Friday 28 June 2013

IRAQ - Groundbreaking new laws take power from pm, give to provinces


niqash | Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | 27.06.2013


Shortly after provincial elections that saw Iraq’s PM lose sway in many parts of the country, parliament has struck another blow against their controversial leader. Laws giving provincial authorities more power and more money than ever were passed late last week.


Last weekend, a new law passed by the Iraqi Parliament in Baghdad, granted the provincial authorities more power than they have ever had before. This momentous move is seen as another step toward decentralization and a move away from the centralized power that current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been pushing for.  

Up until now what provincial governments can do has been regulated by Iraq’s Law 21, passed in 2008 and also known as the Provincial Powers Law. Last week, a series of new amendments were made to this law.

“These new powers given to the provinces will entrench the principle of decentralization in Iraq,” Kurdish MP Mohammed Kayani, head of the Regions and Provinces Committee in Parliament, told NIQASH; Kayani is a member of Iraqi Kurdistan’s opposition Change movement. “The law gives huge administrative and financial powers to local governments - including the appointment, supervision and punishment of senior officials. In addition, it gradually transfers the powers of seven service provision ministries [in Baghdad] to local governments over a period of two years.”

The new amendments to the law gave provinces that are not semi-autonomous regions like Iraqi Kurdistan a host of new political, economic and security-related powers. Provincial authorities may now make more far reaching decisions in these areas without any interference from the central government in Baghdad.

“This is a political agreement between Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims and Kurdish politicians,” Ziad Ahmad, a local political analyst, told NIQASH. “They are united in their opposition to al-Maliki’s policies. Anti-government demonstrations in the west of the country have also had an impact on this topic. All of these were reasons behind the passing of this law.”

Ahmad says that provincial authorities now have more serious responsibilities. He also believes they will require professional advice from outside their own regions in order to succeed.

But in fact a lot of these ideas are not altogether new. The provinces were already given broad powers in the 2005 version of the Iraqi Constitution. Articles 111 through 117 give Iraq’s provincial authorities both economic and security-related power. Up until these amendments were passed though, local authorities felt they were constrained by those ruling in Baghdad. Recently especially al-Maliki has been accused of trying to strengthen Baghdad’s authority and his own.

However now local governments are able to choose their own judiciary and their own heads of security. The new laws also give them the power to deploy the Iraqi army inside and outside major cities; Baghdad is also obligated to consult with the local governor, should they wish to deploy the army in their province. In fact the amendment, Article 14, says “the governor shall have direct authority over all the apparatuses operating in the province which are tasked with security and with maintaining public order”.

“Security forces coming from Baghdad have always refused to inform the governor’s office here of their activities,” Ninawa’s last governor, Atheel al-Nujaifi, who looks likely to return to the post after the recent elections, told NIQASH. Al-Nujaifi heads a troubled province where a variety of different military forces hold power. “The Iraqi government has dealt with the provinces in a dictatorial way and it was ignoring the Constitution.”

The new amendments also look likely to make some of the provinces far wealthier.

Another one of the amendments has this to say: “the provincial council is the legislative and regulatory authority in the province. It has the right to issue domestic legislation so as to enable it to administer the affairs of the province in accordance with the principle of administrative decentralization. Provincial councils shall have a legal personality and financial independence.”

For example, the amendments will increase the percentage of money those provinces producing oil get. Article 44 of the Iraqi Constitution stipulates that, besides part of the federal budget, fees or fines and tax revenues, each province gets a percentage from any barrel of oil that is either produced or refined there; a similar stipulation exists regarding the production of natural gas.

“In Basra, this law means that province should get more than US$10 million a day due to oil extraction there – as well as US$1 billion from the federal budget,” former MP, judge and legal expert, Wael Abdul-Latif, told NIQASH.

Basra will get the biggest budget it has ever had in contemporary history, Abdul-Latif noted. “And with that, it should be able to solve a lot of its own problems. The money it gets will almost be equal to the budget of a small country like Jordan.”

Of course, not everybody is happy about the changes to the Provincial Powers Law. The political bloc currently ruling the country, led by al-Maliki, says it intends to challenge the amendments in Iraq’s highest court. They say the amendments deprive the federal government of important powers it should have.

State of Law MPs even boycotted the voting session during which the amendments were passed. However all the MPs that remained in Parliament supported the law.

The timing of the new law is also interesting, coming as it did shortly after provincial elections that saw al-Maliki and his supporters lose a lot of power in some provinces.

But as Kurdish MP, Hassan Jihad, who supports the amendments as an expression of Iraqi federalism, said: “any party that votes against this law will most certainly be accused of being a supporter of a centralist and totalitarian system.” Then again, those charges are nothing new to al-Maliki.


Thursday 27 June 2013

Iraklı şehit Türkmenler için Bursa’da gıyabi cenaze namazı


Iraklı şehit Türkmenler için Bursa’da gıyabi cenaze namazı
27 HAZIRAN 2013
http://www.turkmensani.net/tr-tr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1281:-irakl-ehit-tuerkmenler-icin-bursada-gyabi-cenaze-namaz&catid=46:tuerkye&Itemid=125



Irak’ta düzenlene bombalı saldırıda şehit olan Türkmenler için Bursa’da gıyabi cenaze namazı kılındı.

saldırıda şehit olan Türkmenler için Bursa’da gıyabi cenaze namazı kılındı. Merkez Nilüfer ilçesi Fethiye Mahallesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Camii'nde kılınan cenaze namazına vatandaşlar yoğun katılım gösterdi. Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi - İlahiyat Fakültesi'nde eğitim gören Iraklı Türkmen öğrencilerin organize ettiği cenaze namazında öğrenciler saf tuttu.Fakültede eğitim gören Iraklı öğrenci Mustafa Ağaoğlu tarafından kıldırılan cenaze namazı sonrasında şehitler için dua edildi. İkinde namazını müteakip kılınan gıyabi cenaze namazında Muhtaroğlu ve Koca’nın da resimleri tabuta yapıştırıldı. Selahaddin şehrinde 2 kişinin düzenlediği intihar saldırısında, aralarında Irak Türkmen Cephesi Başkan Yardımcısı Muhtaroğlu'nun da bulunduğu çok sayıda kişi şehit olurken, onlarca kişi de yaralandı.


إقامة صلاة الغائب على أرواح شهداء طوزخورماتو
قام الطلاب التركمان الدراسين في جامعة أولوداغ - كلية الشريعة في مدينة بورصا التركية بتاريخ 26/6/2013 الموافق ليوم الأربعاء إقامة صلاة الغائب على أرواح شهداء مدينة طوز خورماتو التركمانية بعد سلسلة الانفجارات التي استهدفت المدينة والتي راحت ضحيتها مئات من الشهداء والجرحى من التركمان الآمنين الذين لا ذنب لهم ، إلاّ أنهم يطالبون بحقوقهم المشروعة لا غير ، وقد كان من بين الشهداء نائب رئيس الجبهة التركمانية العراقية وعضو مجلس محافظة صلاح الدين (الشهيد علي هاشم مختار أوغلو) والمعاون الإداري لمحافظ صلاح الدين( الشهيد أحمد عبد الواحد قوجا) ونجله، هذا وقد حضر إقامة صلاة الغائب جمع من أهالي مدينة بورصا وممثلي الأحزاب ومنظمات المجتمع المدني ، وقد أمّ المصلين الطالب (مصطفى واجد آغا أوغلو) حيث دعى الله تعالى للشهداء الرحمة والغفران وللجرى الشفاء العاجل. 

Türkmenleri dernekler federasyonu Basın Açıklaması


TÜFED
Türkmenleri dernekler federasyonu
Kütük No: 34-174/056
İnönü Mah. Cebel Topu Sok. No:7/1 Harbiye-Şişli/İstanbul
Tel: 0212-225 22 62   -  0536-250 48 48


Basın Açıklaması
27.06.2013

Değerli Basın Mensupları,

İki yıldan beri Türkmeneli’nin önemli bölgelerinden biri olan Tuzhurmatu ilçesinde sistematik Türkmen toplumunu hedef alan patlamalar meydana gelmektedir. Şehit düşen Türkmen, yaralanan Türkmen, arazisi gasp edilen hep Türkmenlerdir. Sadece bir yıl içerisinde Tuzhurmatu Türkmenlerine 30’un üzerinde terör saldırısı düzenlenmiştir. İçinde bulunduğumuz hafta içinde 3 kez terör eylemi gerçekleştirilmiş, canlı bombalar patlatılarak Türkmenler katletmiştir.

Türkmenler mengenenin iki ağzı arasında sıkışıp her gün kan kaybediyorlar. Türkmen siyasi yetkililerin tüm girişimleri ve çağrılarına rağmen Irak’ın Merkezi Hükümeti bu insanların can ve mal güvenliklerini sağlamakta aciz kalmıştır. Ülkenin ulusal koruma gücünün terör eylemlerini korumada yetersiz ve hatta çaresiz kalmıştır. Ayrıca Türkmenlerin kendi güvenlik güçlerini kurma teşebbüslerine de engel olmuştur.

25 Haziran 2013 tarihli saldırıda şehit düşen ITC başkan yardımcısı ve Salahattin İl Meclisi üyesi Ali Haşim Muhtaroğlu, onlarca kez saldırıya uğramış ve adeta teröristlerin baş hedefi haline gelmişti. Bir siyasi üst düzey yöneticisi ve seçilmiş meclis üyesi olan Ali Haşim Muhtaroğlu ve Salahattin İli Vali Yardımcısı Ahmet Koca oğlu ile birlikte teröristlerce şehit edilmişlerdir. Devletin üst düzey görevlisi olan ve sürekli biçimde açıkça tehdit altında bulunan Türkmen liderleri, devletin koruması altında korunmaları gerekirken, maalesef açık biçimde teröristlerin hedeflerine terk edilmişlerdir.

Kısacası Irak Hükümeti, ya Türkmenlerin can güvenliklerini korumayı düşünmemekte, ya da Irak Türkmen Cephesine yapılan saldırılara göz yummakta veya aciz kalmaktadır.

Değerli Basın Mensupları,

Türkmenlerin Irak’ta sahipsiz ve korumasız oldukları defalarca siyasetçilerimiz tarafından dile getirilmiştir. Bu hususta defalarca Birleşmiş Milletlere müracaat edilmiş, ancak, somut bir cevap alınmamıştır. Öyle anlaşılıyor ki Irak’ta Türkmenler bir soykırım operasyonu ile karşı karşıyadırlar. Özbeöz bir Türkmen kenti olan Tuzhurmatu’daki Türkmen nüfusu böylece göçe zorlanmaktadır.





Artık Irak’ın her türlü idari ve güvenlik birimlerinin güçlerinden ümidini kesen Türkmenler, dünyanın demokratik ve özgür ülkelerinden bu soykırıma karşı tepki göstermelerini beklemektedir.

Dayanılmaz koşullar altında direnen Irak Türkmenleri hakkında Türkmeneli Dernekleri Federasyonu, Türkmen sivil kuruluşları ve Avrasya Dernekleri Federasyonu olarak:

1.      Öncelikle 1960 Cenevre Antlaşması ile Kıbrıs Türkleri için garantörlük maddesini koyan anavatan Türkiye’nin, Türkmeneli’nde yaşayan Türkmenlerin için de garantör olmasını,
2.      Yine Türkiye’nin öncülüğünde Birleşmiş Milletler Güvenlik Konseyine ve özgür dünya ülkelerine insani sorumluluklarını hatırlatır; acilen müdahale etmelerini,
3.      Silahsız barışçıl Türkmenler her gün kan kaybediyorlar. Türkmenler kendilerini korumak amacıyla güvenlik teşkilatlarının kurumalarına Birleşmiş Milletlerin, Avrupa Güvenlik Konseyinin, Türkiye’nin ve Irak hükümetinin zaman kaybetmeden destek verilmelerini ve bu konuda gereken ekip ve donanımları bir an önce yapılmasını,
4.      Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi acilen Irak’taki Türkmenlerin yaşadıkları dramı meclisin ana gündemine almasını, ciddi tedbirlerin alınması için komisyonlar ve heyetlerin oluşturulmasını istiyoruz,
5.      Türkmen bölgelerinin sınırlarına Türkiye’nin liderliğinde elzem ve çok acil bir önlem olarak bir uluslararası gücün yerleştirilmesini, talep ediyoruz.


Değerli basın mensupları,
Aziz hemşerilerim,
Kıymetli Türk milleti,

Tuzhurmatu’da şehit olan başta Ali Haşim Muhtaroğlu ve Ahmet Koca olmak üzere bütün şehitlerimize Allahtan rahmet, yaralılara da acil şifalar diliyorum.

  


Bu acı günümüzde biz yalnız bırakmayan değerli basın mensuplarına, Türk dünyası dernekleri yönetim ve üyelerine, Avrasya Türk Dernekleri Federasyonuna, siyasi partilerin teşkilatlarına çok teşekkür ederiz…

Allah milletimize böyle acılar bir daha yaşatmasın.


 Kemal BEYATLI
 Türkmeneli Dernekler Federasyonu
            Yönetim Kurulu Başkanı


İmza:
1.      Türkmeneli Dernekler Federasyonu - İstanbul
2.      Avrasya Türk Dernekleri Federasyonu - İstanbul
3.      Irak Türkleri Kültür ve Yardımlaşma Derneği – Genel Merkez - İstanbul
4.      Türkmeneli İnsan Hakları Derneği - İstanbul
5.      Irak Türkmenleri Kardeşlik ve Kültür Derneği - İstanbul
6.      Türkmeneli Sağlık ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Derneği - Konya
7.      Ortadoğu İşadamları Derneği - İstanbul
8.      Türkmen Birliği ve Dayanışma Derneği - Antalya
9.      Irak Türkleri Adalet Yardımlaşma ve Dayanışma Derneği – İstanbul
10. Türkmen Basın Konseyi Derneği – İstanbul
11. Doğu Türkistan Göçmenler Derneği – İstanbul
12. Türkmenistanlılar Kültür Sosyal ve Yardımlaşma Derneği – İstanbul
13. Afganistan Türkleri Uluslar arası Sosyal Kültürel Yardımlaşma Derneği – İstanbul
14. Doğu Türkistan Dayanışma Derneği - İstanbul
15. Gagauz Dostluk ve Kültür Derneği - İstanbul
16. Afganistan Türkmenleri Sosyal Yardımlaşma ve Kültür Derneği - İstanbul
17. Türkmen Sahra Kültür ve Yardımlaşma Derneği - İstanbul


Wednesday 26 June 2013

SILENCE ON TUE!


Tuz Khurmatu killings


SILENCE ON TUE!

En Irak les Turkmènes (l’une des trois ethnies principales du peuple irakien, la seule qui ne possède pas de milice armée) sont continuellement agressés par ceux dont l’objectif est de s’approprier la région turkmène (TURKMENELI) riche en ressources naturelles.

Les intellectuels et les politiques turkmènes sont particulièrement visés. Au cours des derniers mois le nombre d’attentats meurtriers à l’encontre des Turkmènes n’a cessé d’augmenter, causant la mort d’un nombre élevé d’hommes, de femmes et d’enfants et la destruction de maisons et commerces appartenant aux turkmènes dans le nord de l’Irak.

Les milices arabes et kurdes (peshmerga) ne font RIEN pour protéger la population turkmène qui est particulièrement vulnérable et le gouvernement central (Bagdad) fait la sourde oreille lorsque les responsables turkmènes demandent la formation d’une milice armée composée de jeunes turkmènes pour protéger les habitants des régions et quartiers turkmènes.

Sans armes les Turkmènes continueront à être victimes d’EPURATION ETHNIQUE, le gouvernement irakien étant incapable d’assurer leur protection.

Entre-temps, les ‘défenseurs des droits de l’homme’ et politiciens de tous bords ainsi que les média restent silencieux…

SILENCE ON TUE!

Tuesday 25 June 2013

ITC BASKAN YARDIMCISI - ALI HASIM MUHTAROGLU


Two Turkmen leaders from Tuzhurmatu district were martyred.

Two Turkmen leaders from Tuzhurmatu district were martyred.

25th June 2013
An explosives attack took place in the area where citizens had demonstrated against the deterioration of the situation in Tuzhurmatu district recently. A suicide activist mingled among strikers in Tuzhurmatu and detonated the explosives on his person. 30 persons were injured while numerous citizens including Deputy Head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front Ali Haşim Muhtaroğlu and former deputy governor of Salahattin Ahmet Abdülmecit Koca lost their lives.
kerkuk.net

Saturday 22 June 2013

Observations on Provincial Council Elections in Mosul – 1


Observations on Provincial Council Elections in Mosul – 1
Bilgay Duman, ORSAM Middle East Specialist



The provincial council elections, which had been planned to be held in Arbil, Sulaymaniyah and Duhok within Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and in other 14 cities of Iraq in addition to Kirkuk on 20 April 2013, were held only in 12 cities; and the provincial council elections in Mosul and al-Anbar were postponed on the ground that there were security threats and lack of electoral preparations due to anti-government protests. The provincial council elections in Mosul and al-Anbar, announced to be held on 4 July 2013, were designated to be held on 20 June 2013. The Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq (IHEC) invited 6 electoral watchdog from Turkey to Mosul to serve as international electoral watchdog in Mosul during the elections. In this article, Bilgay Duman from ORSAM shares his observations on provincial council held in Mosul. Since the article was written during the election in Mosul, it contains first observations. The election results and observations regarding the whole electoral process will be written in another article.

Friday 21 June 2013

Iraq’s Kurdistan Postpones Presidential And Constitutional Vote


Thursday, June 20, 2013

September 2013 was the date set for voting on the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) president and parliament. The balloting was surrounded in controversy as President Massoud Barzani was attempting to find a way to run for a third term, despite Kurdish law saying that he could only serve two times. As part of this effort, Barzani was pushing a referendum on the region’s draft constitution, which would allow him the opportunity to serve up to eight more years. The Kurdish opposition was crying foul, and Barzani’s erstwhile allies the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) were also expressing reservations. The KRG president then conveniently postponed the election for the executive, and agreed to send the constitution back to the regional parliament. This may seem like a setback for Barzani, but it actually shows how easily Kurdistan’s ruling parties can manipulate the political system to stay in power.

Tuesday 18 June 2013

America's Gulf War, intermittent bombings in the 1990s, the 2003 war, and aftermath left a toxic legacy.



Children born with two heads reflect it. Some had only one eye. Missing sockets look like the inside of an oyster. They're milky and shapeless. 

Some children had tails like a skinned lamb. One or more had a monkey's face. Girls had their legs grown together. They were half fish, half human.

Miscarriages are frequent. Hundreds of newborns have cleft pallets, elongated heads, overgrown or short limbs, and other malformed body parts. Some are too gruesome to view.

Deformed Iraqi newborns are commonplace. So are virtually every known illness and disease. They're inordinately frequent. They range from severe headaches, muscle pain and debilitating fatigue, to serious infections, cardiovascular disease, brain tumors and numerous type cancers.

They include leukemia, Hodgkin's disease and multiple myeloma. Others affect the bile ducts, bones, brain, breasts, colon, prostate, esophagus, gall bladder, liver, lungs, pancreas, pharynx, ovaries, salivary glands, small intestine, stomach, thyroid, urinary tract, and pelvis.

Monday 17 June 2013

Irak Türklerinin Acı Durumları, Sadun KÖPRÜLÜ


Irak Türklerinin Acı Durumları

Yazan: Sadun KÖPRÜLÜ

Uzun tarihten bu yana Irak topraklarında ilk millet olan Türkler Irak’ın güneyinde, kuzeyinde batısında, doğusunda yaşayan Irak Türkleri büyük bir millet olarak, eskiden olduğu gibi Saddam döneminde ve 9 Nisan 2003 tarihinde Saddam düştükten sonrada baskılar, acılar, soykırım, katliamlar asimilasyon politikasi günümüzde tüm yönüyle artmak üzeredir.

Irak’ın birçok yerinde özellikle Kerkük, TELAFER, TUZHURMATU tüm Türkmen elinde ölüm ve zulüm acı olaylar sürmektedir, ülkeyi işgal eden sömürgeciler Amerika güçleri her türlü haksızlık yanında Irak Türklerinin milli haklarına karşı durarak,
Kürtlere karşı her türlü destek, yardım etmektedir, önem vermektedirler, Kürtlerin Peşmerge göçlerinin ve ötekilerin milis göçlerine engel olmadan, Irak Türklerini kendilerini savunmak için bir göç kurmalarına Irak’ı işgal ettiği günden karşı durmuştur.

Türkmenelinde olan kanlı olaylara karşı  Irak Türkleri kendilerini savunmak için, bir güce ihtiyacı olarak 14 Temmuz 1959 tarihinde Molla Mustafa tarafından uygulanan Kerkük katliamda büyük liderlerimizi önde gelen Türkler her türlü işkence ile şehit olarak 28 Temmuz 2008 tarihinde peşmergeler dünyanın her yerinde PKK dâhil Kerkük Türk şehrine akın ederek, ellerinde türlü silah araçlar, ipler Türkmen kuruluşlarına saldırı yaparak çok sayıda suçsuz insanları öldürerek, onlarca insanları tutuklayarak hapishaneye atmıştır.

Bu baskılara karşı Amerika güçleri nerdeydi, neden karşılık vermediler bu acı baskılara, asimilasyona karşı Irak Türkleri şehitler vererek, mücadelelerini kanlarıyla, canlarıyla tüm düşmanlara, işgalçilere sürdürmektedirler.

Sunday 16 June 2013

ITF EU representative Dr. Hassan Aydinli met with Brussels Minister Brigitte Grouwels




Brigitte GROUWELS, Brussels Minister and Hassan AYDINLI, ITF EU Representative at the Brussels Parliament


Members of DÜTAP , Dünya Türkleri Avrupa Platformu, (European Platform of Turkish people worldwide) were invited at the Brussels Parliament by Ms Brigitte GROUWELS, Brussels Minister and Brigitte DE PAUW, CD&V-fractievoorzitter Brussel on 16th June 2013.


ITF EU representative Dr Hassan Aydinli (who is also a Member of DÜTAP) met with Minister Brigitte Grouwels. He informed the Minister about the situation of the Turkmens in Iraq and of Kirkuk in particular, explaining that Kirkuk was mainly inhabited by Turkmens before the arabization policy was implemented under the Baath regime several decades ago and before the massive influx of Kurds into the city especially after the occupation of Iraq by the US-UK in April 2003.

He described how this has left the Turkmens vulnerable and how they are constantly being targeted and continue to be marginalized despite the regime change in Iraq, adding that the concept of democracy is taking time to be fully understood and implemented by the Iraqis who have lived under dictatorial regimes since decades.

Dr Hassan Aydinli spoke about the similarities which exist between the city of Brussels (Capital of the European Union) and the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq as both cities have a mixed population composed of several ethnicities. The city of Brussels has a long experience (20 years) of reaching compromises by democratic means and the city of Kirkuk could greatly benefit from the Brussels example.

Minister Brigitte Grouwels listened attentively and said she is willing to share her expertise on how to reach compromises among different ethnic/cultural components should the officials in Kirkuk city seek her advice on this matter and that she would be happy to meet with them in Brussels.

Friday 14 June 2013

Kurdish Mob Attacks Assyrian Village in North Iraq -- Attempts Land Grab


6-13-2013


North Iraq (AINA) -- Armed Kurdish men, mostly belonging to the Zebari tribe, attacked the Assyrian village of Rabatki on Thursday at 18:00 local time in Northern Iraq. The motive behind the attack was to forcefully claim parts of the village.

When the villagers realized that the large truck filled with construction material and bricks approaching their village was an attempt by the Kurds to forcefully erect a house on their lands, they quickly formed a road block using their cars, effectively blocking the truck from entering the village. The move angered the Kurds, who then left only to come back less than one hour later, at 18:00 with seven cars full of Kurdish men armed with Kalashnikovs and other weapons.

Sunday 9 June 2013

Speaking of the plight of the Iraqi Turkmens of the village of BASHIR at the United Nations Human Rights Council - Geneva

ITF EU representative Dr Hassan Aydinli attended the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) event : ‘The forgotten Nation: Turkmens in Iraq” in Geneva

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On this photo: Sheikh Fateh Kashif Al-Ghitaa, Adviser to Prime Minister Al-Maliki; Dr Hassan Aydinli, ITF EU Representative and Commissioner Dr. Sallama H. Al-Khafaji, High Commission for Human Rights Iraq.
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The UNPO and Minority Rights Group International organized a side event during the 23rd Session of UNHRC at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 6th June 2013 to raise awareness about the human rights situation of the Iraqi Turkmens.


At this side event ITF EU representative Dr Hassan Aydinli raised the Unresolved Property Rights Issue of the Iraqi Turkmens who were evicted from their properties and agricultural lands under the Arabization policy of the Baath regime over 30 years ago and who – despite the regime change in Iraq 10 years ago – are still waiting to recuperate their confiscated properties and agricultural lands and receive fair compensation for their loss of income.

Being himself a victim of land grabbing, he cited the case of his village, the Turkmen village of Bashir (Beşir in Turkish), which is situated some 40 km south west of Kerkuk city centre, as it represents a perfect Case Study of the consequences of the former regime’s policies, and also because he has all the official documents and deeds proving that the Turkmen inhabitants of Bashir were the rightful owners of the lands in and around the village. Indeed, his tribe had settled in Bashir many centuries ago, the Turkmen village of Bashir and the number of its households (89) was mentioned for the first time in 1556 in the Land Registry, under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. These records are kept in Ankara in the archives of the Republic of Turkey.

Dr. Hassan Aydinli spoke extensively on the problem of property and land confiscation from the Turkmens in Iraq. He described the inadmissible conditions imposed on the Turkmens in Iraq since 1921 and the intolerable human rights violations committed against them during decades under the Baath regime.

Taking the subject of land grabbing and property confiscation from the Turkmens as an example of their human rights violations in Iraq, he showed secret official Iraqi documents proving these confiscations and he also showed the deeds of the properties and of the agricultural lands belonging to his family in Beşir which were confiscated by the Baath regime in 1984 and which remain confiscated, despite all his efforts with the new regime since 2003 to recuperate them.

Dr Aydinli underlined the fact that Turkmens did not receive any compensation from the Iraqi government for the loss of their properties during the last three decades up to now, even though the Iraqi government, according to Prime Minister Mr Al-Maliki, has already spent more than one billon USD for the compensation of victims of property and land confiscations under the Baath regime. This shows that the Turkmens continue to be discriminated in Iraq even though they are recognised victims of a well defined agressor: the Baath regime.

Dr. Aydinli also mentioned the fact that the Iraqi central government had decided, on 30th March 2006, to rebuild the village of Beşir which had been razed to the ground by the Baath regime in 1987 and that it had allocated a budget of 43 Billon Iraqi Dinars (equivalent of +/- 36 million USD) for rebuilding Beşir. Unfortunately, the local government in Kirkuk did not cooperate with the central government in Baghdad regarding the realisation of the project in Beşir, on the contrary, it complicated the situation even further with futile bureaucratic decisions which prevented the realization of the project and nothing has been built in Beşir by the Iraqi government since then. This is another example of neglect of Turkmens’ interests by the local authorities in Kirkuk which are dominated by the Kurds since 10th April 2003.

Three delegates from Iraq attended the side event, two members of Iraq’s High Commission for Human Rights, Dr Sallama H. Al-Khazraji and Mr Masrur Aswed and the Adviser to Prime Minister Nuri-Al Maliki Sheikh Fatih Kashif Al-Ghitaa, they were in Geneva to attend the 23rd Session of UNHRC. Dr. Aydinli discussed the Turkmens’ Plight with them in detail and they promised to pass his message to Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki.

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Syrian Turkmens: Political Movements and Military Structure


ORSAM REPORT


One of the consequences of single party regime, which has been going on in Syria for more than four decades, is the fact that none of the social or ideological groups in Syria – except for the groups holding the power – could find an opportunity to become organized. The authority gap caused by the events that emerged in Syria on March 2011 made it possible for the aforesaid groups being excluded from the power domain for many years to become organized in a short period of time. The power struggle in Syria started to spread from civilian and political sphere to military sphere some six months after the outset of the uprising. As a result, dispersed military groups, which do not have a hierarchical structure, which act independently from each other and which are in control of only the neighborhood or village where they are, emerged. The struggle between the regime and the opposition started to be maintained through armed groups. And this situation brought along a relationship between external political opposition and internal military opposition in which military structure is more powerful and has more say. The military opposition that became organized in the country felt the need for a means, through which it could communicate with abroad. The political opposition organized abroad, on the other hand, strived to establish its legitimacy through the connection it established with military groups. Thus, military groups, which are close to each external political opposition and influential political figure, emerged.

Please see:


http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/showReport.aspx?ID=2182

http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Article/Files/2013320_150ing.pdf