Corinne Reilly of McClatchy Newspapers misinforming readers about Kerkuk

Below is Ahmet Yilmaz’ reaction to Corinne Reilly's article: “U.N. experts urge power sharing in Kerkuk” in which she writes that ‘Kerkuk is historically Kurdish’!!!
see: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/66663.html


From : Ahmet Yilmaz

To the author, Corinne Reilly McClatchy Newspapers

You write: “Kirkuk is historically Kurdish…”

First, I am deeply troubled by this statement that you make about Kurds having some historic entitlement to the city of Kirkuk. I am curious as to see where you are pulling your references from?! Second, the mere fact that the current diverse ethnic composition of Kerkuk should be a clear indication that perhaps the city may have not been inhabited exclusively by a single ethnic group in the past. For you to carelessly insert an overly-generalized statement does not only reveal your myopic understanding of the historical and present situation in Kerkuk, but also your apparent bias that clearly favors the Kurds. While I don’t care much about what your opinions are on the matter, I do think that it is dangerous for a journalist to be academically unprepared and misguided when it comes to taking on a such an important and controversial topic.

Ahmet Yilmaz / Chicago