Martyr Week of Iraqi-Turkmen
Fiftieth Anniversary of the 1959 Kirkuk Massacre
14 July 2009, this day marks the 50th year anniversary of the largest massacre of Iraqi-Turkmen in Kirkuk, Iraq to date.
Every year on July 14th, this massacre and the Turkmen martyrs are remembered with respect and gratitude.
No other people in history have suffered massacres in almost every one of their cities. Likewise, there is no other nation in history which on a year by year count has seen such systematic massacres. No other nation has ever been exposed to this kind of genocide and forced assimilation. The only “crime” of the Turkmen people, remnants of the Ottoman Empire, living in a geography that is the extension of Turkey, is to be of Turkish origin.
One can argue that almost all Iraqi governments have seen the Turkmen as their surrogate targets for the ambitions and hate they held against Turkey. The struggle of the Turkmen to preserve their Turkish identity, however, has largely been unnoticed.
The murder of the Turkmen began in 1920 when Irak seceded from the Ottoman Empire and came under Great Britain’s control. For 89 years, regardless of what regime or individual ruled Irak, the Turkmen were unable to overcome this terrible fate.
There have been individual incidents of violence against Turkmen in Iraq over the years; but it is impossible to forget the series of massacres committed against Turkmen. The massacres and large scale executions occurred in 1920, 1924, 1946, 1959, 1979, 1980, 1991 and 1996 and continue today even after the Iraq invasion in 2003.
However Iraqi Turks cannot forget the worst of these massacres, which occurred in 1959 and 1980 and they mourn their martyrs on each anniversary of the 1959 massacre. The revolution became a sign of hope for Iraqi-Turkmen living under oppression, after Iraq’s separation from Turkey in the Treaty of Lausanne.
On the first anniversary of the declaration of the Republic of Iraq, Iraqi-Turkmen had great enthusiasm and optimism for their future. Unfortunately, this joy and hope was short-lived. The anniversary became disastrous for Iraqi-Turkmen as they become the victims of a treacherous raid.
Before the massacre, Iraqi Turkish leaders were arrested and sent to isolation camps. In addition to the arrests, Iraqi Turks were violently murdered as they prepared for the first anniversary festival on 14 July 1959 starting around at 5 pm. The first martyr in the attack was Osman Hıdır. After the three day long massacre, the Iraqi government instituted a curfew against Turkmen.
Hundreds of people, young, old, female and male were dragged through the streets, strangled and slaughtered. Many more were injured and crippled in the attacks. Property belonging to Turkmen was taken. Their stores and offices were pillaged.
The Baghdad regime simply ignored the massacres, while Turkey too remained silent. Moreover, these most atrocious incidents in Kerkuk were hidden from the Turkish public, which caused even greater grief for Iraqi Turks. The Kirkuk massacre of 1959 is remembered and mourned today even in Turkey.
In the following years, the oppressors of the Turkmen in “Turkmeneli” may change but the fate of the Turkmen would remain the same. When the Ba’ath Party came to power in 1968, the Turkmen people would continue to live in fear of Saddam Hussein until the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Saddam regime also claimed countless more Turkmen victims. On January 16th 1980, four Turkmen leaders (the president of the Turkmen Brotherhood Quarry retired Captain Abdullah Abdurrahman, Associate Professor Necdet Koçak, businessman Adil Şerif and Doctor Rıza Demirci) were arrested and thrown into prison. They later received the death penalty, but were not forgotten. This event also opened a deep wound in Turkish-Turkmen relations. On this date, the Turkmen for the first time lost their hope in Turkey and were left with a sense of dereliction.
Below is a chronological ordering of Turkmen massacres; in these massacres countless Turkmen were martyred.
1- Kaçakaç Massacre, Telafer - 1920
2- Levi Massacre, Kirkuc - 1924
3- Gavurbağı Massacre, Kirkuc - 1946
4- Kirkuc Massacre, 14-17 July 1959
5- Tazehurmatu Massacre-1, 1979
6- Türkmen Leaders’ Massacre, 16 January 1980
7- Tazehurmatu Massacre-2, 25 March 1991
8- Altunköprü Massacre 28 March 1991
9- Erbil Massacre, 31 August 1996
10-Tuzhurmatu Massacre, 22 August 2003
11-Telafer Massacre-1, 9 September 2004
12-Telafer Massacre-2, 21 February 2005
13-Musul Massacre, 24 September 2005
14-Yengice Massacre, 10 March 2006
15-Karatepe Massacre, 4 June 2006
16-Kirkuk Massacre, 13 June 2006
17-Tavuk Massacre, 8 June 2007
The attacks against Turkmen have continued during the US occupation unabated and individual murders have joined the massacres.
The attacks are now directed against the members of the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) and opinion leaders in the Turkmen community. Individual murders, assassinations, summary executions and suspicious traffic accidents have heightened anxiety in the community.
Among those are murdered are: M.Kemal Yaycili (May 1, 2004), Dr.Ferit Sait Efendi, Ihsan Abdullah Efendi, Ahmet Arafat and Azad Erbilli (April 23, 2004), Ismail Tuzlu, Yasar Cengiz (January 8, 2005), Sabah Ketene (April 22, 2006).
This is demonstration that Turkmen in Iraq continue to live under constant oppression and that the final goal is to destroy the Turkmen people or to separate them forever from Turkey, the Turkish people and even the Turkish world at large.
We mourn the victims of the 1959 Kirkuk massacre and the Turkmen martyrs of the bombing attacks on June 20, 2009 and July 7, 2009 in Telafer and all other massacres, may they rest in peace. We did not forget and will keep their memory alive.
Iraq Turkmen Front
Announcement:
The victims of the 1959 Kirkuk Massacre, as well those of the latest bomb attacks in Kirkuk Tazehurmatu and the July 7 Telafer attacks, as well as all our Turkmen brothers and sisters who were martyred in these massacres will be commemorated on the 9th of July at the Ankara Kocatepe Mosque with a “Mevlit” to be held after the Friday prayers.
Source: www.kerkuk.net/haberler/haber.aspx?dil=1055&metin=200907141