A report into Kurdish abuses in TURKMENELI

by Salman Mofak

Türkmeneli Representative for the UK and the Republic of Ireland

1. Introduction-- 5
1.1 Turkmen at the Monarchy era- 6
1.2 The Abdul Karim Qasim period (1958–1963) 7
1.3 The social era of General Abdul-Salam Arif (1963–1967) 8
1.4 The Ba’ath Period (1968–2003) 9
1.5 The provisional constitution of 1970- 11
1.6 The National Congress of the Ba'ath Party in 1971- 12
1.7 The Iraq and Iran War 1980–1988 (The First Gulf War) 16
1.8 The uprising of 1991- 17
1.9 Occupation era 2003- 19
1.10 The New Iraqi Constitution- 23
1.11 The attack on the Iraqi Turkmen front in Kirkuk- 24
2.1 Squatting in government properties ---------------------------------------34
2.2 Establishing puppet parties- 37
2.3 Using false identities- 37
2.4 Looting of deeds and the land registry office- 39
2.5 The assassination of the general director for education- 40
2.6 Kurdish regional government issuing fake documents. 43
2.7 Human Rights Watch-- 46
2.8 Vandalizing Turkmen Martyrs’ Names- 47
2.9 Power abuse by Kurdish Asayish- 48
2.10 The attack on al_Tasahul supermarket- 52
2.11 Police Headquarters (Quriya), Central Kirkuk- 53
2.12 The attack on a Turkmen governing council member 57
2.13 The Turkmen school books confiscated- 58
2.14 Demolishing of a Turkmen house by Kurdish militia- 59
2.15 The attack on the Turkmen village of Yengejeh-- 60
2.16 Barzani bribes a former Minister of Justice, Hashim al- Shebli 60
2.17 Property Claims Commission controlled by the Kurds 61
2.18 MRG report on the 26 Feb.2007- 74
2.19 Kurdish terrorisation- 75
2.20 Kidnapping of the Arabs and Turkmens by the Kurdish Militia- 76
2.21 American Forces and Iraqi Police Demolish Turkmen Villages- 77
2.22 Abuses and Atrocities Committed by the Kurdish Rebels- 79
2.23 Provocation of Turkmen Citizens- 80
2.24 Transfer of the Kurds to Kirkuk- 80
2.25 The Attack on Shifa Hospital 81
2.26 The Assassination of Brigadier Sabah Bahlul Kara Altun- 81
2.27 Kurds Harassed Turkish Peacekeeping Force- 82
2.28 Kirkuk and Kurdish Election Fraud- 83
2.29 The Abduction of Turkmen Journalist Qasim Sari Kahya- 88
2.30 Kurdish Threatening Letter 88
2.31 The Arrest of the Kirkuk Governing Council Member 90
2.32 Jalal Talabani’s visit to Kirkuk- 91
2.33 Iraqi Demonstration against the Kurdish Ambassador in Sweden- 92
2.34 Kurds Squatting on Turkmen Land in Tuz Khormatu- 92
2.37 The Kurdish Parties Harbouring PKK Terrorist Organisations- 97
2.39 Abduction Turkmen News Reader by Kurdish police- 102

The Misrepresentation of Iraqi Turkmens in the Kurdish Media

Romano Rimin

Iraqi Turkmens are misrepresented in the Kurdish media. This misrepresentation has different reasons and purposes. This article is an initial proposal for further and detailed studies of this important topic which can reveal the main reasons and purposes behind this misrepresentation of the Iraqi Turkmens in the Kurdish media. The studies can be guided by several concepts such as: (1) media representation, (2) propaganda, (3) the ruling powerful groups’ dominant ideas, and (4) worthy and unworthy victims and news.

These concepts are reflected in the Kurdish media -mainly in the official Kurdish media- in how they portray the Iraqi Turkmens, their history, culture and political institutions.The concept of “media representation” refers to how the media portray the world surrounding us. ‘Bias’ and ‘stereotype’ are two most common elements used when researching media representation.

Media are often accused of being biased, that is, media emphasize certain details and neglect or exclude others. Until the American occupation of Iraq (2003), the Western media, particularly the American media, and the regional Middle Eastern media (e.g., Iraqi and Arab media) have always neglected the Iraqi Turkmens and their cause. On the other hand, the Kurdish media either excluded the Iraqi Turkmens or portrayed them negatively, especially after the American occupation of Iraq. The Iraqi Kurdish media are packed of such unfair and negative representation of the Iraqi Turkmens.

Unconstructive representation of the Iraqi Turkmens in the Kurdish media emphasizes the denigration of these people. In fact, this kind of representation of the Iraqi Turkmens in the Kurdish media have taken an organized shape and an increased pace after the American occupation of Iraq. One of the most important reasons behind such an attempt is that the main Kurdish militia groups (e.g., Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan militia groups), after gaining some power under the American occupation of Iraq, are expanding their territories and trying to control the oil rich Turkmen territories.

An analytic framework, based primarily on the “propaganda model” set out by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky in their influential book Manufacturing Consent can be developed to examine how and why the controlled Iraqi Kurdish media function to marginalize, exclude and denigrate the Iraqi Turkmens. Central to this model is the proposition that the mainstream media serve the interests of a dominant elite in any society, regardless whether it is capitalist or totalitarian in nature.

As mentioned earlier, the powerful Kurdish groups, after the American occupation of Iraq in 2003, have expanded their control into other Iraqi ethnic groups’ regions. It was typical for the new Kurdish controllers to exclude, marginalize and denigrate the local ethnic groups as they realized that these ethnic groups create barriers to their interests. One of the important elements of Herman and Chomsky’s propaganda model which can be applied here is “anticommunism” as a control machine. This element emphasizes the idea of creating with great vigor an enemy who threatens the interests of a class, nation or a people. This is an “ideology” which serves the crucial purpose of mobilizing the populace (in this case the Kurdish populace) against this enemy who can threaten the controlling powerful groups’ interests.

This element is used explicitly and implicitly in the Kurdish mainstream media to portray the Iraqi Turkmens, and even other Iraqi ethnic groups (e.g., Arabs and Assyrians), as the enemies of the Kurds’ ambitions. The classic Marxist notion that ‘the dominant idea in a society is the ruling or powerful class’s idea’ is detectable in how and why the mainstream Kurdish media attempt to marginalize and denigrate the Iraqi Turkmens.

The group which controls different aspects of a society will have greater chances to control cultural means and consequently will be able to produce, disseminate and promote certain ideas among people in order to sustain its interests. Such promoted ideas eventually become part of the established order in the society. After the American occupation of Iraq, no doubt, the Kurdish groups, which became the closest allies of the occupiers, have gained significant power and control over considerable resources. As a result, they were able to control the existed media establishments and created enormous propaganda machines in the region they have control and elsewhere.

Utilizing these propaganda machines, these controlling Kurdish groups usually provide partial and outright false news and views about the Iraqi Turkmens and they try to legitimize these views among their own people, other Iraqi ethnic groups and among different nations, particularly among the Westerners.

On the other hand, the Iraqi Turkmens are deprived of such privileges. Their voices hardly reach other Iraqi ethnic groups, let alone the international level. Finally, the controlled Kurdish media look at the Iraqi Turkmens whether they are a worthy or unworthy entity to be mentioned in their media outlets. In general, the Iraqi Turkmens are unworthy entities for these media. And even if they are mentioned in these media, the Iraqi Turkmens are usually portrayed in a way to serve the controlling Kurdish groups’ interests.

In other words, the Iraqi Turkmens are either excluded (i.e., unworthy or invaluable news items) or marginalized and denigrated in the controlled Kurdish media. As an important subject in communication research, the issue of Iraqi Turkmens’ representation in the Kurdish media has not been conducted by any researcher to this day.

However, there are several articles responding or reacting to some Kurdish claims about the Iraqi Turkmens. Most of these responses/reactions are written by the Iraqi Turkmen writers. Mainly, these articles emphasize the emotional aspect of the issue rather than attempting to reveal the real reasons behind the misrepresentation of the Iraqi Turkmens in the Kurdish media in a wider context. In other words, there is no methodically and systematically studies about the issue which can yield logical results (to some extent) and deal with the problem accordingly. Conducting studies about the exclusion and misrepresentation of the Iraqi Turkmens in the Kurdish media and dealing with their results wisely are vital and can contribute to the reconciliation among the struggling factions in Iraq in general and in the northern region in particular.

KERKÜK MEDYA

III. IRAK TÜRKMEN BASIN KONSEYİ KURULTAYI

III. IRAK TÜRKMEN BASIN KONSEYİ KURULTAYI
İstanbul, 10–12 Nisan 2009

BASIN AÇIKLAMASI

III. Irak Türkmen Basın Konseyi Kurultayı10–12 Nisan 2009 Tarihleri Arasında İstanbul’da Toplanıyor

Irak Türkmenlerinin medyasına hizmet eden yazılı ve görsel basın mensupları arasında diyalog oluşturmak, bu alanda çalışanlarının amaçlarına ulaşmasını sağlamak, Türkmen basınının güçlenmesine katkıda bulunmak; tarafsız, bağımsız, doğru ve düzeyli habercilik anlayışı ile Irak ve dünya kamuoyunu bilgilendirmek; Türkmen davasının tanıtımını ve ülke topraklarının birliğinin, saygınlığının ve kutsallığının korunması yolunda Irak Türkmenlerinin yaptığı çağrıyı duyurmak; yazılı, işitsel ve görsel medya alanında çaba harcayan Türkmenler arasında düşünce, bakış, dayanışma, iş ve söylem birliğini pekiştirmek amacıyla III. Irak Türkmen Basın Konseyi Kurultayı 10–12 Nisan 2009 tarihleri arasında İstanbul’da toplanacaktır.

Gazete, dergi, televizyon, radyo, web sitesi ve benzeri iletişim araçlarında çalışan Irak Türkmen yazılı ve görsel medya mensuplarından 100 dolayında delegenin katıldığı kurultaya Kerkük’ten, Bağdat’tan, Musul’dan, Telafer, Tuzhurmatu ve Erbil’den, ABD ve Kanada’dan, İngiltere, Almanya, Fransa, Hollanda ve Danimarka’dan, Avustralya ve Türkiye’den yazı işleri müdürü, editör, başyazar, gazeteci, yazar, muhabir ve web sayfası yöneticileri gibi medyaya yönelik kendi alanında çaba gösteren Türkmen temsilciler katılacaklardır.

Kurultaya ayrıca Arap ve Batı dünyasından 20’ye yakın tanınmış medya temsilci, yazar, gazeteci ve muhabir katılıyor. İstanbul-Osmanbey, Ramada Plaza İstanbul otelinde yapılacak olan kurultay, 10 Nisan 2009, Cuma günü saat 14.30’da Balo Salonu’nda yapılacak açılış oturumu ile başlayacaktır. 3 gün sürecek kurultayda paneller, seminer ve oturumlar yapılacaktır. Kurultay 12 Nisan 2009 Pazar günü sonuç bildirisinin açıklanacağı kapanış oturumu ile çalışmalarını tamamlamış olacaktır.

Düzenleme Komitesi

Prof. Dr. Suphi SAATÇİ
Irak Türkmen Basın Konseyi Genel Sekreteri

Mehmet TÜTÜNCÜ
Türkmen Basın Konseyi Üyesi

Şükran KAYACI
Türkmen Basın Konseyi Üyesi

IRAK TÜRKMEN BASIN KONSEYİ
Nevbahar Mahallesi Kuka Sokağı Huzur Apt. Nu: 1/1
Fındıkzade-Fatih/İSTANBUL

Tel: (0212) 584 00 75
Faks: (0212) 584 00 76

http://bizturkmeniz.com/tr/index.htm

The Turkmens and Kerkuk, by Dr. Hassan Aydinli (videos)

Extracts of ITF EU Representative’s speech at the EU Parliament

on 18th March 2009 in Brussels

To watch videos please click on :

http://www.youtube.com/user/BRussellsTribunal

"The situation of Turkmens in the North of Iraq", by Hassan Aydinli, oil expert.

This speech was a part of "Occupation Year 7: What future for Iraq?",

a series of events organized by The BRussells Tribunal,

and took place in the European Parliament,

18 March 2009, in Brussels.

***

"The situation of Turkmen in the North of Iraq" (part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7URMgE4grNQ&feature=channel_page

"The situation of Turkmen in the North of Iraq" (part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3A6bbRKnX8&feature=related

"The situation of Turkmen in the North of Iraq" (part 3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBiB94g59zM

International Seeds Day on April 26

International Seeds Day
on April 26

to advocate for Patent-FREE seeds, biodiversity,

farmers rights and to challenge Order 81

http://www.INEAS.org/20090426_PR.pdf

Institute of Near Eastern & African Studies (INEAS)

http://www.ineas.org/

For Immediate Release
Saturday, April 4, 09


Contacts:

Dr. Brian John, 44 123 982-0470, brianjohn4@mac.com

(UK)

Dr. Vandana Shiva, 91 2 653-5422, vandana@vandanashiva.com

(India)

Wafaa’ Al-Natheema, 1 (617) 864-6327, INEAS@aol.com

(USA)

Please also email Al-Natheema at INEAS_1994@yahoo.com

***

Cambridge, Massachusetts - Organizations, activists, farmers and organic food advocates around the world have endorsed and will observe April 26 as International Seeds Day (ISD). The purpose of the ISD is to educate the public and inform the media about:


· the importance of biodiversity and how to practice seed saving;

· the dangers of genetically modified food and patent seeds

· Order 81 and how it had and will devastate the future of IRAQ’s agriculture; and

· how to resist the ability of giant agricultural corporations’ to control seed resources;



Join us to educate about and advocate for patent-free seeds, farmers rights and mobilize to

challenge the giant agricultural corporations and Order 81:

http://www.INEAS.org/events.htm.

Historically, the Iraqi constitution prohibited ownership of biological resources.

Farmers in Iraq have operated in a mostly free-to-little-regulated, informal seed supply system. Farm-saved seeds and the free exchange of planting materials among farmers have long been the basis of agricultural practice in Iraq. Yet all of this has become history.

On April 26, 2004, Paul Bremer, the administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority

(CPA), issued and signed Order 81, which prohibits farmers from reusing seeds harvested from new varieties registered under the law. When ownership of a crop is claimed, seed saving will be banned and farmers will have to be pay royalties to the registered, so-called seed owner.

A “Greedy law, unjust law is meant to be disobeyed”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-B1yU278zk).

The Order arises from USAID program in Iraq, which confirms that foreign aid programs are mainly “commercial opportunity” programs designed to benefit companies in the USA and Europe. It fits perfectly into the US vision for the future of Iraqi agriculture following a system dependent on large corporations selling chemical inputs and seeds. The purpose of Order 81 is to facilitate the establishment of a new seed market in Iraq, one in which Iraqi farmers are forced to make their annual purchase of seeds, including those that are genetically modified, from transnational corporations.



The law awarded US Corporations complete control over farmers’ seed for 20 years. Iraqi farmers had to sign an agreement to pay a “technology fee” plus an annual license fee. Plant Variety Protection (PVP) made seed reusing and saving illegal as well as “similar” seed plantings punishable by severe fines and imprisonment. Agribusiness wants the same rights everywhere, including in the USA. This will jeopardize the future of organic and independent farming.



Many developing countries in Africa and Asia particularly in Afghanistan, India and Iraq have been suffering from these unjust laws and the monopoly by the agricultural giants. Therefore organizations, activists, organic food advocates, farm owners and farmers around the world are joining hand to advocate for patent-free seeds and biodiversity and to educate about the criminal practices by agricultural corporations and how their unjust laws have and will affect the future of agriculture.



More information:

The Institute of Near Eastern & African Studies (INEAS)

1 (617) 86-INEAS (864-6327)

INEAS@aol.com INEAS_1994@yahoo.com

Order 81 and the Plunder of Farming

April 2, 2009
Latha Jishnu: Order 81 and the plunder of farming

Latha Jishnu / New Delhi April 1, 2009


In recent days, the multinational force in Iraq has been putting out rather curious news releases. These state that visiting agriculture experts from the US have been helping Iraqi farmers to learn new farming techniques to help them “to compete in a free market economy by reducing prices”. Team Borlaug, as the expert group is called, is working to set up model farms where farmers can see the newest technology and techniques in action, according to a statement attributed to Dustin Kinder, the leader.

Kirkuk is the third province in northern Iraq that the team has studied and after a six-month tour it will put together recommendations to improve Iraqi agriculture that has been in a shambles since the mid-1990s when global sanctions were imposed on the country.

There is an intolerable air of patronage — and duplicity — about the latest statement emanating from the military command of the occupying forces. It reflects a gross ignorance of the history of agriculture in the country which is now paying the price for Saddam Hussein’s adventurism and the Rambo-like invasion by US. Iraq, it must be remembered, has the oldest history of farming and one of the longest traditions of cultivation in the civilised world. Modern Iraq is part of the ‘fertile crescent’ of Mesopotamia where man first domesticated wheat more than 8,000 years ago, and is home to several thousand varieties of local wheat.

True, its production of wheat has declined to just a quarter of what it was in 1995 (1.2 million tonnes) and the land is degraded to a shocking degree. But the focus of the revival strategy that is under way in Iraq is intended not to help its farmers so much as to allow multinational seed companies to capture the market. Listen to Kinder whose entire team is linked to Texas A&M University: “We are going to help 25th Infantry Division put on an agricultural conference, and we will help them develop a strategic plan for agriculture in Iraq.” What the nation or its farmers want is not really the centre piece of this effort since the US has effectively tied up the Iraqi market for its seed giant.

This happened five years ago when Paul Bremer as head of Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) imposed far-reaching laws on the country and made a mockery of the US claim it was bringing democracy to Iraq. Of the 100 laws that Bremer inflicted on the Iraqi people, one of the most pernicious is Order 81, which deals with ‘Patent, Industrial Design, Undisclosed Information, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety’ and hence the interest of this column in the current goings-on in. There are several reasons why this patent law is lethal.

Without any discussion or debate, it made sweeping changes in Iraq’s 1970 patent law by allowing the patenting of plant forms and facilitating the introduction of genetically modified crops or organisms and introduced clauses that will be the death of traditional varieties of seeds.

The Plant Variety Protection rules are for seeds that are “new, distinct, uniform and stable”, criteria that the traditional varieties all Iraqi farmers now use can never meet. These seeds are the product of millennia of traditional development and by their very nature share common traits and thus do not qualify to be ‘new’. Nor can they be termed stable or uniform because of their biodiversity. But the seeds that American and European seed giants are actively pushing in Iraq will, of course, qualify since Order 81 is designed to specifically to protect their interests.

Worse still is the injunction against farmers using their own seeds. Almost all Iraqi farmers (97 per cent, according to FAO) use their own seeds but Bremer’s more than clever order decrees that “farmers shall be prohibited from re-using seeds of protected varieties or any variety”, changing in one stroke the character of Iraq’s agriculture.

Five years after Order 81 was passed, farm activists across the world have got together to mark April 26 as International Seeds Day to help Iraqi farmers to break the vice-like grip of the global seed companies. The campaign is coordinated by the Institute of Near Eastern & African Studies (INEAS), based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has got the backing of some organisations in India.

I met Wafaa Al-Natheema of INEAS, when she was in India earlier in the year to drum up support for the campaign, and she says the world needs to respond to this threat to agriculture.

Iraqi farmers, like the rest of the nation, are unaware of this law and how it could turn their world upside down. “They need our help to learn how to retain their seeds under these circumstances and how to lobby against this unjust law.”

Will the world rally to their cause?

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/latha-jishnu-order-81the-plunderfarming/353518/

TAZIYE MESAJI

ITC Lideri Dr. Sadettin Ergeç, BBP Genel Başkanı Sivas Bağımsız Milletvekili Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu’nun şahadeti nedeniyle, bir başsağlığı mesajı yayınlandı. Mesaj şöyle:Büyük Birlik Partisinin Genel Başkanı Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu‘nun vefatını büyük üzüntü ve teessürle öğrenmiş bulunuyorum. Türk siyasi hayatı, önemli bir şahsiyetini kaybetmiştir. Türk siyasi tarihinin simge kişiliklerinden Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, yaşamı boyunca etik değerleri ön planda tutarak, benimsediği ilkeli çizgisi, saygın duruşu, nezaketi ve milliyetçi kimliği ile örnek olmuştur. Merhuma Tanrı’dan rahmet; ailesine, dostlarına, sevenlerine ve Türk milletine başsağlığı dileklerimi iletiyorum.

Dr. Sadettin ERGEÇ

Irak Türkmen Cephesi Genel Başkanı ve Kerkük Milletvekili

Iraq serves Turkey a rare treat

Iraq serves Turkey a rare treat
By Sami Moubayed

http://www.atimes.com

DAMASCUS - A historical run-through of non-state players in the Middle East concludes that they were never intended to win, just achieve the short- and long-term objectives of their patrons.

In 1974, former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger encouraged Iraqi Kurds to rebel, for example, to drain the energy of the Iraqi army and divert Baghdad's attention from supporting Syria's "steadfastness front” against Israel.

Kissinger fanned the flames of conflict in Iraq and was generous with the Kurds, prompting Kurdish leader Mustapha Barazni to send him expensive rugs as a token of appreciation, and a gold necklace for his bride on the occasion of Kissinger's marriage in March 1974.

This incident, among Kissinger's numerous endeavors, was revealed during the Watergate investigations in 1976, in what became known as the Pike Report. The testimony said that Kissinger had armed and financed the Kurds to dissuade Iraq from "adventurism", such as coming to the aid of Syria. The report added, "Our clients, who were encouraged to fight, were not told of this policy."

From where Kissinger saw things, the Kurds were never intended to win, only weaken Iraq.

This week, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) suffered a similar trade-off, when Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited Baghdad and met with Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechervan Barzani (the grandson of Mustapha). The latter promised that the Kurdistan-based PKK would lay down its arms completely - thereby ending a state of war with Turkey that has lasted for 30 years - in exchange for a full pardon for all Kurds who had fought the Turkish government.

Clearly, Barzani had not consulted with the PKK before making Gul his offer. The PKK immediately snapped back, saying that Barzani's offer was "wrong, because it benefits nobody but enemies of the Kurdish people”. Barzani - whose meeting with Gul was a remarkable event in its own right - added that he would not allow non-state players, like the PKK, to use the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan as a base to launch war against Turkey.

Gul said, "I told him [Barzani] explicitly that the PKK terrorist organization and their camps are ... in your region [and] you need to take a clear position against them. Once the PKK is eliminated, there are no bounds to what is possible: you are our neighbors and kinsmen."

For his part, Barzani said, "We are determined, and we confirm again our territory will not be used to attack Turkey." Falling in line with the "new mood" in relations between Turkey, Iraq and the Kurds, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, recently said that creating an independent Kurdish state - his dream for over five decades - was "impossible", describing it as a "dream in poems".
His comments were carried in the Turkish daily Sabah. "I tell this to my Turkish brothers: don't be afraid of Kurdish independence. To stay within Iraq is in the interest of the Kurdish people in an economic, cultural and political sense."

Coming from Talabani, the Kurdish version of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, this was a bold statement, reflecting wisdom that comes with age, and a strong understanding of what can be achieved in real life and what has to remain nothing but an inspiring dream.

Twenty years ago, it would have been impossible for Talabani to make such a thundering statement. Barzani grabbed the cue from the veteran Kurdish leader, who is on the verge of political retirement, and offered the PKK on a gold platter to Gul. Had it not been for Talabani's blessing, the PKK would not currently be based in Iraqi Kurdistan.

This is the first time that a Turkish president has visited Iraq in 33 years, and the first time ever that one has met with an official from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which has had de facto autonomy in northern Iraq since 1991.

Not only has the KRG ignited the ambitions of Turkish Kurds, who want to carve 50% of their aspired state out of Turkey, but also it has harbored warriors of the PKK, under the watchful eye of the Barzani clan, since 2003.

The PKK was worried - with due right - by the Barzani initiative and Talabani's words, believing that some kind of deal was being hatched between big players in the Middle East at their expense.

A PKK commander, Haval Roze, barked out, "No one has the right to tell the PKK fighters to lay down their weapons or leave the territory of Kurdistan.” Roze seemed to forget that the only reason the PKK was there in the first place was because Barzani, and his uncle, President Maasoud Barzani, had given them sanctuary after 2003. If it desires, the KRG can also get them to leave.

Although the US labels the PKK a terrorist organization, it refuses to crack down on their cells in northern Iraq, knowing from the al-Qaeda experience how difficult it is to trace and combat a non-state player. It had too much on its hands already, combating al-Qaeda and ex-Ba'athists in different parts of Iraq, to worry about the PKK.

When the militia's terrorist acts continued, becoming unbearable to the Turkish government, Ankara responded with force in 2007-2008, authorizing attacks on Iraqi Kurdistan and forcing the Americans to cooperate with their long-time North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally in what the Turks describe is part of the global "war on terror".

Blamed for the death of no less than 40,000 Turks since 1984, Ankara insists that the PKK is no different from al-Qaeda. In January, Turkey, Iraq and the US agreed to set up a command center in north Iraq to coordinate efforts against the PKK. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who initially humored the Kurds to keep his shaky coalition cabinet floating in Baghdad, was forced to follow suit, also supporting the Turkish effort.

Three things are new:
• Gul's willingness to walk that extra mile to defuse long-lasting Turkish problems with the Kurds.
• Talabani's statements on Kurdish nationhood.
• The KRG's willingness to abandon the PKK in exchange for a peaceful relationship with Turkey.

Gul's opponents grabbed at the opportunity to criticize him after the Iraq visit for using the word “Kurdistan”, which is taboo in official Turkish discourse. Talabani's allies criticized him for putting dampers on a dream he had dedicated his life to achieving. Both presidents gave reasonable answers.

Talabani said that real politics are one thing, and dreams are another. Gul reasonably argued that this was the region's official name, as stated by the Iraqi constitution, adding, "What shall I say? We do not refuse to say Macedonia because Greece refuses to do so.”

Gul had made headlines in September 2008 by paying a landmark visit to Armenia, again, trying to mend broken fences between Turkey and the Armenians. His visit was at the invitation of his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisyan to watch an Armenia-Turkey football match in the European Cup, although the countries do not have diplomatic relations.

On March 24, Turkey announced that it was planning to launch Armenian-language radio programming, for two to three hours a day, similar to a Kurdish program that started in 2008 and a Kurdish TV channel, which launched this January. More friends for Turkey, and fewer enemies, seemed to be the motto of the Turkish president.

US President Barack Obama arrives in Turkey on April 5 to acknowledge the importance of Turkey as America's ally in the region, an economic and political heavyweight that follows a moderate Islam, which needs to be copied throughout the Muslim world.

That might explain why Talabani and Barzani are both over-anxious to be on the good side of Turkey. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has already made the trip to Ankara, and so has Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell. Gone are the days of US anger at Turkey's refusal to allow the US to use its territories to launch war against Iraq in 2003.

Also gone is America's fury at Ankara for hosting Hamas leaders like Khaled Meshaal, or its loud words criticizing Israel at Davos last January. Turkey has already announced that it is willing to mediate between Iran and the US, after having mediated indirect talks in 2008 between Syria and Israel.

All parties reason that Turkey cannot be sidelined from any solutions to the region, and it will be Obama's strategic partner in 2009-2013. It would be madness to maintain sour relations with Ankara, and if the price is the PKK, then so be it.

Sami Moubayed is editor-in-chief of Forward Magazine in Syria.

ALTUNKÖPRÜ KATLİAMI

Ali Kasapoğlu


Tam dört yıl oldu Altunköprü katliamı belgesel filminin çekimi için ilçeye gideli. Altunköprü insanımız o zaman yakından tanıdım. Sevincini ve hüznünü üç günülük bir çekim sırasında paylaştık. O gün için on dört yıl geçmişti katliamın üstünden ama hayret ettiğim bir olay vardı, şehit yakınları olayı sanki o gün gibi yaşıyorlardı. Hüzünleri taze,gözleri nemli ve bir çoğu olayı anlatırken içten ağlıyor kendilerini tutamıyordu Altunköprülüm.

Aradan on sekiz yıl geçti her yıl olduğu gibi bu yılda şirin ilçemde siyasilerim anıta çelenk koydular ve Türkmen insanımın kulağının alıştığı klasik sözleri ettiler. Televizyon ve radyolarımızda uzun uzun bu çalışmalara yer veriliyor ve tabi ki yarın yazılı ve elektronik basınımda bu çalışmalara süslü püslü yer verecek. Allah razı olsun yılda bir kere olsa da siyasilerim, politikacım ve medyacım Altunköprülü garibimin yanındadır.

Bu yıl anma törenleri sanki biraz daha kalabalık, ilgili ve daha organizeliydi gibime geldi,yanılıyor muyum acaba. Kürsüye gelen konuşmacıların önündeki televizyon logoları sayıca daha kalabalıktı geçmişteki yıllara oranla. Konuşmacılarım şiir gibi konuştular vallaha, mest olduk.Tüm bunlara rağmen Türkmen insanımın beklentileri yerine getirilmemiştir.

Altunköprülüm bunu düşünüyordu, belki de çok istiyordu, Şehitlerimiz bizleri, büyükbaşlarımızı ve yöneticilerimizi birleştirebilir mi ?. Şehitlerimiz için bir arada değilsek, şehitlerimiz bile bizi birleştiremez. Allah şehitlerimiz rahmet eylesin ama bizlerde yürüyen ölüler olmayalım.
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’ Türkiye’nin aktif dış politikası Kuzey Irak’ta farklı grupları birbirine yaklaştırdı.'

28.03.2009 tarihinde Zaman Gazetesine konuşan Irak Türkmen Cephesi Almanya Temsilcisi Sayın Ganim Authman ‘’ Türkiye’nin aktif dış politikası Kuzey Irak’ta farklı grupları birbirine yaklaştırdı.

Türkiye’nin girişimleri ile kuzey Irak’ta çözüm sürecinin hızla ilerlediğini söyledi. Bölgeyi yakından takip eden Authman son dönemde artan siyasi ilişkiler hakkında ,’’Türkiye’nin aktif dış politikası Kuzey Irak’ta farklı gruplar birbirine yaklaştırdı. Türkiye Bölgede ekonomik olarak son yirmi yıldır etkinliğinin giderek zaten arttırıyor. Bölgeye Türkiye’nin ekonomi açılımına ek olarak siyasi açılımlar yapması da kalkınmaya ek olarak siyasi açılımlar yapması da kalkınmaya ek olarak istikrarı getiriyor. 33 yıl aradan sonra ilk defa bir Türk Cumhurbaşkanı Irak’ı ziyaret etti.’’ dedi. Ekonomik ve siyasi gelişmelere ek olarak sivil girişimlerin de önemine değinen Authman, ‘’ Türkler Tarafından Açılan okullara Barzani ve Talabani başta olmak üzere önemli siyasetçilerin yakın akrabaları okuyor. Okullara Türkmen, Kürt, Arap, Süryani ailelerin çocukları okuyor.

Önümüzdeki günler kuzey Irak’ın çoğunlukta Kürtlerin yaşadığı üç vilayetinde de mahalli seçimler olacak. Bunlar Süleymaniye. Erbil. Dohuk. Irak’ta mahalli seçimler 31.Ocak 2009’da yapılmış olmasına rağmen üç vilayet seçimleri Türkiye ile yapma kararı aldı. Kerkük’te ise seçimler 29 Mart’ta da yapılmayacak. Bunun sebebi hakkında Authman şunları söyledi: ‘’Amerika’nın Irak’ı işgalinden sonra Kerkük’e Kerküklü olmayan yaklaşık 600 bin kürt yerleşti. Bu ise asıl nüfus yaklaşık 1.milyon olan şehrin yapısını ciddi oranda değiştirdi. Bu şartlarda seçim yapılması doğru netice vermez dedi.

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