Archive for the ‘Turkish Press’ Category
Turkmens should work for unity: Gül
Iraq’s Turkmens should not only work to protect the rights of their community but also for the unity of Iraq, Turkish President Abdullah Gül has said.
Gül met yesterday with Erşat Salihi, the leader of the Turkmen Front party, expressing Turkey’s desire to maintain close ties with all ethnic and religious groups in Iraq.
“I believe that while defending the rights of the Turkmens in the best possible way, [Salihi] will make contributions also to the fraternity and peaceful co-habitation in Iraq between Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, Turkmens and Arabs,” Gül said. Read the rest of this entry »
Iraqi doctor shot in battle over Kirkuk
Gunmen shot dead an Iraqi neurologist and his brother in the northern disputed city of Kirkuk on Monday, police said, while five people were wounded by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
Police said that Dr. Yalderin Abbas al-Damarchi, a 48-year-old Shiite Turkmen father of four, was killed by gunmen along with his brother, Zein al-Abdeen, while driving after he left his clinic in central Kirkuk. Read the rest of this entry »
Iraqi Bektashis demand their rights in Iraq
“We want our educational, cultural and religious rights to be recognized by the central government in Baghdad,” says Abbas Beyetli, a spokesman for the Iraqi Bektashi community.
In an interview with Today’s Zaman, Beyetli said the Iraqi Bektashis are facing difficult challenges in Iraq. “We want the Iraqi government to officially recognize the Bektashis of Iraq, and we want to establish our own federation with a budget from the Iraqi government,” he stated. Read the rest of this entry »
Iraqi refugees wait for new lives in Istanbul’s ’Little Baghdad’
A neighborhood known as ’Son Durak’ (Last Stop) in Istanbul’s Kurtuluş area is a way station for Iraqis who have fled the Iraq war since 2003. The community, also called ’Little Baghdad,’ is mostly populated by Christian refugees from central and southern Iraq whose meeting-point is a café on the neighborhood square
Sitting inside the Genç Kardeşler Café behind the bus station in Istanbul’s Kurtuluş area, it is easy to see why the “Son Durak” (Last Stop) neighborhood is also called “Little Baghdad.” Read the rest of this entry »
UN envoy calls for talks over Kirkuk elections
Negotiations must begin shortly over finally holding long-delayed provincial elections in the divided flashpoint Iraqi province of Kirkuk, the UN’s envoy to Baghdad said.
UN special representative Ad Melkert called for a conference to be held in Baghdad involving all of the religious and ethnic communities in Kirkuk, which is at the centre of a tract of disputed territory that is claimed by both the central government and Kurdish regional authorities. Read the rest of this entry »
Turkish FM meets Iraq’s Turkmen leaders
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday met with leaders of Iraq’s Turkmen population from Tal Afar who launched a peace initiative to end a long-standing feud between the city’s Shiite and Sunni Turkmen groups.
“The entire Iraq is precious to us. The fate of the Iraqis is the fate of Turkey. We will not let any Iraqi citizen down. The people of Tal Afar should live without knowing who is Shiite and who is Sunni,” Davutoglu said.
The Turkish foreign minister said Turkey would use all resources to open a university in Tal Afar, adding that Turkey’s development agency would also exert efforts to construct new houses for those Turkmen returning to Tal Afar. Read the rest of this entry »
Iraqi Turkmen Solidarity Meeting in Ankara
“ITF Turkey Representative, the distinguished Dr. Hicran Kazancı brings the Turkmen personalities living in Turkey under a single roof titled “Turkmen Solidarity Meeting”, shares the projects under the management of his representation, as well as new strategies and claims to be open to any and all forms of criticism. ”
ITF Turkey Representative, the distinguished Dr. Hicran Kazancı brings the Turkmen personalities living in Turkey under a single roof titled “Turkmen Solidarity Meeting”, shares the projects under the management of his representation, as well as new strategies and claims to be open to any and all forms of criticism. Within the scope of this framework, Dr. Kazancı is holds the fourth in a series of Turkmen Solidarity Meetings in the Representation building on 28.01.2010. Read the rest of this entry »
Kirkuk: a ticking time bomb in volatile north Iraq
Haji Mohammed Ismail, a tribal elder in Kirkuk, home to one of Iraq’s biggest oilfields, is bracing for the worst once US troops leave the country and Arab and Kurd face off with no one to halt the fight.
“As soon as US forces leave Iraq, there will be civil war. In a place like this, the strongest will devour the weakest,” said Ismail, 80, an Iraqi Arab, as he leaned over a mud brick wall in his village near the disputed northern city. “There is a lot of tension. People are being thrown out of their homes and humiliated. They want revenge. Something bad is going to happen.” Read the rest of this entry »
Turkey’s Vakıfbank to open a branch in Iraq’s Arbil
Turkish lender Vakıfbank is set to open a branch in the Iraqi city of Arbil by the end of the year.
Süleyman Kalkan, director-general of Vakıfbank, told reporters during a press conference Friday, “We applied to the central government of Iraq to open a Vakıfbank branch in Arbil. As we have already received prior approval, we are planning to open the Arbil branch by the end of the year.” Read the rest of this entry »
Davutoglu urges Iraq’s Turkmen lawmakers to act in unison
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu got together with Iraq’s Turkmen lawmakers at an exclusive fast breaking dinner in Ankara on Saturday, where recent political developments in Iraq were discussed.
Davutoglu urged Turkmen lawmakers in the Iraqi National Parliament to let aside partisan differences and act in unison in issues concerning the Turkmen population of Iraq, calling on them to form a Turkmen group in the parliament. Davutoglu emphasized that Turkey attached importance to unity among ethnic groups in Iraq. Read the rest of this entry »