snipers positioned in strategic points in and around BEŞIR, armed with heavy long range machine guns. Their task was made difficult because ISIS had already planted explosive devices on the roads leading to BEŞIR and booby trapped buildings and houses in BEŞIR.

On 18th March 2015, a Turkmen unit of the ‘Peoples’ Mobilisation to fight against ISIS’ (Hashd al-Shaabi) tried again to liberate BEŞIR, unfortunately they too failed,  because ISIS terrorists had time to reinforce their positions in and around BEŞIR, positioning many more snipers with long range machine guns in all the strategic high positions. The Turkmen unit managed to reach the Police Station but they were forced to withdraw after suffering many casualties (5 killed and 9 gravely injured).

It is clear that the Turkmen unit of the ‘Peoples’ Mobilisation to fight against ISIS’ with its present day capacity and weapons cannot liberate BEŞIR without reinforcement and support from the Iraqi and/or International Coalition air forces. Unfortunately, to-date, neither has come to their help.

During the 23rd March 2015 Meeting of the Iraqi Council of Ministers in Baghdad, it has been decided that the peoples who have suffered from ISIS terrorist attacks in the north of Iraq, i.e. the Christians, the Turkmens, the Yezidis, the Kurds and the Shabaks, exposing them to mass killings and to internally displacement, are victims of ethnic cleansing, amounting to genocides. Concerning the Turkmens, the Council of Ministers has specified that the Turkmens of TEL AFAR and the Turkmens of BEŞIR, have been victims of genocide by ISIS terrorist groups.

Thus, this is the second genocide committed against the Turkmens of BEŞIR in less than 28 years.

Therefore, we Turkmens of Iraq, call upon the Delegation for Relations with Iraq of the EU Parliament, to support our case and endorse the Turkmen demands stated in the Common Declaration of the indigenous non-ruling peoples of Iraq, (which we presented to the EU Parliament on 19th November 2014) and advocate our requests with the European Parliament, the EEAS, the European Commission and the EU Council.

The Iraqi Turkmens request the following help and support from the European Union authorities:

• Provide humanitarian aid directly to the remaining 250.000 displaced Turkmens.

• Provide military training and military equipment directly to the Turkmen units in order to enable them to liberate the sub-district of BEŞIR, the district of TEL AFER and the Turkmen villages around MOSUL which are still occupied by ISIS.

• Provide material aid to rebuild the homes, properties and infrastructure damaged or destroyed by ISIS terrorist groups in the Turkmen region after it has been liberated.

• Assist and support the Turkmens in their negotiations with the Iraqi Central Government and the KRG concerning their request for TEL AFAR and TUZHUMATU to be upgraded to the status of Governorates in Iraq.

• Assist and support the Turkmens in their negotiations with the Iraqi Central Government and the KRG in order to achieve a special status for Kirkuk, whereby the power will be shared equally between the Turkmens, Arabs and Kurds (32% for each of the three main ethnic communities and 4% for the Christian minority of Kirkuk).

• Assist the Turkmens in their negotiations with the Iraqi Central Government to obtain their fair share of power within the Central Government and their fair share from the Iraqi budget.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

IRAQ's MINORITIES BEING ERADICATED BY ISIS - report of consortium of NGOs

Launch of "Between the Millstones: Iraq's Minorities Since the Fall of Mosul"A report of a consortium of NGOs   

(Minority Rights Group, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, No Peace Without Justice and Institute for International Law and Human Rights).

Brussels, 27th February 2015.

Since June 2014, the rapid spread of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham) forces across northern Iraq has triggered a wave of displacement, with more than 2 million people uprooted.  Ethnic and religious minorities have been particularly targeted, including Turkmens, Christians, Yezidis, Kaka'is, and Shabaks, with thousands killed and many more injured or abducted.

Alison Smith, NPWJ; Johanna Green, UNPO; Mays Al-Juboori, MRG; William Spencer, HLHR

William Spencer, Institute for International Law and Human Rights and

Dr Hassan Aydinli, Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) EU Representative

Marino Busdachin, General Secretary of  UNPO and

Dr Hassan Aydinli, Iraqi Turkmen Front EU Representative.

Minority communities in Iraq have been targeted by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in a systematic strategy to remove them permanently from large areas of Iraq, warns a group of human rights organizations in their new report.

"Between the Millstones: Iraq's Minorities Since the Fall of Mosul" provides critical information on the legal basis for war crimes prosecutions.

According to the report, the Iraqi government lacks a legal framework to address the rights and entitlements of the displaced people, it should clarify its role and responsibilities.

The Iraqi government and the Kurdish Regional Government should investigate and prosecute corruption in the delivery and acquisition of humanitarian aid and make sure that humanitarian aid is fairly divided among the displaced people.

The Iraqi government should provide urgent assistance to the humanitarian effort and resettle minorities who have been displaced.

Summary executions, forced conversion, rape, sexual enslavement, the destruction of places of worship, the abduction of children, the looting of property and other severe human rights abuses and crimes under international law have been committed repeatedly by ISIS.  While minorities have long been vulnerable to attacks by extremists, this violence appears to be part of a systematic strategy to remove these communities permanently from areas where they have lived for centuries.

For these groups to have a future in the country, Iraqi and Kurdish authorities, the international community and other stakeholders must work together not only to ensure their immediate security, but also take steps through comprehensive legal and social reform to bring an end to their long-standing marginalization and prevent further abuses.

All IDPs are suffering especially minority women.

Regarding the TURKMENS, the report states that prior to June 2014, Turkmens were intimidated by Kurdish and Central government authorities, as well as by extra-judicial militias, on religious and ethnic grounds as well as for the presence in the 'disputed territories'. More recently, Shi'a Turkmens have been summarily executed by ISIS fighters.

The reports also states that Iraq's Turkmen community has strong support from Turkmen diaspora organizations such as the Europe-Turkmen Friendships and other groups.

Concerning TURKMEN SITES, the report says:

As ISIS forces swept through Tal Afar and the surrounding areas in June and July 2014, numerous Turkmen mosques, shrines and religious and cultural sites were destroyed or desecrated, including Shi'a mosques in the villages of hardaghli, Brauchli and Qaranaz, all of which until recently had a large Turkmen population.  ISIS forces also destroyed the shrine of Arnaour and the Shi'a mosques of Husseiniyh al-Qubba, Husseiniyh Jawad, Husseiniyh Kaddo, Husseiniyh Muslim Bin-Aqeel and Husseiniyh Askar-Mullah in Tal Afar. The largest and oldest library in the Tal Afar district was also blown up - a huge blow to the Turkmen population. Another library in the Diyala governorate, with some 1,500 Islamic historical texts and stories, was reportedly burnt to the ground by ISIS forces.

In Mosul the tomb of Ibn al-Athir was destroyed, and the shrine of Imam al-Abbas in al-Qubba village and three Shi'a mosquess were set ablaze by ISIS militants in the village of Al-Sharikhan. ISIS forces reportedly used bulldozers in the Turkmnn town of al-Mahlabia to destroy the shrines of Sheikh Ibrahim and the shrine and tomb of the Sufi Sheikh Ahmed Rifa'i.

Shi'a mosques and other sites of religious significance were reportedly set on fire by ISIS forces in the Turkmen towns of Qubba and Qubbek, in Tal Afar district.

Several important Sunni shrines were also reportedly destroyed in Mosul and Kirkuk, including the shrine of Sufi Salih, in addition to some Kaka'i shrines. Two Shi'a shrines in Sinjar - Sayida Zainab and Saiyed Zakariya - were also destroyed, as well as the Shi'a holy shrine of Imam Ridha in Tiskhrab village.

In the Tukmen village of Chardaghli, a Sunni mosque was destroyed along with three Shi'a mosques. In the Turkmen village of Staeh, Sunni and Shi'a mosques as well as Yezidi religious shrines were destroyed.

The report also mentions the Denial of Entry issue that minority communities have experienced from certain areas of Iraq, particularly by Kurdish forces. The KRG has been criticized by numerous human rights activists for applying discriminatory rules based on ethnicity and religion, with Assyrians, Kurds and Yezidis typically being permitted to enter the Iraqi Kurdish region, while Iraqi Turkmen and Shi'a and Sunni Arabs have been denied access.

Regarding Employment and Education, the report states that though children have the right to be educate in their mother tongue under the Iraqi Constitution of 2005, this has not been respected.
In the Iraqi Kurdish Region minority groups are pressured to be educated in Kurdish and fincancial incentives are used to promote the language. Provision of education in the children's native tongue is also under-resourced in Iraq: many Turkmen communities, for example, have struggled to access education in their own language. 

On the Sexual and gender-base violence, the report says:
There have been numerous reports of sexual abuse, rape, abductions, enslavement and other violations of a sexual nature perpetrated by ISIS militants on women and children across Iraq.
In many cases, sexual violence has been used as a tool of terror and coercion. In one incident on 12-13 June 2014, ISIS forces reportedly raped and killed at least nine women and girls as young as 12 years old in the Turkmen town of BESHIR. The bodies of the women were then stripped naked and hung from lamp posts and water tanks around the town. 

The report also says that some Turkmen and Yezidi children left by ISIS forces in an orphanage in Mosul showed signs of being physically and sexually assaulted.

While Yezidi women have been especially targeted, at least several hundred Shi'a women, mostly Turkmen, have also been kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery by ISIS, as well as Christian women.

Finally the report makes several recommendations to the Federal Government of Iraq, to the Kurdish Regional Government and to the International Community, to prevent further abuses and for the Restoration and Reconciliation.

PLEASE SEE:

http://unpo.org/downloads/1271.pdf

http://unpo.org/article/17993

TAZEHURMATU ..Türkmen direnişinin destanı

Turkmen Medyasi



TAZEHURMATU .. Türkmen direnişinin destanı

IŞİD terör örgütünden en büyük zararı Irak ve Suriye’deki Türkmenler gördü. Türkmen kasabası Tazehurmatu, yaklaşık 4 aydır sessiz sedasız, hiçbir yerden yardım almadan IŞİD’in tehdidine karşı kahramanca direniyor. Kobani (Ayn el-Arap) için BM dahil kıyameti koparanlar, Tazehurmatu için üç maymunu oynuyorlar.

10 Haziran’da Musul’u ele geçiren IŞİD, kısa süre içinde doğuya doğru ilerleyince, Tazehurmatulular yaşadıkları toprağı koruma mücadelesi başlattı.

Bu sırada Musul’daki mevzilerini terk eden Irak ordusu, Kerkük’ün güneyindeki karakollardan da çekildi. Bu süreçte Tazehurmatu’nun kaderini değiştiren, Beşir köyü oldu. Beşir, Tazehurmatu’na 2.5 km. mesafede ve tamamı Türkmenlerden oluşan bir köy. Saddam Hüseyin döneminde toprakları ellerinden alınan ve yerlerine Sünni Araplar yerleştirilen Beşir köylüleri, 2003’ten sonra doğup-büyüdükleri topraklara geri dönmüşler ve ellerinden alınan ata yurtlarına yeniden yerleşmek için ellerinden büyük mücadele vermişlerdi. Bu süreçte Irak Türkmen Cephesi de Beşir’deki yeniden yerleşim sürecine 100 ev yaparak destek verdi. ITC, bölgenin yeniden Türkmen yerleşimine açılmasında önemli bir rol oynadı. İşte bu durum Beşir’i, IŞİD’in ve çevresindeki Arap köylerinin ilk hedefi haline getirdi.

Mezhep ayrılığı

IŞİD’in saldırısıyla birlikte, mezhep ağırlıklı düşünen Arap aşiretlerinin yol gösterdiği IŞİD, Beşir’i 17 Haziran tarihinde ele geçirdi. Büyük ölçüde eski arazi anlaşmazlıkları ile mezhep çatışmalarına dayalı bir nitelik çatışma Tazehurmatu’nu Musul’un düşmesinden sadece 6 gün sonra IŞİD’le sınır haline getirdi. Tazehurmatu, IŞİD ile burun buruna geldikten sonra bu terör örgütünün birkaç kez saldırısına uğradı. Tazehurmatu’na birkaç kez gece baskını düzenlendi. Gece saldırıları, büyük çoğunluğunu Türkmenlerin oluşturduğu yerel milislerinin gayretiyle püskürtüldü. Bunun ardından terör örgütü militanları, kanas suikast tüfekleri ve “doçka” larla uzun mesafe ateşlerinin saldırısıyla yıldırılmak istendi. Bununla da kalmayan IŞİD güçleri, havan saldırılarında çoğu kadın ve çocuk onlarca Türkmen yaraladı.

Tazehurmatu direnişinin en önemli özelliklerinden birisi Beşir’de olup bitenlerden ders çıkarılmasıdır. Beşir’e IŞİD saldırısı başladığında köyde Irak ordusundan kalma silahlar ve peşmerge güçleri bulunuyordu. Buna rağmen uzun süre direniş gerçekleştirilemedi. Bunun en önemli nedeni peşmergelerin savaşmadan çekilmesidir. Peşmergenin cepheyi bırakması üzerine, halkın katliama uğrama korkusu nedeniyle bir anda köyü tahliye etmesidir.

Beşir’in IŞİD’in eline geçmesiyle Tazeliler, çoluk - çocuk ve yaşlıları, kasabanın dışına çıkarıp, eli silah tutanları seferber ettiler. Böylece Tazehurmatu, sivillerin kendilerini koruduğu bir yerel askeri kampa dönüştü. Tazehurmatu’da başlangıçta kendiliğinden oluşan bu harekete yerel polis gücü ve Kerkük’teki Türkmen Sahva Güçleri’nin de destek vermesiyle IŞİD’e karşı bir cephe oluşturuldu.

El uzatan yok

Kendini savunarak hayatta kalmasına rağmen Tazehurmatu’nda insanlar son derece zor günler yaşıyorlar. Çatışmalar nedeniyle tarım yapılamıyor. Ayrıca evlerin bir kısmı da havan top ateşleri nedeniyle ağır hasar gördüğünden kullanılamaz halde. Özellikle sivil halk, uzun süre bölgeye hiçbir yardım ulaşmadığından şikâyet ediyor. Türkiye’den yardım geldiği iddiaları ise Tazehurmatulu Türkmenlerin, acısını daha da pekiştiriyor. Oysa Erbil’deki Kızılay yetkilileri, Kerkük’e tonlarca yardımın gönderildiğini iddia ediyor. O zaman akla şu soru takılıyor: Türkiye’den toplanan yardımlar doğru adreslere gitmiyor mu? Tazehurmatu’ndaki durum gözlemlendiğinde bu yardımın onlara ulaşmadığı da ortada. Acaba Kerkük’e gönderilen yardımlar, peşmerge tarafından Türkmenlere ulaştırılmıyor mu? Sadece Tazehurmatulular değil, Kerkük’te bu eleştiriye Türkmenlerin yoğun olduğu pek çok yerde rastlanabiliyor.

Tazehurmatu’na Türkiye bağlantılı kurumlar tarafından giden tek yardımı Eylül ayı ortasına kadar Türkmeneli Vakfı gerçekleştirmiş.

Tazehurmatu’nda Türkiye’ye yaklaşım ise aslında Kerkük’teki durumun genelini yansıtıyor. Kerkük’te Türkmenlerin Türkiye’ye yönelik duygularını ifade edebilecek en iyi kelime hayalkırıklığı. Zor durumda Türkiye tarafından korunacağına inanan Türkmenler artık verilen sözlere inanmıyor. Özellikle Şii Türkmenler, Türkiye’nin “mezhepçi bir politika” izlediğine inanıyor. Bir Türkmen’in şu sorusu aslında Şii Türkmenlerin pek çoğunun ortak duygusunun tercümesi olarak kabul edilebilir. “Amirli ve Tazehurmatu Sünni olsaydı Türkiye böyle sessiz kalır mıydı? Bu sorunun yanıtını vermek zor. Çünkü, Türkiye sadece Kerkük’teki değil Musul, Telafer ve Diyala’daki Türkmenlerin de çağrılarına yanıt vermedi. Bu nedenle Türkiye’nin Türkmen politikasındaki eksiklik ve yanlışlıkları mezhepçiliğe bağlamak doğru görünmüyor. Türkmen politikasındaki sorunlar çok daha derinlerde aranmalıdır. Ancak Türkiye, Türkmen politikasını gözden geçirene kadar Türkmenlerin Türkiye’ye duyduğu güvende tamir edilmesi güç yaralar açılacağı söylenebilir.

Tazeli kasabasını kimler koruyor?

* Haşdi Şahabi: Irak ordusunun dağılmasından sonra halk Ayetullah Ali Sistani’nin çağrısıyla oluşan “Halk Yığını (Haşdi Şahabi)” adı verilen silahlı birliklere dahil oldu. Bu birimler, tüm ağır silahlarını kendi aralarından topladıkları paralarla Kerkük’teki silah pazarlarından elde ettiler. Sayıları 600’ü bulan Halk Yığını’nın başında Zeki Muratlı bulunuyor. Birliğin mensuplarının büyük çoğunluğunu Tazeli Türkmenler oluşturuyor.

* Haras Vatani: Tazeli Türkmenler, halen Beşir ile Tazehurmatu arasında sıfır noktasında nöbet tutuyor. Halk Yığını, daha sonra Irak Savunma Bakanlığı bünyesinde bulunan “Ulusal Muhafızlar (Haras Vatani)” denilen yapıya dahil edilerek resmi ve askeri statüye kavuştu.

* Sahva Güçleri: Türkiye’deki koruculuk sistemine benzeyen bir yapıya sahip Sahva Güçleri, Kerkük’te Türkmenlere yönelik saldırıların yoğunlaşmasından sonra kuruldu. Sayısı yaklaşık 700 kişiyi bulan Sahva Güçleri’nin liderliğini Isam Mızrap yapıyor. Aralarında 300 kadar Tazehurmatulu Türkmen’in de bulunduğu Sahva Güçleri, sadece Taze’nin korunmasını değil, aynı zamanda Beşir’in kurtarılmasında da rol oynamaya hazırlanıyor.

NOTES FROM KIRKUK, by Bilgay Dunman, ORSAM Researcher

Notes from Kirkuk


Bilgay Duman, ORSAM Researcher




ISIS threat affects daily life in Kirkuk. Due to the threat, costs of many products raised in the city. For instance, cost of a can of vegetable oil went up to 32-33 thousand Dinars from 21-22 thousand Dinars. Also in towns under ISIS threat people are unable to go to work and many people do not have an income for the last couple of months. Thus, trade also stopped as a consequence. ISIS’s most significant impact is on education since Iraq’s new educational season has not begun yet. Refugees are dwelling in Kirkuk’s many schools.



A bulk these refugees are Turkmans. The Turkmans who left Telafer, Mosul, Basher, Yengije, Bayat, Karatepe, Jalewle, and Hanekin are placed in schools and mosques in Kirkuk. Their situation is really bad. Charities and foundations especially founded by the Turkmans are trying help with their campaigns. Though they are not enough and a working mechanism has been formed yet.


PLEASE SEE THE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE


http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/showArticle.aspx?ID=2711

Iraq: What it feels like to be on the receiving end of Isis's pickup truck killing party

Iraq: What it feels like to be on the receiving end of Isis's pickup truck killing party
A man who hid from Isis for eight hours in a stack of straw tells Richard Spencer of the horrific day when the Iraqi jihadists came to his village, murdering his son, brother, nephew and sister-in-law

Amina and husband Elias Hassan; Amina was shot in a car



By Richard Spencer, Taza, Iraq

1:57PM BST 28 Jun 2014



The Isis death squad came in the morning, and were merciless on their Shia victims. One man who survived crawled through fields of wheat for a mile on his hands and knees, with the gunmen following, looking for him.


He had left his son dying in the road behind him. He heard the shots as his brother and nephew, who had run the other way to hide in a building site, were killed with two other men.


He hid for eight hours in the middle of a stack of straw from Iraq's early summer harvest, not daring to look out.


The next day, the villagers went back for the bodies. There were 21 in all, scattered through the streets and in the looted, burning embers of their houses. The bodies of his brother, nephew and two other men in the building site had not just been shot but stabbed in the head and body, on both sides, having been turned over and over as the rampage proceeded.


His brother's finger had been cut off, to remove his ring.



"I served in the army, in the war against Iran and in Kuwait," the survivor, Fadl Moussa Hassan said. "But I never saw anything like this. Even if you captured a prisoner and killed him, you did it cleanly, with one shot."

As Isis, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, extends its control over Sunni areas of the country, the politicians in Baghdad and the world's diplomats ponder a negotiated response. They do not trust the Iraqi army's ability to regain control of the country, nor wish to commit foreign troops in the numbers required to take on the common enemy.

One argument is that the Iraq crisis has a political root, in the discrimination suffered by Sunni Muslims at the hands of a Shia-led government. Many ordinary, non-jihadi Sunnis themselves say the insurgency is a popular uprising more than extremist terrorism.

That may be true, but it does not mean those with a will and a gun cannot use the crisis to promote their own strategies.

At the opposite ends of the religious sectarian spectrum, that strategy is ethnic cleansing.

An Amnesty International report on Friday made clear that murder and mayhem is not limited to the Sunni jihadists. Iraqi security forces or allied Shia militias killed scores of Sunni prisoners in the towns of Tal Afar, Baquba and Mosul in the last two weeks as they came under attack from the Isis-led alliance.

The aim appeared to be to prevent them escaping and, if sympathetic, joining up with the attackers.

But the jihadists' attacks on Tuesday, June 17, on the Shia villages of Barauchili, Karanaz and Chardaghli, near Tikrit, and Bashir, further north south of Kirkuk, have a raw, sectarian quality previously associated with the Alawite "Shabiha" militias of neighbouring Syria.

The villages' residents are not just Shia but from the Turkmen minority, a vulnerable minority within a minority.

But ethnicity seemed to be less important than religion: the attackers were shouting "God is Great" as they roared up to the village in their pickup trucks, captured American Humvees and armoured personnel carriers, waving their black flags, and Mr Hassan and other survivors said that they could even make out Turkmen voices among the attackers.

Mr Fadl, his brother, Elias, and other villagers from Barauchili gave The Telegraph a clinical description of what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a pickup truck killing party. Their accounts have yet to be assessed by independent experts, though they have been confirmed by Iraqi security forces, but the accounts of those interviewed separately matched.

The villages were attacked from either end: they came from the north, to Chadaghli first, then just as men were rushing there to defend it, they arrived at Barauchili from the south, the flag-flying jihadi column pouring up the road from a neighbouring Sunni district.

It sped through the road-hump checkpoint. Some villagers tried to fire from nearby rooftops, but they were outgunned. Najaf Kahir, 41, a local teacher, was one of them - shot and killed, his father, Abdulwahid Reza Kahir, said.

Realising there was nothing they could do, the villagers fled, but too late. When Mr Kahir's 86-year-old cousin, Kamal, and his sons Mustafa, 34, and Abbas, 28, staggered from their house, the gunmen were already there, and they killed them on the spot.

Another cousin, Abdullah Reza Kahir had a better idea. Instead of fleeing north to the other Turkmen villages, he fled south to the Sunni Arab one, Albuhassan, where he had friends.

They took him and his family in, but Isis came knocking.

The family's would-be protectors came out holding up a Koran. "For the sake of this holy book, let these men go," they said. There was some haggling, and the man's wife and daughters were allowed to remain inside.

But the father and his 15-year-old son, Hussein, were dragged out and shot in front of their hosts.

Meanwhile, the Hassan family were trying to head north. Fadl and his family were on foot, and straggling behind the rest of the villagers, which is why Isis caught up with them first.

"There were lots of other families, but we were behind them," he said.

Meanwhile his brother, Elias, was in his car with his wife Amina, heading in a different direction, west towards Karanaz. But when they reached the junction, Isis were already there - two men in a pickup, and one on the road with a sniper rifle.

As he tried to speed away, two shots rang out, and his wife's head slumped on his shoulder. When he finally made it to a hospital, she was dead.

Fadl Hassan said that while he was hiding in the field, his pursuers came close enough for him to hear their voices. Far from being the foreign fighters he had been taught to fear, some voices were local; some were even Turkmen.

The willingness of their neighbours to join the onslaught, including men from Albuhassan, whose children were their own children's classmates, shocked the villagers. But then the sectarianism of modern Iraq is not new. While some say that the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, however brutal, kept a peace between the sects, it also fostered the resentments.

Saddam had an Arabisation policy that took land and gave it to Sunni Arabs. In the town of Jalula, to the south-east near Baghdad, The Telegraph saw Kurdish Peshmerga forces who are taking on the insurgents and have driven them back into one corner of the town.

That corner is the corner occupied by a Sunni tribe which supports Isis - a tribe that was given the land there by Saddam and has no intention of giving it up.

A similar conflict underlies another massacre. The town of Bashir was once Turkmen, and was then handed by Saddam to Sunni Arabs in the 1980s as punishment for opposition from the Shia who lived there.

After he fell, the Turkmen returned, and the two lived side-by-side, uneasily.

Then, Isis arrived there too, on the same Tuesday, and with such speed that Qassem Ibrahim Ali was overwhelmed. He put his son, who though only 13 could drive, in one car with his wife, two teenage daughters and their three-year-old, then followed driving his neighbours to safety.

He never saw his family again. He rang his son when he arrived at the neighbouring village of Taza without passing them, but all his son could do was sob.

Five days later, the jihadists who had seized Bashir sent trucks pulling metal sheeting on which lay the decomposing bodies of 17 people, including his two daughters, Masuma, 19, and Nerjis, 12, both of whom had been shot in the back. His wife, Zahra, 13-year-old son Mohammed, and the three-year-old, Ali, are still missing.

A resident who hid inside his house for several days before escaping to Taza said there were still bodies decomposing in Bashir. In all, 13 people are unaccounted for.

"Isis said when we rang my son's phone that they had not deliberately killed my daughters, that they had died in the crossfire," Mr Ali said. "But there were no clashes as they were driving. There is no doubt they were executed."

Human Rights Watch has begun to document the sectarian cleansing and suspected murders by Isis of Turkmen Shia from other parts of northern Iraq, including Mosul.

"Isis has embarked on a campaign of forced displacement of minority communities," Letta Taylor, a researcher, said. "There is a clear pattern."

There may be underlying political causes for the Sunni insurgency.

There may be a pragmatic alliance between Sunni tribes, ex-Baathists and Isis, which will break down as time passes.

The tribes believe they can see off the jihadists sooner or later.

But there seems little hope of stitching Iraq into a single, multi-ethnic, multi-sectarian state again. In that case, the three parts will be Sunni, Shia and Kurds, and minorities will only get in the way. Maybe, some seem to think, it is better to get rid of them now.

Iraqi Christians, already reduced by three quarters since 2003, are again on the move, heading north to Kurdistan and then, in all likelihood, to Germany, Sweden and Michigan, where many already live.

Ten per cent of Turkmen have left the country in that time too, said Hasan al-Bayati, head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front.

The head of the Kirkuk city council - made up of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, Sunnis and Shia - was a Turkmen Sunni until last week. Munir al-Qafili was shot dead, clinically by gunmen who were well-trained enough to pump seven bullets into his head without scratching the body of the car in which he was a passenger.

It was a warning to all the Turkmen, said a fellow council member, who understandably asked not to be named. Mr Qafili had told colleagues not long before that he had received a warning from Iraqi intelligence his name was on an Isis hitlist.

His was a death foretold, and it will not be the last.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10932689/Iraq-What-it-feels-like-to-be-on-the-receiving-end-of-Isiss-pickup-truck-killing-party.html

APPEAL FROM THE IRAQI TURKMEN FRONT TO THE UNITED NATIONS TO ESTABLISH A SAFE HAVEN FOR THE TURKMENS IN IRAQ

IRAQI TURKMEN FRONT

European Representation

Brussels-Belgium

For the urgent attention of The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon

S.0.S. AND URGENT APPEAL FROM THE IRAQI TURKMENS TO THE UNITED NATIONS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SAFE HAVEN FOR TURKMENS IN THE NORTH OF IRAQ.

Your Excellency,

As the representative of the Iraqi Turkmen front in the European Union and on behalf of the Iraqi Turkmens, who constitute  Iraq’s  third largest ethnic group and one of the three  main communities forming  the backbone of the Iraqi people with the Arabs and Kurds, I am writing to you in order to bring to your attention the grave situation the Turkmens are facing in the north of Iraq after the attacks and the invasion of Mosul city by the terrorist organization ‘ISIS’(the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham) on the 9th of June 2014.

Since then, the terrorist organization ISIS has multiplied its attacks and extended its invasion to the north of Iraq rapidly because of the unexpected and astonishing sudden withdrawal of the Iraqi army divisions from their positions in the four provinces in the north of Iraq (Mosul, Kirkuk, Salaheddin and Diyala), leaving a vacuum and facilitating the partial occupation of these provinces by ISIS and by the Kurdish Peshmerga.

Indeed, the Kurdish Peshmerga, either in prior agreement with the terrorist organization  ISIS or opportunistically taking advantage of the present weakness of the Iraqi government forces in the north of Iraq, have quickly advanced their forces beyond the Kurdish autonomous region to occupy and control the so-called ‘contested territories’ in the provinces of  Kirkuk, Mosul, Salaheddin and Diyala. The Kurdish Peshmerga forces are now de facto occupying almost all the Turkmen region in the north of Iraq (Türkmeneli) and controlling almost all Turkmen cities and towns in these four provinces.

After occupying Mosul city, ISIS attacked Telafer, the largest Turkmen city in the province of Mosul, killing over one hundred Turkmens and wounding several hundreds of them, 200.000 Turkmen inhabitants of Telafer, mainly women, children and elderly people fled the city under heavy shelling. These defenceless people are facing huge difficulties to find shelter, water and food, they are in the desert under scorching heat. Some of them have been denied entry to the Kurdish region where they were seeking refuge.

ISIS after establishing its control on Mosul moved forward to the south and took control of Tikrit, the capital of the Salaheddin province and of the town of Hawija, the largest Sunni Arab town in Kirkuk province where they took control without any resistance neither from the central government forces nor from the local authorities because of the sudden withdrawal of the Iraqi army divisions from their positions in these provinces as mentioned earlier.

After controlling Tikrit and Hawija , ISIS  moved to the Turkmen region of Kirkuk, Salaheddin and Diyala provinces and attacked the Turkmen towns and villages situated  in these provinces such as Bashir, Biravceli, Bastamli,  Chardaghli, Kara Naz, Kara Tepe, Salman Pak, Jalawla and several villages belonging to the Turkmen Bayat tribes.

In each of these Turkmen localities ISIS has committed crimes against humanity, torturing, raping, kidnapping young girls, looting Turkmens’ properties and mass killing indiscriminately women, men and children.

The Turkmens in Iraq have been betrayed by the Iraqi government who assured them that the Iraqi army would protect the Turkmens in the entire Turkmen region in the north of Iraq.

The 12th division of the Iraqi army which was supposed to defend and protect Kirkuk province, unexpectedly abandoned its position, leaving all its weapons and equipment behind.

The Kurdish Peshmerga took over the area and confiscated the weapons which were abandoned by the Iraqi army. The Peshmerga were supposed to protect and defend Kirkuk province from ISIS attacks.

Unfortunately, when ISIS encircled and attacked the village of Beshir (situated some 30 km south west of Kirkuk)  the Peshmerga forces abandoned their position around Beshir, leaving the poorly armed Turkmen inhabitants on their own to defend their village. They resisted as long as they could until they ran out of ammunition.  ISIS conquered the village and the inhabitants fled, but unfortunately not all of them succeeded.  Dozens of people were killed, more than 30 were wounded and a large number of them are still missing, they are either dead or still trapped inside the village.

 ISIS has committed the same crimes in the Turkmen locality of Biravceli, in Salaheddin province, where they killed 23 defenceless Turkmens, most of them women and children.

The above are just a few examples of what is happening to the unarmed and unprotected Turkmens in  their towns, cities and villages in the north of Iraq.

Since 2003, Turkmens have been continuously targeted and attacked. They have been killed, wounded, kidnapped for ransom, their properties have been looted or burned and their political leaders have been assassinated.

In view of the above, it is clear that the survival of the Turkmen community in Iraq is at stake. They are facing ethnic cleansing and a potential genocide in the present day troubled situation of the country.

Therefore, Iraqi Turkmens urge the General Secretary of the United Nations to do his utmost to come to the help of the Turkmens to protect them by providing a safe haven for them in the north of Iraq, similar to the safe haven the UN provided for the Kurds of Iraq from 1991 to 2003.

Furthermore, Turkmens urge the United Nations to bring the criminals from ISIS as well as those responsible in the Iraqi central government and local authorities in these provinces who betrayed the Turkmens by leaving them without defence and protection to the International Criminal Court to be judged.

Yours respectfully,

Dr. Hassan Aydinli

Iraqi Turkmen Front EU representative

Brussels, 21st June 2014.

Please see Turkish translation hereunder:

Ekselansları, Birleşmiş Milletler Genel Sekreteri, Bay Ban Ki Moon'nun acil dikkatine

IRAK TÜRKMENLERİNDEN BİRLEŞMİŞ MİLLETLER GENEL SEKRETERİNE KUZEY IRAK'TA GÜVENLİ BÖLGE TESİSİ İÇİN S.O.S. VE ACİL BAŞVURU

Sayın Ekselansları

Ben, Irak Türkmen Cephesinin Avrupa Birliğinde ki Temsilcisi olarak ve Irak'ta ki üçüncü büyük etnik gurup olan, Araplar ve Kürtler ile birlikte Irak halkının omurgasını teşkil eden üç ana toplumdan biri olan Irak Türkmenleri adına, Irak Türkmenlerinin ISIS/IŞİD (Irak Şam İslam Devleti) adlı terör örgütünün 9 haziran 2014 tarihinden beri Kuzey Irak'ı istila etmesi üzerine bugünlerde yaşadıkları korkunç trajik duruma ve karşılaştıkları feci zorluklara dikkatinizi çekmek için bu mektubu size yazıyorum. 

O günden beri ISIS/IŞİD terör örgütü saldırılarını katlayıp istilasını Kuzey Irak'a doğru hızla yaymakta, Irak silahlı birliklerinin konuşlandıkları Kuzey Irak'ta ki dört (Musul, Kerkük, Salaheddin ve Diyala) ilden beklenmedik ve şaşırtan geri çekilişinden doğan boşluk nedeniyle anılan vilayetlerin kısmen ISIS/IŞİD ve Kürt peşmergeler tarafından istilasını kolaylaştırmaktadır.  

Gerçekte Kurt Pesmerge, ya terör örgütü ISIS/IŞİD ile önceden anlaşarak ya da şans eseri Irak hükümet güçlerinin Irak'ın kuzeyinde ki mevcut zayıflığından faydalanarak Kürt peşmergeler kuvvetlerini Kürt özerk bölgesinin ötesinde Kerkük, Musul, Salaheddin ve Diyala illerinde ki sözde "ihtilaflı toprakları" işgal ve kontrol etmek için hızla ilerletmişlerdir. Peşmerge kuvvetleri şimdi Kuzey Irak'ın Türkmen bölgesinin (Türkmeneli) neredeyse tamamını işgal etmekte ve anılan dört vilayette ki Türkmen kasabalarını ve şehirleri kontrol etmektedirler.

ISIS/IŞİD bir hafta önce Musul'u istila ettikten sonra Musul ilinde ki en büyük Türkmen kasabası Telafer'e saldırarak yüzden fazla Türkmen'i öldürmüş ve birkaç yüzünü de yaralamıştır. 200.000 nüfuslu Telafer kasabasının, çoğunluğu kadınlar, çocuklar ve yaşlılardan oluşan halkı kesif bombardıman altında şehri terk etmişlerdir. Kavurucu çöl sıcağında ki bu savunmasız halk barınak, su ve gıda bulmada büyük güçlük çekmektedirler. Onlardan Kürt bölgesine sığınma arayışında olan bazılarının talepleri ret edilmiştir.

  

ISIS/IŞİD; Kerkük ilinde ki Hawija ve Tikrit kasabalarını kontrol altına aldıktan sonra Kerkük, Salaheddin ve Diyala illerinin Türkmen bölgesine geçip bu illerde ki Beşir, Biravceli, Salman Pak, Kara Tepe, Jalawla gibi Türkmen kasabalarına ve Türkmen Bayat kabilelerine ait olan birkaç köye de saldırıp işgal etmişlerdir.

ISIS/IŞİD işgal ettiği bu Türkmen yerleşimlerinin her birinde, işkence, tecavüz, genç kızları kaçırma, Türkmen mülklerini yağmalama ve ayırım gözetmeksizin kadınları, adamları ve çocukları toplu öldürerek insanlığa karşı suç işlemektedirler.

Irak'ta ki bütün bölgelerde yerleşik Türkmenleri Irak ordusunun koruyacağına dair güvence veren Irak hükümeti tarafından Irak'ta ki Türkmenlere ihanet edilmiştir.  

Kerkük ilini savunma ve korumadan sorumlu 12nci Irak tümeninin, tüm silahlarını ve malzemelerini bırakarak bulunduğu mevkii beklenmedik bir şekilde terk etmiştir.

Kürt peşmerge Kerkük ilini ISIS/IŞİD saldırılarına karşı savunmak üzere bölgeyi devralmış ve Irak ordusunun terk ettikleri silahlara el koymuştur.   

Maalesef, ISIS/IŞİD Beşir'e saldırdığında peşmerge kuvvetleri, az sayıda silahlanmış Türkmen halkını kendi köylerini savunma zorunda bırakarak, Beşir çevresinde ki konumlarını terk etmişlerdir. Türkmenler mühimmatları bitinceye kadar ellerinden geldiğince direnmişlerdir. ISIS/IŞİD köyü ele geçirmiş ve köy halkı yerlerini terk etmişlerdir, fakat maalesef hepsi başarılı olamamıştır. En azından düzinelerce kişi öldürülmüş, 30 kişiden fazlası yaralanmış ve bir çoğu hala kayıptır, bunlar ya ölüdürler ya da köyde mahsur kalmışlardır.

ISIS/IŞİD aynı insanlık suçlarını, çoğunluğu kadın ve çocuklardan oluşan 23 Türkmen'i öldürdükleri, Salaheddin ilinde ki Türkmen yerleşimi Biravceli'de işlemişlerdir.

Yukarıdakiler Kuzey Irak'ta kendi kasabalarında, şehirlerinde ve köylerinde silahsız Türkmenlere yapılanlardan bir kaç örnektir.

2003 yılından beri Türkmenler sürekli hedef olmuşlar ve saldırılmışlardır. Öldürülmüşler, yaralanmışlar, fidye için rehin alınmışlar ve mülkleri yağmalanmışlar veya yakılmışlar ve politik liderleri suikasta uğramışlardır.  

Yukarıda anlatılan görünümüyle, Irak'ta ki Türkmen toplumunun hayatta kalması açıkça söz konusudur. Ülkenin mevcut sorunlu durumunda tüm Irak'ta ki, bilhassa Kuzey Irak'ta ki, Türkmenler bir etnik temizlik ve potansiyel soykırımla karşı karşıyadırlar.

Bu nedenle Irak Türkmenleri; Birleşmiş Milletler Genel Sekreteri, Bay Ban Ki Moon'u, 1991 - 2003 yılları arasında Irak Kürtlerine sağlandığı gibi Türkmenlere de Kuzey Irak'ta emniyetli bir yaşam sağlamak suretiyle Türkmenlere yardım etmelerini ve onları potansiyel bir soy kırımından korumak için sonuna kadar çaba sarf etmelerini acilen talep ederler

Ayrıca Türkmenler Birleşmiş Milletlerden ISIS suçlularını Irak merkezi yönetiminde ki ve sözü edilen dört vilayetin yöresel yönetimlerinde ki, Türkmenleri savunmasız ve korumasız bırakarak ihanet eden sorumlular ila birlikte Uluslar Arası Suçlular Mahkemesinde yargılanması huşunu acilen talep ederler.  

Saygılarımla

Dr. Hassan Aydinli

Irak Türkmen Cephesi AB'de ki Temsilcisi

Brussels, 21st June 2014.

Iraqi Turkmen Front denounces the discrimination of the Ownership Suits Board regarding the Turkmens' properties and lands which were confiscated and occupied before April 2003.

Bulletin about the ownership suits


13/02/2012


The problem of properties and lands ownership and disputes in Kirkuk particularly and in Mousul and Salahaldin are still suspended and considered as the most complicated cases that hinder the progress of the political process in Iraq and it include confiscated and plundered lands cases due to racist reasons.

Ownership Suits Board whose work is extremely slow is trying to give an impression that all raised cases had been settled, it issued a decision to integrate Kirkuk, Toz Kharmato, Salahaldin and Balad branches and its excuse is that 90% of cases were resolved. However, the truth is that few percentage were only resolved and a big proportion of cases are still waiting for a final solution from the discrimination court that could return some cases to the Board again without solving them. For example from 8000 cases in Taza region , 2700 cases were revoked, whereas in Bashir only 303 cases from 1422 cases were settled and the cases that were supposed to be settled were either returned or cancelled and will be transferred to primary court to look at them and they are still unresolved.

Iraqi Turkmen Front confirmed that the integration decision aroused suspicions because it expropriated the rights of the original landlords from Turkmen so; it requires its immediate cancellation and the Board with all its branches in Kirkuk and other mentioned regions to return the right to its quorum. Iraqi Turkmen Front confirms that it demands Turkmen rights as well as Kurdish and Arabic rights from the original Kirkuk's population whose lands had been occupied and confiscated before April 2003. Article 136 of the Iraqi constitution dictated that the Board is independent, it determined its work mechanism and the wide lines and accordingly it works by coordination with judicial authority and executive systems according to the law.

The Front demands the necessity of taking time in solving the discriminated cases till endorsement of a decision from the minister's council concerning cancellation of the disintegrated Revolution leadership council and North Affairs Committee that according to them the lands were confiscated and repossessed, we demand the deputy council the necessity to speed up amendment of law no. 13 of 2010 that caused harm to the original components of Kirkuk.

http://www.turkmenaspect.com/english/2012/02/1417.html

The Ethnic Cleansing of Turkmens in the North of Iraq

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Hereunder is HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH report on BESHIR (South of Kerkuk), one of the Turkmen villages in Northern Iraq which was ethnically cleansed under the Arabization policy of the former regime:

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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT -AUGUST 2004
Claims in Conflict: Reversing Ethnic Cleansing in Northern Iraq
http://hrw.org/reports/2004/iraq0804

Case Study: Al-Bashir village

Note: the original name before Arabisation is BESHIR also spelled BEŞIR.

U.S. forces in Kirkuk also conducted a mediation involving the formerly Turkoman agricultural area of al-Bashir, located south of the city of Kirkuk. According to one of the Turkoman leaders, Imam Qanbar Mahmud Ridha al-Musawi, al-Bashir was a thriving Turkoman area of some 700 families, who owned some 48,000 dunums of farmlands.
Al-Bashir was home to seven mosques, five schools, and a large hospital. The outlawed Islamic Da’wa Party was active in the area, according to the imam, and in the early 1980s, Iraqi security forces began arresting young men from the village, many of who were later executed. In 1986, the entire community was expelled and moved to communal compounds:
In 1986, security officials started to arrive to the village, informing us that we should prepare to leave the district. Days after this, they came and brought us a bunch of keys with numbered medals attached. They said there were compounds on the road to Tikrit and that we had to move to these compounds. There were six compounds: al-Qadisiyya, Dhi Qar, Shahid, Nahrawan, Yarmuk, and Saddam.157

Most of the Turkoman families of al-Bashir were never compensated, although a small minority received some money for their lost houses. About one year after their initial displacement, almost all of the Turkoman families were dispersed to cities throughout Iraq, including Kut, Basra, Arbil, and Diyala, without being provided with housing.

After the displacement of the Turkomans, the Iraqi government embarked on a major irrigation project in the al-Bashir area, greatly increasing the productivity of the land. In the mid-1990s, the government began resettling Arab tribesmen in the area, offering them twenty-five dunums of irrigated farmland on annual leases. More than 200 Arab families moved to the area, including some who had lost their original lands when they were developed as oil fields in the ‘Umar Ibn Khattab area.



During the 2003 war, the Arabs did not flee the al-Bashir area. According to the imam of the village, this was due to the fact that Kurdish Peshmerga did not take control of the area: “When the coalition forces approached Kirkuk with the Kurdish Peshmerga, the Arabs fled spontaneously, and those who remained were attacked. Our area was different, because the coalition forces didn’t take control of our district, so the Arabs just stayed in our places.”158

Tensions quickly grew as Turkomans started returning to the area and demanding their lands. The Turkomans began to threaten the Arabs, who insisted that they would only leave after a decision on the property dispute was made by a new Iraqi government, arguing that they came to the village lawfully, and would only leave under the law. According to Col. George, who initiated the mediation, the situation came to a head one day when the Turkomans came to inform him that all of the displaced Turkomans from al-Bashir intended to march on the village, and that they would kill every Arab who remained. In order to avoid violence, the U.S. troops in Kirkuk initiated a mediation of the dispute in early September 2003.

The mediation was not voluntary, according to the Arab leaders, who told Human Rights Watch that Col. George had given them a choice: either negotiate or “they would bring a judge who would cancel all of our agricultural contracts within one hour and we would be kicked out within a week,” a threat Col. George confirmed to Human Rights Watch that he made.159

The mediation in al-Bashir was led and controlled by U.S. authorities, and did not involve a panel of Iraqis, although Iraqi officials from the agricultural department of Kirkuk were involved in an advisory role with the U.S. mediators. Unlike the Dogurtkan mediation, where an Iraqi panel actually settled property disputes, the al-Bashir mediation was an explicit short-term agreement, leaving the long-term issues of property-ownership unresolved. Among other things, the agreement provided for the allocation of thirteen dunums of land for the winter agricultural season, on a non-renewable basis, to each landless Arab family living in al-Bashir, and that Arab farmers be granted the winter harvest. Decisions on land allocation would be made by a committee composed of representatives of the local agricultural directorate and coalition forces. Complaints relating to compensation claims must be submitted within sixty days of the signing of the agreement to a commission set up for this purpose, composed of representatives of Taza district agricultural department, Kirkuk directorate and coalition forces. Arab families originally from outlying areas and who did not own a place of residence in the village would be required to leave the village within a year of the signing of the agreement. Returning Turkoman families would not be allowed to enter the village, except by invitation, during the period in which Arabs remain on disputed land.

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My comment:
Todate the unfortunate inhabitants of Beshir have not been compensated for the loss of their properties, lands and livelihoods. Although they have handed their files to the Properties Claims Commission in due time they are still waiting to recuperate their lost properties and lands!!!