UN envoy in Iraq welcomes beginning of parliamentary voting process

Special Representative Martin Kobler. UN Photo/Devra Berkowitz


13 April 2013 – The top United Nations official in Iraq today welcomed the smooth conduct of the Governorate Council Elections' Special Voting, where Iraqi soldiers and policeman cast their ballots ahead of next week's main vote.

“Today's special voting marks the beginning of the voting process,” the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Martin Kobler said in a news release.

The country's electoral body, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), demonstrated “a high level of professionalism in this first election organized under full Iraqi ownership,” Mr. Kobler stressed.

“Now that Iraqi security forces, police and military have exercised their right to cast their ballot, all eyes are focused on the election day on 20 April,” the UN Envoy noted. He urged the security forces to ensure a free and secure environment for the elections.

At least 15.5 million Iraqis are eligible to vote in the 20 April polls, according to official estimates, where more than 8,000 candidates are reportedly vying for 378 seats on provincial councils.

Provincial councils are responsible for nominating governors who take charge of the provinces' administration, finances and reconstruction projects.

“It is of the utmost importance that voters turn out in an orderly and safe environment free of violence, threats and intimidation,” Mr. Kobler concluded.

Next week's elections are the first Iraq has held since parliamentary elections in 2010.

How Paul Bremer tried to ignore Iraq's Ayatollah Sistani

Joel Wing - Musings on Iraq


Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) arrived in Iraq in May 2003. He was determined to put his stamp upon the country. He had a vision for how it would become a democracy, which would require up to two years of transition under his supervision. This was to be a top down process that had little room for what Iraqis wanted. This ran into immediate opposition from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most senior Shiite cleric in Iraq. He wanted Iraqis to have a voice in the process, and demanded that elections be held as soon as possible to draw up a new Iraqi constitution, and government. Bremer consistently rejected the cleric’s demands until Washington forced him to compromise. It was an ironic turn of events as Sistani consistently pushed for a faster turn towards democracy than the Americans did.

CPA head Paul Bremer wanted to run Iraq as a viceroy, and did not want to listen to prominent Iraqis like Ayatollah Sistani (AFP)

Paul Bremer envisioned a long process of building a new democratic Iraq. At first, many believed that he would quickly set up an interim government to turn over control to Iraqis, but he immediately squashed that idea. Instead, he created the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) with some help from the United Nations in July 2003. The council was tasked with coming up with a timetable for selecting a constitutional drafting body, and when the document would be written. Afterward there would be elections for a new Iraqi government. He speculated that process might take up to two years. Then on September 8, he wrote an op ed for the Washington Post where he clarified his plans. He ruled out early balloting, because there were no voter roles, no districts, or laws on elections or political parties. Instead he proposed a three-step process. The first was the creation of the Iraqi Governing Council. Then a constitutional committee would be formed by August. A constitution would be drafted, then a referendum held on it, followed by elections for a permanent government, finished off by sovereignty being returned. While Iraqis were minimally included in the process through the Governing Council, Bremer demanded that he be in charge, and have ultimate say. For example, no Iraqis were included in formulating his plan. Many were unhappy with this idea, including the ones that Bremer chose as partners, and his superiors back in Washington.

ITF Turkey Representative Dr. Hicran Kazancı reacted to the Minister of Education of Baghdad

Although 10 years have gone by since the dictator of Iraq was ousted and 10 years have been spent on the path to democratization, democracy is obstructed because there are still those in the Baghdad administration who have not been able to discard their dictator-like and chauvinist mentality. 

Regardless of the fact that the Turkmen language is an official language according to the Constitutional Law, on the 9^th of April 2013 the principal of the Kirkuk Girls High school, Nursen Abdullah who is of Turkmen origin was relieved of her duties by the Minister of Education of Baghdad Muhammet Timim because she spoke the Turkmen language during the flag raising ceremony, which is an indicator of where the position of democracy in Iraq has reached because of his mentality.

It is thought provoking that the applications regarding the Turkmen take this turn although Turkmen rights have been approved in parliament. We anticipate that all the Turkmen ministers and members of parliament in Baghdad address this issue.

ITF TURKEY REPRESENTATIVE KAZANCI MET WITH AK PARTY GENERAL VICE PRESIDENT KURTULMUŞ

ITF TURKEY REPRESENTATIVE KAZANCI MET WITH AK PARTY GENERAL VICE PRESIDENT KURTULMUŞ

        

AK Party General Vice President Numan Kurtulmuş met with Iraqi Turkmen Front Turkey Representative Dr. Hicran Kazancı at the AK Party Headquarters. The developments and the political crisis in Iraq were discussed at the meeting.

After the meeting a joint press conference was arranged and Dr. Hicran Kazancı said that they had discussed the developments in Iraq, the deepening crisis and stopping the violence in the Turkmeneli region.  Kazancı said:

“Turkey is the main country which can be effective in stopping the crisis in Iraq from deepening any further and stopping the bloodbaths. It is evident particularly after 2003 that in its policies in terms of Iraq, Turkey has maintained an equal distance to all the groups there. Turkey has arranged for those injured in terror related explosions to be examined and treated in Turkey without delay. This is arranged without considering ethnic identities. … Turkey made significant efforts to have the Sunni included in the political equation when they were excluded. The same efforts would have been executed on behalf of the Shiites if they had been excluded.”

Kazancı thanked Kurtulmuş for his concern.

In his speech Kurtulmuş emphasized that the problems in the region could be resolved with stability and negotiations by saying, “We are for the integration of the people in the region. We want the Iraqi Turkmen to have a say in the future of Iraq”. Kurtulmuş indicated that two words held the key to establishing peace in the region by saying:

“One of these words is stability. The second one is negotiation. Yes, there may be problems between us. There may be political, social, economic problems among the people of these territories, these regions. In order to resolve these problems we are obliged to be receptive to negotiation and that these negotiations produce common ideas as well as act in such a way that the interests of all the people in the region are taken into consideration.  The second issue is political stability. Policies established on the incitement of conflict, segregation, differences, diversity will not be beneficial. In addition, it is clearly evident and natural that we have unique emotional ties with our Turkmen brothers in Northern Iraq. We are in close affiliation with the Turkmen in Northern Iraq, Kirkuk, Mosul and Telafar who are our kin.”

Tony Blair and Iraq: The damning evidence

Secret testimony to Chilcot Inquiry by British intelligence shows former PM 'accepted Libya was a bigger threat'
JONATHAN OWEN


SUNDAY 07 APRIL 2013





Hitherto unseen evidence given to the Chilcot Inquiry by British intelligence has revealed that former prime minister Tony Blair was told that Iraq had, at most, only a trivial amount of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that Libya was in this respect a far greater threat.


Intelligence officers have disclosed that just the day before Mr Blair went to visit president George Bush in April 2002, he appeared to accept this but returned a "changed man" and subsequently ordered the production of dossiers to "find the intelligence" that he wanted to use to justify going to war.

This and other secret evidence (given in camera) to the inquiry will, The Independent on Sundayunderstands, be used as the basis for severe criticism of the former prime minister when the Chilcot report is published.

Mr Blair is said to have "realised" and "understood" that Libya was the real threat and that he knew "it would not be sensible to lead the argument on Saddam and the WMD issue" according to evidence of a conversation on 4 April 2002, the day before he flew to the US to spend a weekend with Mr Bush.

This was disclosed in a closed evidence session with one of MI6's most senior officers, named as SIS4. Although details have been redacted, the transcript, later released online with little fanfare, states that Mr Blair "realised that the WMD threat from Libya was more serious than from Iraq".

During a closed session with former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove, redacted evidence claims Mr Blair "had understood that Libya posed a bigger threat than Iraq, and understood the risk, therefore, of focusing on WMD in relation to Iraq". It refers to a meeting held by Mr Blair at Chequers days before the visit to Mr Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, but is unclear whether the claims were made by Sir Richard or another individual. What is clear is that in 2002, British intelligence "discovered that Libya has an active nuclear weapons programme", according to Sir Richard.

By contrast, Iraq had no nuclear weapons and any actual WMD would be "very, very small" and would fit on to the "back of a petrol lorry", according to one senior MI6 officer. They admitted the danger from WMD was "all in the cranium of just a few scientists, who we never did meet and we have been unable to meet ever since".

Yet the weekend at Crawford in April 2002 marked Mr Blair's conversion to Mr Bush's way of thinking. The former US president was determined to deal with Saddam Hussein. On Friday 5 April, Mr Blair and Mr Bush spent the evening alone, without their advisers. By the end of the weekend Mr Blair appeared to be a changed man, where previously he had said "we don't do regime change", according to Admiral Lord Boyce, former Chief of the Defence Staff.

The findings will inform a highly critical attack on Mr Blair when the Chilcot Inquiry publishes its report later this year. "Chilcot has the full story and it's a very complex one," a former senior MI6 officer, who would not be named, told The IoS.

And top-secret British government papers suggesting that the two leaders had made a pact to act against Iraq have been given to the inquiry by barrister and Plaid Cymru MP Elfyn Llwyd. The document was leaked to him after the invasion.

"It was quite clear that the deal had been struck firmly that weekend and the wording was quite unambiguous," he told The IoS. "There's no doubt in my mind that that weekend saw Blair decide to go to war." The former prime minister "had his head turned" and was "star-struck" by Mr Bush, he said.

Before the middle of 2002, "Iraq had been relatively low down the scale of preoccupations" in terms of WMD, according to one MI6 officer in evidence to the inquiry. In the months after Mr Blair's return from Texas, the secret services came under pressure to come up with intelligence to support a move to war.

MI6 was "on the flypaper of WMD", and had no appetite for war, admitted another officer, SIS4. "Those of us who had been around [redacted] knew perfectly well what a disaster for countless people a war was going to be." Another MI6 officer, SIS1, described the "handling" of Curveball, the Iraqi source whose claims of mobile chemical weapons laboratories were subsequently exposed as lies, and the "marketing" of the intelligence as "awful".

The committee is expected to examine why secret warnings from senior Iraqi figures that there were no WMD were dismissed by British intelligence. Iraq "will not be able to indigenously produce a nuclear weapon while sanctions remain in place", stated a report by the Joint Intelligence Committee in March 2002, which admitted there was little or no intelligence on chemical or biological weapons.

After the invasion in March 2003, SIS4 suggested, there was "a sort of recognition that the WMD thing had served its purpose; we had got in, we had done the war".

"This report will be absolutely damning on Blair's style of government, the decision-making process and the planning and execution for its aftermath," said a source close to the inquiry, speaking before the 10th anniversary on Tuesday of the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue.

One authority on Iraq, Toby Dodge of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, agrees. "I think they will rip into him for his style of government, and that there wasn't due process," he said. "It's clear the way the intelligence was handled, filtered out and shaped was an issue. This is a perversion of the use of intelligence."

A spokesperson for Mr Blair said: "There have been five inquiries into this now. If people do want to see the intelligence reports they are published online. The view that Saddam Hussein had a WMD programme was held not just by the intelligence services in the UK and US but in countries which opposed military action."

Timing of Local Elections Important for Political Balances in Iraq

Bilgay Duman, ORSAM Middle East Specialist


The federal system that the US has been striving to establish in Iraq since the 2003 invasion has increased the importance of local governments.

Considering the social structure and population of the country, the federal structure in Iraq has the potential to change the power balances to a considerable extent. Most of the political parties, groups, tribes or leaders that are influential in local politics in this respect have also reached a level that can impact the general politics in Iraq. Those parties that cannot be effective in general politics focus on local politics, trying to stay in power at the local level. These facts were clearly seen in the local elections held in 2005 and 2009. Local elections are planned again for April 20.

However, the uprisings in Sunni regions, the conflict and instability within the Iraqi central government, and the struggle between the Iraqi central government and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) constitute the first item on the political agenda. The aforesaid instability in politics also has a negative effect on security, and thus there has been an increase in acts of violence. This instability in the fields of politics and security will negatively affect the local elections and thus the future of Iraq. As a matter of fact, it was announced on March 19 that the Iraqi Council of Ministers had postponed the local elections in Mosul and al-Anbar, to be held within the next six months. Following this decision, the local elections in other provinces may also be postponed.

In these circumstances Iraq has been preparing for the local elections. Although the Mosul and al-Anbar local elections have been postponed, local elections are still planned to be held in 12 of the 18 provinces of Iraq on April 20.

The delay of elections in some provinces will bring about certain consequences. Sunni groups are expected to be affected the most by this situation. This is because while some Sunni groups have staged demonstrations to call for the elections, others have sought their delay. Therefore, not all groups will participate in the elections in Al-Anbar.

The Iraqi Islamic Party opposed the delay of the elections in al-Anbar.

The decision to postpone the elections in Al-Anbar was accepted by a large majority, however. This situation could create an advantage for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki because it will keep the current council, which supports him, in power longer. On the other hand, the aforesaid decision might also further negatively affect the government, which is already in crisis, because from the very moment the decision was made, groups within the government objected to the decision. Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi clearly showed that he is against a delay by stating that the justifications for the decision are not sufficient and that the people should make the final decision on the delay. The Sadrist movement was also against the decision to postpone local elections. It stated that postponing the elections would worsen the security and political situations. Additionally, six ministers affiliated with the Sadrist movement stated they would not attend the meetings of the Council of Ministers at which a decision on the postponement of the elections would be made.

The Water Issue in Iraq and Attempts to Solve It

The Water Issue in Iraq and Attempts to Solve It


Dr. Tuğba Evrim Maden, ORSAM Water Research Programme Specialist, temaden@gmail.com



Iraq, which has been in constant conflict for the last three decades with the Iran-Iraq War from 1980-1988, the Gulf War from 1990-1991, the embargo placed on it between 1990 and 2003 and the US intervention between 2003 and 2011, is in shambles.

While this situation has negatively affected water resource management in Iraq, it has also damaged water infrastructure such as dams and channels.

According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN, the annual potential in Iraq for access to water is 94.1 billion cubic meters. Given the aforesaid figure, the annual amount of water per capita in Iraq is 2,632 cubic meters. According to the World Bank, this figure was more than 2,500 cubic meters in its 2006 report. According to the “Water in Iraq Factsheet” prepared by the UN, it was 2,400 cubic meters in 2010. The UN World Water Development Report estimates renewable water in Iraq per capita at 3,287 cubic meters. While the inconsistency in data constitutes a major problem on its own, the figures show that Iraq does not experience water scarcity. However, mismanagement of water resources in Iraq and problems related to the quality of water create problems in people’s access to water.

According to 1995 data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in Iraq’s pre-war period, 96 percent of water supplied to Iraqi cities was sanitized, and 48 percent to rural areas was considered clean. Ninety-three percent of city populations and 31 percent of the rural population could access clean water thanks to different sanitation methods. As a result of the bomb attacks by the US in March 2003, dams, pumping stations, channels, sea water desalination plants and wastewater treatment plants were damaged.

The UN predicts that Iraq will have difficulty attaining the 91 percent domestic usage of water in 2015. The Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources started work on the 20-year Strategy for Water and Land Resources in Iraq, to cover the years 2015 to 2035, in order to find a solution to the problem of water management, expected to increase in the coming years. The evaluation and detailed mapping of 121 irrigation projects, seven major dams and 18 barrages across the country are included in this plan, which firstly focuses on collecting data and analytic tools that will be necessary to implement the plan. While the first five years of the plan are projected to be a busy period, the project design involves its being updated every five years until 2035.

Turkmen Demands are Key to Protecting Syria’s Territorial Integrity

Turkmen Demands are Key to Protecting Syria’s Territorial Integrity


Oytun Orhan ORSAM Middle East Specialist



One of the consequences of the single party regime that has lasted for more than four decades in Syria is that no social or ideological groups in the country have had an opportunity to organize.

The authority gap caused by the events that emerged in Syria in March 2011 made it possible for the aforesaid groups, which had been excluded from the power domain, to organize in a short period of time. One of these groups was the Syrian Turkmen.

Since they were unable to organize under the President Bashar al-Assad regime, they lacked a tradition of political opposition, a situation that changed due to the relatively recent upheaval in Syria.

Starting in March 2012, the Syria Turkmen Bloc and the Syrian Democratic Turkmen Movement began engaging in political activities on behalf of Syrian Turkmen. Those two groups differ with regard to areas of influence, ideology and Turkmen troops they are affiliated with. The Syrian Turkmen Platform, which originated in Turkey, also started to conduct activities as a non-political party initiative to take on the leadership of the Syrian Turkmen movement. Thus, there are three different “groups/political parties/power groups that are trying to assume the leadership of and to become the representative of Syrian Turkmen.

The Syria Turkmen Bloc was created as a result of efforts of Syrian Turkmen living in Turkey. The bloc is a Latakia-based movement, and it is mostly influential and active in Bayır-Bucak; the majority of its administrative body is composed of people from this area. Yusuf Molla, who has been living in Turkey for many years, has led the movement.

The bloc thinks the biggest problem of the Syrian Turkmen is that they don’t reside in a single area. They believe that a post-Assad regional federation is not possible and that Syria must be ruled according to a citizenship-based approach. The slogan of the bloc is “One Syria!” and it is working for Turkmen to have political, social, economic and cultural rights in the new Syria, living as equal Syrian citizens without any discrimination. The bloc is against the splitting up of Syria. They demand a civilized, democratic state where the central authority is protected, but local authority is reinforced. However, they want to limit the strengthening of local authority to prevent a federal system.

The bloc has a close relationship with the Turkmen soldiers in Bayır-Bucak. Some 12 Turkmen soldiers, who are active in Latakia province, are close to the Brigade of Turkmen Mountain, an umbrella organization of the aforesaid troops. In military terms, the bloc is not active in Aleppo. They can only send humanitarian aid to Aleppo. However, they strive to be active in military terms in Aleppo.

The Syria Democratic Turkmen Movement was created following the start of the uprising when Syrian Turkmen felt they needed to organize and unite. Syrian Turkmen in Turkey have also supported this group. The movement has a results-oriented approach: It carries out activities in the field. Due to its renewed administrative structure, the movement has started to a great extent to come to the fore as an Aleppo-based movement. It carries out almost all political, civilian and military activities in Aleppo.

Since the very beginning, the movement has focused its attention on establishing diplomatic relationships with Turkey and the Syrian opposition, besides establishing direct relations with the Syrian regime. Within this framework, through the efforts of the Movement, 16 Turkmen representatives were chosen to the Syrian National Council. The movement’s perspective on solving the problems of Syrian Turkmen is as follows: They believe that since Syrian Turkmen are dispersed all across the country this can be a major danger for them. Therefore, their primary objective is to maintain the unity and territorial integrity of Syria by establishing a new system based on citizenship in a new Syria. They also ask that free elections be held under the supervision of world bodies, that a new constitution in line with globally accepted standards is prepared and that all groups constituting Syrian society be provided with cultural, political and citizenship rights.

The relationship between the Movement and Turkmen soldiers is limited to Aleppo. Ali Basher, coordinator of Turkmen Brigades in Aleppo, states that they act in unison with the movement.

The Syrian Turkmen Platform was founded in 2012. The first meeting had 42 participants, and a five-person committee was formed. The first goal was to create public awareness of Syrian Turkmen around the world. It emerged as a civilian initiative. There are Syrian Turkmen within the Platform initiative that climbed the ladder of success in business and trade while living in Turkey.

The objective of this initiative is to form a delegate assembly to be elected in Syria, and for this assembly to designate a committee to speak for and represent Syrian Turkmen. What is wanted is for the aforesaid two Turkmen parties to join in a supra-political parties structure to take part in this initiative. Thus, the first meeting of the Syrian Turkmen Platform was hosted by the Turkish Foreign Ministry in İstanbul on Dec. 15, 2012, with the support of the Prime Ministry.

The platform seeks the creation of a Turkmen Assembly. It is projected to bring 350 delegates from Syria. After the election of those delegates, a nine-person committee will be formed to be the decision-making body for Syrian Turkmen. The Platform considers it to be a joint supra-parties initiative, not as a third alternative political party to the Syria Turkmen Bloc and Democratic Turkmen Movement. This decision-making body will represent Syrian Turkmen in every platform and will conduct all negotiations on behalf of Syrian Turkmen.

The Syrian Turkmen population is of a key importance not only for Turkey, but also for the democratic future of Syria. If a future Syrian regime wants to build a country where all ethnic and sectarian groups within its borders can live in peace together, then it must recognize the presence of Turkmen and provide an environment for Turkmen to be equally represented in the political field with other communities. Syrian Turkmen, who have courageously stood against authoritarian practices since the very beginning of the democratic demonstrations in Syria, are as committed as any other community to maintaining the territorial integrity of the country, and thus, the Syrian opposition should enable Turkmen to come into their own. It is critically important for both Syria and the region that Turkmen, who have suffered from the oppression of the Assad regime and human rights violations, equally take part in political and social life in the country in a new Syria with Sunni Arabs, Arab Alawites, Christians, Kurds, Druse and Shiites.