Annual Report of UN Human Rights mentions the targeting of Turkmens in Iraq

The Annual Report of UN Human Rights to assist Iraq of the year 2011mentions the process of targeting Turkmens in Iraq



Due to the exceptional efforts made by the workers of human right office of Turkmen Front and the positive

contribution of the officials of the Front branches and offices in the governorates and all regions of Turkmen

Elli, through their follow up of the infringements files of Turkmens in all Turkmen areas. In addition to

participation of the active to defend Kirkuk and the continuous coordination with UN offices in Iraq, the

rights of Turkmen inside and outside, the UN delegate to assist Iraq listed the subject of targeting Turkmens in number of paragraphs of its annual report of the year 2011, issued on 20th of May 2012.



The process of listing Turkmen targeting in the annual report of UN delegate to assist Iraq for the first time in its work history is considered as an important achievement for Turkmens.



From another side, the active Turkmen and the head of Turkmen aspect edition, Ahmed Alhurmezi, send a letter to UN human rights and a copy UN Baghdad office requesting them to unite the name (Turkmen) in international reports that are written in English, especially in the last report of human rights in Iraq, three formulas were used in writing the name (Turkmen): Turkoman, Turkman and Turkmen) in the English copy.

He mentioned in his letter that the difference in writing the term Turkmen will lead to inaccuracies in the report and readers confusion who are interested in human rights cases, so he requested to write Turkmen in the formula used by Turkmens and that is 'Turkmen' for singular and 'Turkmens' for plural.



Published in Turkmen Aspect.

A NEW CEASEFIRE ? : Talabani mediates between Turkey and PKK

Jalal Talabani Iraqi president attempts to start a new ceasefire between Turkey and PKK. - PKK has stepped up the attacks inside Turkey as the country has launched its military operations in Qandil Mountains where the group’s hideouts and strongholds exist.

Jalal Talabani Iraqi president and Secretary General of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has expressed his concerns of the ongoing conflicts and that he intends to maximize his efforts to conciliate between the two sides involved in a deadly war, source inside PUK leaked to the press on Saturday.

He is attempting to persuade the two sides to hold “a new ceasefire”, the source added.

Iraq Kirkuk students complain of delays in allowances distribution

Iraqi Kirkuk students are still waiting for the execution of governmental promises to dedicate 100 thousand dinars from Petrodollar allocations to every university student in the province.

Kirkuk students welcomed, in the beginning of the year, Kirkuk local government resolution to dedicate 100 thousand dinars to every student, these same students wonder presently if this promise will ever be fulfilled.

“They registered our names, a year ago, to grant us these allowances that could help students with transportation expenses at least,” a student said adding that some are quitting universities because they cannot afford such expenses.

Kirkuk University presidency declared it is not responsible for delays while Kirkuk provincial council blamed operations routines.

“More than 10 thousand students registered their names for allowances and a special committee was formed for distribution purposes,” Abbas Hassan, assistant of Kirkuk University President, advanced.“Students have no reasons to be worried, we will be distributing retroactive allowances,” Head of Kirkuk provincial council Hassan Turan said.

This is the first initiative of its kind in Iraq which according to students might remain unexecuted referring to different unachieved promises so far.

THE IRAQ WAR READER: A History of War Crimes and Genocide. The Unleashing of America’s New Global Militarism

THE IRAQ WAR READER: A History of War Crimes and Genocide. The Unleashing of America’s New Global Militarism


ONLINE INTERACTIVE I-BOOK





by Michel Chossudovsky and Finian Cunningham





http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31067

IRAQ: Two new border gates

The Kurdish administration in the northern part of Iraq announced that an understanding had been reached with Turkish authorities regarding two new border gates.



An announcement was made by the press office of Prime Minister of the Kurdish administration in the northern part of Iraq Neçirvan Barzani as follows, “It has been decided to open two new border gates at the Turkey-Northern Iraq border to strengthen relations with Turkey. The relevant authorities of both parties will get together next week”.



The announcement also included the information that Mr.Barzani and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had discussed the Turkey-Northern Iraq border and transporting crude oil to the refineries in Turkey at the World Economic Forum held in Istanbul.



It was indicated that approximately 12 billion dollars worth of exports was realized through the Habur gate between Iraq and Turkey annually.

Baghdad and Erbil Clash Over Oil ‎

By Denise Natali – Al Monitor – 7.6.2012 -Denise Natali is the Minerva Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University and the author of The Kurdish Quasi-State: Development and Dependency in Post Gulf War Iraq.



The Iraqi energy sector is more divided than ever. While Baghdad insists on central government control of the country’s natural resources, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is autonomously developing its own oil market. Underlying these differences is a brewing cold war between Baghdad and Erbil, particularly as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki consolidates power and the Kurds attempt to check it.





Still, Baghdad is regaining leverage over Iraq’s energy arena. Increased state oil production and revenues, despite the mediocre results of the fourth bidding round, have reinforced central government authority and the means by which it can appease and control challengers. This trend, along with the absence of a cohesive anti-Maliki block and the unlikelihood of a direct KRG pipeline deal with Ankara, will further frustrate negotiation of a national hydrocarbons law and keep Kurdish crude in political and economic limbo.



Baghdad’s energy ambitions reflect the larger goal of reaffirming central authority in Iraq. Despite the ongoing chaos, security threats, administrative bottlenecks and the KRG’s “export embargo,” the central government has increased oil production to nearly 3 million barrels per day. Last April, it realized its highest export level since 1990.



These developments, alongside improved economic relations with regional and international actors, have strengthened Baghdad’s sense of resource nationalism and state control of energy management. Even though major international oil companies (IOCs) showed little interest in Iraq’s fourth energy auction, Turkey’s state-run oil company TPAO secured another contract with a Kuwaiti consortium, www.mesop.de marking its fourth investment in Iraqi fields that border or are near Iran. These regional interests may not raise Iraqi reserves to the levels planned, but they affirm important state-to-state energy-sector ties.



Indeed, if Baghdad wants to further expand Iraq’s oil and gas reserves and increase production and export levels, then it will have to modify its contracts and entice major IOCs to its energy sector. Plans are already underway for a fifth bidding round, which could be another litmus test for potential compromise between the central government and IOCs. Still, even if Baghdad renegotiates profit margins it will be unlikely to cede full ownership of oil and gas to foreign firms. This issue remains a red-line for Baghdad, and is embedded in the commitment to Iraqi sovereignty and assuring “Iraqi oil for Iraqis.”



How will these trends impact the Kurdish energy sector and Baghdad-Erbil relations?



In the short term, hardly at all. The KRG will continue to sign its own production-sharing contracts and attempt to bring in more oil majors to its market. In fact, as long as the KRG can profit from higher sign-on bonuses, partially pay IOC costs by securing undisclosed revenues for the region through domestic crude sales and smuggling to Iran and continue to receive its annual multi-billion-dollar budget from Baghdad, then it has little to lose from the current impasse.



It is more likely that political obstacles will emerge as the KRG attempts to navigate around Baghdad’s payment and export constraints. Not only has the KRG’s ExxonMobil deal exacerbated tensions with Baghdad, but it has caused a backlash from Iraqi Arab populations that could undermine the Kurds’ longer-term energy interests. Although some Sunni Arab elites currently support the KRG in an anti-Maliki alliance, local Sunni Arab groups and Iraqi officials in southern and central Iraq have turned toward Maliki against the Kurds. Their goal is to protect Iraqi unity from what they perceive as Kurdish land grabs and an over-reaching Kurdistan Region, tied to KRG oil deals in the disputed territories.



These challenges are particularly important because the KRG has no viable alternative in which to operate its energy sector other than with Baghdad. The recent Kurdish proposal to build a direct pipeline to Turkey may have stimulated a media frenzy and investor confidence, but it offers no real guarantee for independent Kurdish exports. The verbal agreement between Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz and Kurdish Oil Minister Ashti Hawrami to pursue shared energy interests does not translate into official Kurdish oil sales to Turkey. Not only is there no signed agreement, but the Turkish minister affirmed that any pipeline plan would require Baghdad’s approval. Yildiz also was careful not to endorse a separate Kurdish line but rather to fill the “current Iraqi line to a higher capacity.”



Moreover, despite the KRG’s potentially cheap energy — or easy transshipping profits for Turkey — Ankara has serious border-security concerns that will ultimately shape the deals it makes with the KRG, and the degree of Kurdish autonomy it permits. As the PKK issue heats up in Turkey and Syria, and as long as the PKK base remains in Iraqi Kurdistan, this tension will become increasingly salient. Nor are neighboring states likely to further empower the KRG, particularly with expanding trans-border Kurdish nationalisms and an unstable Syrian situation.



These geopolitical realities leave the KRG, which is fully dependent upon Baghdad for its budget, with two viable options. It can continue to sell its crude to local markets and truck it across borders, or export its oil through the official Iraqi line. The first option allows the KRG to remain largely in control of its oil and revenues, although at about half of official market prices and at a reduced level. The second option could lead to larger output and revenues, but would require some concessions on KRG control of its energy sector and its nationalist and territorial claims. The latter may be the least palatable choice for the KRG at the moment, but it has the most realistic chance of leading to a national oil law, maximizing Iraqi energy potential and enabling the KRG and its IOCs to fully monetize production.

Sadr warns Maliki over ties to Turkey

Baghdad

Iraqi Parliament Speaker al-Nujaifi (C) speaks as Iraqi radical Shiite Muslim cleric al-Sadr (R) listens during a press conference in the southern holy city of Najaf. AFP Photo

The relations between Turkey and Iraq are experiencing difficulties and the most difficult part of this period is when “sectarian games are played,” Shiite Sadrist leader Muqtada al-Sadr said. Al-Sadr hosted Selahattin Özgündüz, Turkish Caferi leader, and a delegate accompanying him in Najaf.

“The most difficult phase of Turkey-Iraqi ties is when sectarian games are played. The wrong perspective is to see Iraq as only a Shiite country and Turkey as a Sunni country,” al-Sadr said, adding that Iraq should be a country of all sects, religions and races. “Like in Turkey, Turkey belongs to all religions, sects, and races.” Sadr also thanked Özgündüz for his efforts on the Day of Aşura.

Upon Özgündüz’s remarks that they didn’t want to see Kirkuk tied to a Kurdish administration and they believed they had enough power to prevent it from happening, al-Sadr said: “Kirkuk is neither Shiite, Sunni nor Kurdish. It belongs to Iraq.”

The Shiite leader also said it was not acceptable to burn the flag of a Muslim nation after around 200 protesters demanding that Ankara extradite Iraq’s fugitive vice president burned the Turkish flag May 19 at a demonstration near the Turkish Consulate General in Basra. Al-Sadr called on neighboring and Muslim countries to keep ties at a good level.

On the crisis with Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, al-Sadr said the tension was a result of political disputes and advised Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government not to raise the tension. “We advise al-Maliki not to strain ties with Turkey any more,” al-Sadr said, adding that all situations concerning al-Maliki raised the sectarian crisis in the country.

The al-Hashemi crisis engulfed Iraq after al-Maliki’s government issued an arrest warrant for the country’s Sunni vice president in December. Al-Sadr also said they were mediating between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the central government to ease the ongoing crisis and added that the Kurdish administration did not want to split from Iraq.

June/02/2012

Published in Hürriyet Daily News

ITF Turkey Representative Dr.Hicran Kazancı visited CHP Member of Parliament Former Ambassador his Excellency Osman Korutürk

Iraqi Turkmen Front Turkey Representative and MKYK member Dr.Hicran Kazancı visited CHP Istanbul MP Former Ambassador Osman Korutürk in his office.



The Former Iraq Special Envoy and Former Ambassador Osman Korutürk and ITF Turkey Representative Dr.Hicran Kazancı mainly assessed the agenda of Iraq and Kirkuk, their political approaches and the political and economic situation of the Iraqi Turkmen.



They also changed views regarding the Middle East policy of Turkey and the recent developments in Syria during the meeting.



At the end of the meeting Hicran Kazancı thanked CHP MP Former Ambassador Osman Korutürk for his interest.


Dr. Hicran Kazancı

Iraqi Turkmen Front

Turkey Representative