While noting that the Turkish government’s relations with the Iraqi Kurdish administration had improved in recent years, Bahçeli accused “the Peshmarga administration” of conducting secret operations against Turkmen people and called on the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to take rapid action in order to protect Turkmens’ rights.“Kirkuk is Turkish and will remain Turkish forever,” Bahçeli said during his parliamentary group meeting. “Kirkuk is love, passion to us,” Bahçeli said, adding that he considered Kirkuk to be no different than Istanbul and Ankara.

Bahçeli also extended condolences to Turkmens following a recent coordinated attack on Kirkuk’s police headquarters – a suicide car bomb followed by an assault by grenade-throwing gunmen – that killed 30 people and wounded 88 others.

Recalling messages of solidarity given to Turkmens by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu during an August 2012 visit to Kirkuk, the MHP leader said the AKP government had failed to display this solidarity in practice. Instead, the government has been “inconsistent, insincere and exploitative,” he said.

He also suggested that the energy deals signed by the Turkish government and the Iraqi Kurdish administration have turned into an issue of priority for the AKP instead of the situation of the Turkmens.

Kirkuk, a multiethnic city of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen 240 kilometers north of Baghdad, lies at the heart of a dispute between Iraq’s central government and the autonomous Kurdistan region.

Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/nationalist-leader-bahceli-kirkuk-will-remain-turkish-forever.aspx?pageID=238&nID=40530&NewsCatID=338

Turkey has expressed sorrow over the bomb attack staged in Tuz Khormato, near Kirkuk, during a meeting with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) leader Massoud Barzani and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu late Jan. 23 in Davos.

Davutoğlu told Barzani that Ankara did not pursue a policy based on ethnic and religious bases, adding that Turkey would continue dialogue with Iraqi politicians who have a similar policy as Ankara, diplomatic sources told Hürriyet Daily News.

Turkey attached great importance to the prosperity and stability of Iraq, the minister said, continuing that they would initiate measures to bring injured Turkmens to Turkey for treatment. Barzani also thanked Davutoğlu for Turkey’s help in treating wounded Turkmens after the previous attack in Kirkuk.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the attack and expressed Turkey’s concerns in a written statement on Jan. 23.

Turkmens have become targets in the tension between the central administration and the regional administration in northern Iraq, the leader of the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) and Kirkuk Member of Parliament Erşat Salihi told Anatolia news agency.

The suicide blast at a funeral in the Iraqi town of Tuz Khormato on Jan. 23 targeted ITF Turkmen politicians and the entire Turkmen region.

According to Salihi, the central government protects only Arabs, Peshmergas and Kurds, leaving Turkmens to their own fate.

Davutoğlu-Barzani discuss PYD

He called on the Turkic world to stand by them, adding that the establishment of a security zone for Turkmens was vital to protecting the future of Turkmens.

Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu joined in condemning the Tuz Khormato bomb attack. He called on all sides to act with restraint for the stability of Iraq so as not to repeat similar massacres.

Cooperation in fighting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was also on the agenda of Davutoğlu and Barzani’s meeting, diplomatic sources said, where the two discussed how the Syrian Kurds have developed relations with the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. Turkey has reservations regarding the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a Syrian pro-Kurdish party affiliated with the PKK, but would further boost its relations with northern Iraq, Davutoğlu said during the meeting.

Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-concerned-on-iraqi-turkmens-status.aspx?pageID=238&nID=39799&NewsCatID=338

The meeting at Davutoglu’s office was held closed to news media.

Turkish diplomatic sources close to the meeting said Davutoglu had pledged continued support and aid for Iraq’s Turkmens, thanking for the warm welcome he received during his visit to Kirkuk last week.

Sources cited Davutoglu as telling the Turkmen leader that Turkey attached great importance to Iraq’s unity and that Turkey stood hat equal distance to all segments in Iraq.

Source:http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/139890/turkish-fm-receives-iraqi-turkmen-leader.html

Kirkuk province is part of a swathe of disputed territory in northern Iraq that along with oil contracts are the two main points of contention between Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government in Arbil.

The Iraqi foreign ministry issued a statement saying that “it is not in the interest of Turkey or any other party to underestimate the national sovereignty and violate the rules of international relations and not comply with the most basic regulations in the relations of states and officials.

“All of that was done without the knowledge or approval of the foreign ministry and without going to the official and diplomatic channels to organise this visit,” it said.

The foreign ministry statement also termed the visit “blatant interference in Iraq’s internal affairs,” and said that Turkey should be ready for “the results of this action” and its potential “negative effects on relations between the two countries.”

The Kurdish authorities too came in for criticism in the statement, which said: “We are surprised by the position of the government of the region, which facilitated the visit without the knowledge of the federal government and thereby violated its constitutional responsibilities.”

Local officials in Kirkuk said they had only learned at the last minute that Davutoglu was coming.

“We were only aware of the visit half an hour before it started,” said Rekan al-Saeed, the deputy governor of Kirkuk.

“We look at this visit as a personal one with no diplomatic or political goal, as long as it has not been approved by official federal channels,” Saeed said.

Davutolgu visited leaders of Kirkuk’s Turkmen community, with which Ankara has long had close ties, as well as religious and historical sites including the city’s Ottoman cemetery.

Turkmen Front head Arshad al-Salehi told AFP: “Turkmen should work to enhance relations with Turkey, and Shiites with Iran, and Sunnis with Gulf countries.”

The front’s deputy leader, Ali Hashem Mukhtar Oglu, said Davutoglu was the highest-ranking Turkish official to visit the city in decades.

Ties between Iraq and Turkey have been marred by a flurry of disputes this year.

In July, Iraq warned Ankara against “any violations” of its territory and airspace, and instructed the foreign ministry to register a complaint at the UN Security Council, after Turkish jets bombed Kurdish rebels in Kurdistan.

A few days earlier, Iraq called on Turkey to stop accepting “illegal” transfers of crude oil from Kurdistan, which an official from the region said had begun earlier in the month.

In May, Davutoglu condemned a demonstration near Turkey’s consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, during which protesters burned Turkish flags after Turkey refused to hand over their fugitive vice president.

Turkey has for months hosted Iraq’s fugitive Sunni Arab vice president, Tareq al-Hashemi, who is wanted on charges of running a death squad and is being tried in absentia.

In April, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said that Turkey was becoming a “hostile state” in the region, accusing its premier of interfering in internal Iraqi affairs.

His remarks came after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Maliki’s Shiite-led government of stoking sectarian tensions.

Source: http://en.cumhuriyet.com/?hn=356482

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.

Salihi said all of Iraq’s neighbors should adopt the same policy of equal treatment of the country’s communities, but added that it “is our natural right to be a bit closer” to Turkey.

Alarmed over a wave of assassinations and abductions targeting their community, Iraqi Turkmen leaders have recently appealed to Turkey for support, saying Turkmens in the ethnically-mixed oil-rich city of Kirkuk were particularly demoralized.

Also yesterday, Gül received Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi after the visiting official held talks with his Turkish counterpart, Cemil Çiçek.

Çiçek said Iraq needed to stop the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from using its northern regions as a shelter and a base for attacks on Turkey.

Çiçek also lent support to a proposal from Nujaifi for a four-way meeting in Baghdad between the parliament speakers of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia to discuss regional tensions.

© 2011 Hurriyet Daily News
URL: www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkmens-should-work-for-unity-gul-2011-11-17

Speaking to reporters prior to his meeting with Salihi behind closed doors, President Gul said that Salihi was recently elected the chair of the Iraqi Turkmen Front and was a deputy from Kirkuk at the Iraqi Parliament.

All Iraqis are our brothers and sisters. We wish all Iraqis to have a prosperous and happy life. As Turkey, we are doing our utmost for Iraq’s unity and strength. Iraqi Turkmens play the role of a great bridge between Turkey and Iraq, Gul said.

Source: AA

URL: http://www.aa.com.tr/en/manset/103133-president-gul-receives-iraqi-turkmen-official

The Iraqi delegation was composed of: Mr Younadam Kenna, Mr Amin Farhan, MissAmeena Said, Miss Vian Dakhil, Mr Hussain Nermo, Mr Meham Khaleel, MissBasma Pitrus, Mr Luis Gaor, Mr Qasim Birgis, Mr Sharif Sulayman, Mr Khalid Roomi, Mr Kaliss Eisho, Mr Imad Yako, and Mr Mohammed Jamsheed.

The meeting in Brussels was chaired by the President of the EU Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq, Mr. Struan Stevenson. The meeting was also attended by Vice-President of the Delegation Esther De Lange, and MEP’s Ana Gomes, Tunne Kelam, Alexandra Thein and Jelko Kacin.

During the meeting, Iraqi Turkmen Front EU Representative, Dr. Hassan Aydinli, had the opportunity to individually meet with MEP’s Stevenson, Kelam and Thein.  Aydinli mentioned the upcoming Turkmen Hearing by the Subcommittee on Human Rights at the EU Parliament to be held on 5 December 2011.  He highlighted the ongoing targeting of Turkmen intellectuals, businessmen and political leaders in the north of Iraq and expressed the failure and unwillingness of Iraqi authorities to provide adequate protection for the Turkmen community in the north of Iraq.

During the meeting in Brussels, all the members of the Iraqi delegation asked for help and moral support from the European Union, expressing their hope that the EU Parliament would issue a statement on Iraq’s minorities.  They further expressed the hope that Members of the EU Parliament would frequently visit the Iraqi Parliament and that additional EU consulates would be opened in the main cities in the north of Iraq.

For more information see: http://merryabla64.wordpress.com/

Najat Hassan, representative of the Turkmen in Kirkuk, announced the new unit with 100-150 armed men Thursday.

“The decision to form the force was made after it became clear that the security forces in Kirkuk are unable to protect the Turkmen citizens in the city, especially after the assassination of the prominent Dr. Yıldırım Abbas and his brother,” Hassan said. “It was implemented at the request of the President of the Turkmen Front, Arshad Salhi.”

Jamal Taher, chief of the police in Kirkuk, criticized the move. “I do not support the formation of a committee like this, set up on the basis of nationalism in Kirkuk.”

He would prefer additional support for the police of Kirkuk, if the government agrees that additional security is necessary.

Taher claimed he has not officially been informed about the new force.

The oil-rich city of Kirkuk – 233 km northeast of Baghdad – is of multi-ethnic makeup. Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen all claim they are the rightful heirs to the rule of the city and the surrounding province. It has been hit hard by the violence that has engulfed Iraq since the 2003 U.S-led invasion. Unlike other regions, attacks in Kirkuk have not significantly decreased in recent years, with bombings and shootings an almost daily occurrence.

Observers believe that the file of the disputed areas between Baghdad and Erbil will be a challenge for Iraq after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country at the end of this year.

Source: AKNews
URL:http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/4/261998/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

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.

Sadiq Omar Rasul, the general director of the Kirkuk health directorate, confirmed Damarchi’s death, saying the attack was an attempt to “create chaos in Iraq.”

Kurdistan wants to incorporate the restive, ethnically mixed and oil-rich Kirkuk province into its autonomous north Iraq region, a move strongly opposed by authorities in Baghdad.

Violence is down across Iraq from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common. A total of 239 people were killed in violence in the country in August, according to official figures.

Source: The Province
URL: http://www.theprovince.com/story_print.html?id=5357025&sponsor

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.

The identity of the Iraqi Bektashis started to come to the forefront only recently — after the start of the Iraq war in 2003.

Beyetli said: “The identity of the Bektashi people was suppressed for more than 80 years. We suffered great injustices in terms of culture and religion, and many Bektashis assimilated with Shiites.

The Shiites represent 65 percent of the Iraqi population and the Sunnis 32 percent.

There has recently been an escalation in sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite groups. The violence reached its peak on Tuesday when the death toll hit 70 in Iraq, making it the deadliest day of the year.

“The Shiite groups are strong, and many Bektashis assimilate out of fear, becoming Shiite. There is great pressure. We don’t have a representative in the parliament. The one representative who was close to our community was an assimilated Bektashi,” he said.

Beyetli said it is difficult to determine the exact number of the Bektashi population in Iraq, adding: “There is a wide range in estimated population numbers, ranging from 250,000 to 750,000. We have to remember that the last official census in Iraq was in 1957, and in light of those years of assimilation, the numbers start to become fragmented.”

Iraqi Bektashis are in Turkey for the Haci Bektaş-i Veli festival and to raise public awareness of the plight of the Bektashi community in Iraq.

The Iraqi Bektashi population in Iraq is currently centered mostly in northern Iraq and in the cities of Mosul, Telafer, Kirkuk, Tuzhurmatu and Arbil. “You don’t get a sense of a large population of Bektashis in Iraq, but there is a sense of revival and increased openness that is clearly in the air,” Beyetli stated.

Source: Today’s Zaman
URL: http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_openPrintPage.action?newsId=254413