Kerkuk and the Turkmen of Iraq
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
October 21, 2008
In this article, I publish the first four parts (Introduction, The Turkmen of Iraq, Human Rights Violations, Kerkuk – A Brewing Crisis) of a key document submitted last June to the European Parliament by the Iraqi Turkmen Human Rights Research Foundation (SOITM) and he Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO).
In forthcoming articles, I will publish further parts of this comprehensive paper to which many scholars and activists have contributed.
Kerkuk Problem and Article 140: Defining Alternatives - The Views of Kerkuk´s Turkmen and Arabs
23 June 2008
European Parliament, Brussels
Conference Report
The Iraqi Turkmen Human Rights Research Foundation (SOITM)
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO)
With assistance from:
The office of Ms. Ana Maria Gomes, Member of European Parliament
Introduction
The conference Kerkuk Problem and Article 140: Defining Alternatives, The Views of Kerkuk´s Turkmen and Arabs was organised by the Iraqi Turkmen Human Rights Research Foundation (SOITM) and the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), and held at the European Parliament in Brussels on 23 June 2008.
This conference was organised with the aim of giving voice to various groups afflicted by current frustrations in Kerkuk as well as to raise awareness of their rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in Iraq. This was considered especially important at a time when tensions in northern Iraq are rapidly rising, particularly in reaction to the failure to realize the constitutionally mandated referendum at the appointed date at the end of 2007 on the future status of the oil rich city of Kerkuk. With the process of reversing the demographic distortions imposed under Ba´ath Party rule clearly stalled, affected parties are desperate to solve what has become the ´Kerkuk Problem´ and to foster stability and security in the region.
All parties to the conflict profess an interest to a peaceful resolution - surely the only option for the people of northern Iraq following decades of persecution and violence under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. A prevailing atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion, fuelled by violence and chronic insecurity, continues however to undermine the possibility of meaningful and constructive dialogue between the conflicting parties.
The Iraqi Turkmen and Arabs feel particularly frustrated by the political process that has followed the fall of Ba´ath Party rule. Their leaders have felt excluded from a number of political decisions that appear set to determine the region´s future. Furthermore these mechanisms aimed at creating stability have proved largely ineffectual or unrealized.
In response to this, the conference had two main objectives:
The first was to provide those leaders who have found it difficult to effectively present their concerns to the international community with a stage to do so. The European Parliament presented an appropriate platform for these leaders to engage with European policy-makers in the interest of influencing Iraq´s reconstruction.
The second objective was to foster a process of dialogue with the unique aim of rephrasing the discussion of Kerkuk´s future status in more constructive terms. Contributors were asked to offer alternative pictures on the city´s final status. The conference hoped to stimulate fresh and creative thought on northern Iraq which could be utilized in future dialogue and political planning of the region.
We are delighted to have successfully included the participation of several influential political actors such as Dr. Muzaffer Arslan, advisor on Turkmen Affairs to the President of Iraq H.E. Jalal Talabani; Mr. Mohammed Khalil Nasef, elected member of the Kerkuk City Council as a representative of the Arabic group; Mr. Ali Mehdi, Turkmen member of the Kerkuk City Council and deputy to the president of Turkmeneli party; and Mr. Yako Jajjo from the Iraqi Assyrian community. Two presenters were unable to attend the conference due to security restrictions, however their contributions were graciously presented by supportive colleagues.
This conference was only one step out of the countless steps which lay ahead. The organisers remain hopeful therefore that dialogue and serious consideration of new alternatives can save the people of northern Iraq from the violence that continues to plague their southern neighbours.
SOITM and UNPO maintain committed to contributing to such future initiatives, and hopes future conferences and events might represent an opportunity to gather further representatives from the communities of Iraq.
The organisers are grateful to the many participants whose varied contributions made the conference a successful step towards constructively addressing the situation in Kerkuk. We are also very appreciative for the assistance of Ms. Ana Maria Gomes, without which the conference could not have been possible.
Marino Busdachin
UNPO General Secretary
Sheth Jerjis
SOITM Chairman
The Turkmen of Iraq
The last reliable census data from Iraq, gathered in 1957, identifies the Turkmen as the third largest ethnic group in Iraq. Their population has long historical roots in northern and central Iraq, stretching back beyond the Islamic period, with ongoing settlement throughout the pursuing centuries. Iraqi Turkmen communities rose to prominence during Umayyad and Abbasids, playing an important role as rulers and administrators during Seljuks, Atabags, Mongols, Qara Qoyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu, and Safavids. Turkmen were also prominent administrators, merchants, and politicians under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, especially in urban areas such as Kerkuk, Erbil, Telafer, and in several districts in Diyala, Salah al-Din and Kut, where they lived as a majority. The decline of their influence and marginalisation began first after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire during the aftermath of the First World War.
Under British rule and Iraq´s era of Monarchy, cultural rights were gradually taken away from Turkmen communities, and their activists frequently jailed. British rule is also widely viewed by Turkmen as the beginning of efforts to systematically misrepresent the true extent of their presence in northern Iraq – perhaps in an effort to minimise vestiges of Ottoman rule as they sought to cement their own control.
Iraqi Turkmen influence in northern Iraq continued to gradually wane during successive Iraqi governments following the dismembering of the Ottoman Empire and Iraq´s independence in 1932. Other minorities and communities, predominantly Kurds, began entering Iraq´s northern cities in large numbers from mountainous areas in the east following the growth of a burgeoning oil industry. This rapid demographic change soon produced ethnic tension and violence and Turkmen communities began to feel the effect of marginalisation. This is most clearly evident in the events of 14 July 1959, where scores of once prominent Turkmen officials were killed in Kerkuk. Tensions were exasperated still further upon the establishment of Ba´ath Party rule in 1968, a period during which the position of all minorities in Iraq became increasingly precarious.
Saddam Hussein´s regime instigated a campaign of intensive "Arabisation" in rebellious regions of northern Iraq, systematically expelling Turkmen, Kurdish, and Assyrian minorities, encouraging the resettlement of Arabs, and redrawing political boundaries to dilute their political influence. This period of violence and persecution effectively destroyed Turkmen civil society, forcing many of its political institutions underground or into exile abroad.
Rebuilding civil society remains the major challenge facing Iraqi Turkmen leaders as the new Iraqi state begins to take shape.
Iraqi Turkmen communities are in particular of the view that their historical presence and influence in the region has remained marginalised during the process of reconstructing the Iraqi state, claiming that relatively little has been achieved with respect to correcting the past injustices they have suffered. With limited representation in local administration and security forces, as well as in the vital Property Claims Commission, many have concluded that little has changed with respect to their political and social marginalisation. Perhaps most crucially, Turkmen communities have come to view the recent waves of immigration into Kerkuk as increasingly disproportionate, suspicious of the role this might play in the imminent referendum on the city´s future status.
Human Rights Violations
Attempts to assimilate Turkmen communities began in earnest during the establishment of the Iraqi Monarchy in 1921. The study of Turkmen language was quickly banned from schools and public life, and once prominent Turkmen politicians were increasingly excluded from local administration and law enforcement. A burgeoning oil industry exposed the Kerkuk region to demographic change, bringing waves of immigration both from the surrounding regions and from abroad in search of employment. This rapid demographic change inevitably introduced ethnic tensions and rivalry that frequently resulted in violence.
These tensions continued into Iraq´s Republican Era, escalating most dramatically in Kerkuk, the site of a now notorious massacre of Turkmen leaders which took place on 14 July 1959. This effectively destroyed the remnants of Turkmen civil society, still stifled by restrictions on Turkmen language, culture, and media.
The establishment of Ba´ath Party rule over Iraq in 1968 made the prospects for all of Iraq´s minorities increasingly precarious. Alongside Kurdish, Assyrian, and other communities, Iraq´s Turkmen suffered extensively under the brutal Anfal campaign, aimed at securing still further Ba´ath Party dominance in the region. Land seizures and confiscation severely damaged the Turkmen economy, countless families were forcefully expelled, and those able to remain were often forced to register as Arab in order to partake in the economy or seek employment of any kind, whilst political and cultural exclusion prevented recourse to any meaningful form of justice.
The fall of Saddam Hussein´s regime in 2003 brought an initial wave of stability to northern Iraq. Subsequent waves of Kurdish in-migration and Kurdish dominance over political power in what is being considered a "Kurdification" of the region contributed however to the escalation of tensions. Economic marginalisation and under-representation in local administration and security services continues however to undermine the revival of Turkmen civil society. The return of seized land and property has in particular been greatly ineffectual; with many Turkmen leaders left with the feeling nothing has changed with respect to their political and economic marginalisation. As still prevalent ethnic tensions have brought increased levels of violence and intimidation to cities such as Kerkuk and Telafer, traditionally home to large Turkmen communities, many have already taken the difficult decision to seek safety as refugees in neighbouring countries such as Turkey and Syria.
Kerkuk – A Brewing Crisis
Kerkuk is a city in northern Iraq rich in both history and oil. Whilst northern Iraq has long been the home of numerous minorities, Iraqi Turkmen consider the city of Kerkuk especially central to their historical presence in the region. The present demography of Kerkuk, they claim, reflects relatively recent waves of immigration that began with the growth of the city´s oil industry in the 1920s, and more substantially, the brutal campaign of "Arabisation" instigated by Ba´ath Party and "Kurdification" after the country´s 2003 occupation intent on securing domination over the region. Many Turkmen remain critical also of the process meant to address these injustices following the fall of the Ba´ath Party in 2003, some suggesting it has merely facilitated a new form of demographic distortion.
During the Ba´ath period, forced expulsions, killings, and violence, were coupled with economic incentives and benefits designed to drive local minorities out of northern Iraq. Turkmen civil society, along with that of Assyrian and Kurdish minorities, was severely weakened, and in some cases, effectively eradicated. Their communities were forced to register as Arab in order to engage in commerce or employment of any kind, and their language and culture was banned for education and public life.
Following the events of 2003, Turkmen communities now resent in particular the extent to which their leaders were driven from their once influential positions in local administration and security, leaving their communities bereft of meaningful representation and influence in local decision making. Their current under-representation in Iraq´s new political institutions, both national and local, is therefore a matter of particular concern.
Kurdish communities in Kerkuk also claim the city as historic property, focusing primarily on their population numbers in the wider Kerkuk region, as opposed to its urban centre. Denying a primary interest in the city´s oil wealth, Kurdish leaders have repeatedly urged the incorporation of Kerkuk into the Kurdish administrative region, though accepting its essentially mixed ethnic composition.
What is often described as a brewing crisis in Kerkuk is inherently tied to these diverging claims to the city. The constitutional mechanism for resolving these conflicting claims and determining the city´s future status with respect to a federal Iraq has however only produced further tensions.
Article 58 of the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) and the subsequent Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution recognise the injustices of Saddam
Hussein´s "Arabisation" campaign, and contain provisions for a process of "normalisation" intended to reverse the damaging effects of this policy. Upon the completion of this process, followed by a census, Article 140 suggests that the "will of its citizens" should determine Kerkuk´s final status by a date no later than 31 December 2007. In actuality this could not be realized by the December 2007 deadline and the referendum was postponed due to purported "technical issues". The resulting situation further complicated the democratic processes aimed at safeguarding future stability and increased already strained tensions in the region.
Many Turkmen and Arab political leaders stand in particular defiance of Article 140, claiming the article was unfairly extracted from Article 58 of the Transitional Administrative Law in Iraq. While the Transitional Law lends for the option of Kerkuk remaining an independent entity not adjoined to any federal region, Article 140 lacks that definition. Given the debated formulation of Article 140 in addition to its failure to uphold a referendum by the mandated deadline numerous political groups currently claim Article 140 as an expired and therefore "dead" constitutional article.
The proposed process of normalisation is clearly complex. No consensus has of yet emerged on what might constitute normality in such a beleaguered region, and numerous practical questions remain unanswered with respect to reversing the demographic distortions that are a legacy of the Ba´ath Party era.
Demography remains perhaps the most controversial issues, concerning both the question of how many of the city´s various ethnic communities can claim to have been displaced, and the question of what to offer Arabs brought in, some against their will, to take their places.
Many Turkmen and Arab leaders have strongly opposed what they consider excessive Kurdish immigration into Kerkuk after 2003, claiming this unfairly determines both local elections and the pending referendum in their favour, at least when compared to what they view as the historical makeup of the city. Their exclusion from local administrative structures has allowed, they argue, rival communities to facilitate the relocation of many more families than were expelled from the city during the Ba´ath period.
Little has also been done with respect to returning confiscated lands, with the Iraqi Property Claims Commission riddled with bureaucratic difficulties and legitimacy problems. Turkmen communities in particular lament its domination by Kurdish representatives and failure in particular to address cases involving Turkmen land owners. Statistics suggest of the 36.000 land confiscation cases existing only a small fraction (estimated 5.000) has been fully addressed. Of those cases an estimated 80 percent involve Turkmen land owners.
The process of normalisation has undeniably been slow and ineffectual, with many important questions remaining unanswered. Without further efforts to ensure all of Iraq´s minorities feel genuinely included in the democratic processes aimed at reconstructing the Iraqi state, coveted stability appears inevitably and increasingly elusive in the absence of further dialogue and discussion.
Note
Picture: the Kerkuk Citadel
Online editions of Prof. Dr. M. S. Megalommatis´ book on the "Turkish – Greek Relations and the Balkans" are available here:
http://community.webshots.com/user/turkeygreecemegalommatis (in Turkish) and http://community.webshots.com/user/greeceturkeymegalommatis (in Albanian)