Freedom for the Forgotten Turkomans (Turkmen) of Iraq

One of Mesopotamia´s forgotten nations are the Turkomans (Turkmen); along with the Aramaeans, they have been pushed to the margin of the recent democratization procedure that was supposedly launched by the Americans in Iraq, following the demise of Saddam Hussein.

Supported by Turkey, ferociously discarded by the French allies of the so-called Kurds, the Turkomans have been constantly snubbed by the Americans who used to speak of Mesopotamia (Iraq) as of the land of three ethnic groups, the Shia, the Sunnis and the Kurds. Nothing is more fallacious and counterfeit than this.

Victims of the colonial projects of arabization, launched by the evil English colonials since the 1920s, the Turkomans have long been targeted as a ´disturbing´ and ´undesired´ element.

The oppression of the Turkomans and the persecution of the Aramaeans reveal that plans implemented in Mesopotamia since 2003 had been prepared along with the evil colonial project of the decomposition of the Ottoman Empire.

I will present a series of articles on the Turkomans either republishing documents and presentations or analyzing the seminal importance of their location and their historicity.

Today, I republish from the Turkoman website www.kerkuk.net the Turkoman Vision, which is a declaration for a democratic, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural Iraq; in fact, this moderate, non secessionist approach would serve the supporters of the colonial rule in the Middle East; even in this, the Americans failed.

The Turkoman Vision

http://www.kerkuk.net/kurumsal/?dil=2057&metin=21

Iraq as a whole, has generally attempted to assimilate and Arabize the their regions since 1920 and especially since 1980 the Iraqi administration has applied various methods to assimilate the Turkoman people and Arabize and/or make them Kurdish. The government policy has not only forbidden Turkish from being spoken in public areas, but has made it a felony to speak Turkish while having telephone conversations with family members. Hundreds of Turkoman villages and towns have been destroyed under various pretexts, the Turkoman people have been forced to migrate to other regions while hundreds of thousands of Arab citizens living in the southern part of Iraq have been subsidized with complimentary grants and land distribution.

The names of many settlements have been changed from Turkish into Arabic.

Many Turkoman villages and settlement areas such as Hamzalý , Beþir , Yayçý Kümbetler, Karahasan , Sarýtepe, Topuzova , Yahyaova have been demolished.

With decision no. 41 dated 29 January 1976 the Revolutionary Command Council changed the name of Kirkuk Province to Al-Tamim and connected its largest district, Tuzhurmatu to Tikrit, the birth place of Saddam

The compulsory deportation of Turkoman people to the southern provinces was taken with decision no. 1391 dated 20 October 1981. This decision has been enforced in Kirkuk during the last months.

Expropriated Turkoman lands were distributed to the Arabs brought from the south with decision no. 1081 dated 27.09.1984.

With their decisions no. 418 and 434 dated 8 April 1984 and 11 September 1989 respectively, the Turkoman people were forbidden from acquiring property in Kirkuk.

The Iraqi administration is applying various methods and policies to pressure the Turkoman people into being assimilated and lose their national identities and wipe them from the country. Thousands of Turkoman people have fallen victim to the inhumane applications of the Iraqi administration. At least as many are on the list of the involuntarily missing Turkoman people.

One of the recent atrocities committed by today´s administration are the racial and violent applications of Saddam´s Forces carried out in Arbil in 31.08.1996. During the raids carried out by Iraqi Forces and the Security units to the Turkoman Front and Turkoman Political Party offices, Turkoman schools, cultural and science clubs, 34 Turkoman who were present at that time were killed or arrested. So far the families of those who were arrested and the Turkoman Front have been unable to gain clear information regarding the detainees. The subject was officially registered in the UN Human Rights Commission Report (A/51/496/add.18 November 1996).

Recently, the intensive Arabization and/or Kurdification policies carried out in the country to vanquish the Turkoman identity has reached ethnic cleansing dimensions. The Turkoman families deported from Kirkuk during the past year has exceeded a thousand families. Arab families are settled in their places. The policy of deporting Turkoman people and repopulating their abandoned settlements with Arabs is a very old policy and has been systematically carried out by the Iraqi administration for years.

A list of main targets applied on the Turkoman people is as follows:

The Turkoman language has been abolished from education.

They are forbidden to speak their native language even among themselves in official administration offices.

Turkoman people are denied the right to by or sell property.

They are forbidden to buy or sell any kind of commercial vehicles.

The Turkish names of city quarters, villages, towns have been changed.

Starting with Kirkuk, the fertile agricultural lands belonging to Turkoman people have been confiscated by the administration and distributed to people with close ties with the administration.

It has been to forbidden to preach and give sermons in the Turkoman language in mosques in the Turkoman regions. Meetings to commemorate the Family of the Prophet Muhammad have been banned in all Turkmen regions as well as the whole of Iraq.

Turkmen deportation and Arab resettlement policies are wantonly carried out. The deported Turkmen receive no compensation; they were sent away without any information regarding relocation. The Arabs whom are settled in their places receive all kinds of financial support as well as land and housing. The Turkmen people being deported into a secure area in the north cannot find domiciles nor peace and security. In an attempt to find security and a place to live families try to enter countries accepting illegal refugees. Many Turkmen people have lost their lives in this pursuit. In 1997 on three different occasions numerous Turkmen people lost their lives in attempting to cross the Aegean Sea.

A population census was carried out in October 1997. The majority leader Baas Party and security forces started a rumor stating "anyone who claimed Turkoman nationality would forfeit all citizenship rights and be deported". The populace was threatened. Even the prepared forms denied the Turkoman community´s existence. Many Turkoman who feared for their lives and property declared themselves as Arabs. The Iraqi administration exploited these declarations which had been obtained under duress and claimed that according to these statements the Turkoman community in the country was practically non-existent. An important part of the above oppressions have been reported in the UN Human Rights Reports. [See (A/51/496/add.1 8.November.1996) and (A/52/476/ 15.October.1997) Annex: 3]

People who were forced to migrate as a result of acts of oppression must be encouraged and supplied with necessary incentives to return to their homelands and the 1957 population census must be used as a basis when this work is carried out.

It is a fact that the Kurdish Administration north of the 36th parallel in what is called the Secure Zone, the administration established by KDP and headed by Mesut Barzani is applying steadily increasing similar pressures on the Turkoman people in the area.

The latest developments have made it clear that a new constitutional law based on democracy must be prepared in Iraq. Developing this constitutional law based on a Unitarian structure would be in line with historical developments and national and international judicial arrangements in this area. Basic rights and freedoms in the Constitutional law must be in line with international standards and especially in accordance with the European Human Rights Convention regulations. In this context the arrangements controlled by the first 10 articles and articles 15 and 16 of the declaration dated 1932 and which has also been approved and accepted by the Organization of Nations, after being updated to be in line with present day conditions, could provide a basis for regulating the basic rights and freedoms for the future constitutional law. Evaluation of the mentioned legislation with the basic decrees of the European Human Rights Convention and preparing comparable legislation is a valid choice. The reason for this is that the mentioned Convention has determined the minimum standards for human rights and freedoms and is easily applicable in all communities.

The Constitutional law must be adapted to the structure of the community in such a way that there are no negative aspects which would make it inapplicable. Within this scope, the constitutional law drafted by some groups and drafts to be prepared with similar perceptions cannot be considered valid in the legal or legitimate. When constitutional laws are prepared based on social reconciliation they become applicable. The drafts mentioned do not contain these characteristics so they are unacceptable.

The separation of the population by a State´s Constitutional Law into main component and secondary component is unheard of in international and comparative law and is the expression of an unacceptable approach. Any constitutional law prepared with this kind of approach cannot be expected to be acceptable or applicable. The greatest deficiency observed in these kinds of drafts is that not only has the historical development of politics in Iraq not been considered, the legal responsibilities and formulations have been intentionally ignored.

It is a historical and scientific reality that Iraq consists of Arab, Kurdish, Turkish and Assyrian communities. Since the reality is that the democratic Republic of Iraq will be established in a community with a non-homogenous society, the rights and freedoms of these communities must be determined and secured by the constitutional law. In this context, it is mandatory to create an atmosphere where the individual, after having determined which community he belongs and feels dedicated to, can safely without pressure or reprisals, benefit from the rights acknowledged this community. This is possible by carrying out a census in Iraq for this purpose. During this census, individuals must not be the targets of any pressure, threats, indoctrination or suggestions. The quality of the questions to be asked during the mentioned census should be determined by objective criteria and the participants must be assured that the gathered data will not be used to their disadvantage at any time. If this is not assured the realization of the population census will be difficult and the problem will be unsolvable. It is possible to ensure that such an unwanted situation does not arise by having the census carried under the supervision and control of representatives of an international society consisting of United Nations Representatives. The data revealed by the population census must be evaluated according to objective criteria; once the characterization of the community is established, the application phase of the recognized cultural rights will follow. During all these phases precautions must be taken to ensure the facilitation and continuity of friendship and peace, positive actions and arrangements to this effect must be encouraged.

Below we have submitted a general outline of the particular points together with the reasons for our preference and recommendations we feel are necessary to be included in the required new constitutional law. The new constitutional law must be discussed along these principles, shaped and the rules determined by a commission including representatives from all the communities which constitute the Iraqi nation.

Political system; must be a democratic parliamentarian regime. Administration style must be republican based on democratic representation. This way, via parliamentarian regime, the communities forming the Democratic Republic of Iraq will be represented according to their population ratio and a fair say in matters can be realized.

The official languages of Iraq are the languages spoken by the three major communities forming the Iraqi people.

Legislative body; independent, equal, public and secret ballot, open count detailed presentation, independent judicial auditing and supervision, representation based on population ratios of existing communities. Communities must have the right and authority to directly choose their representatives.

Steering agency; constituting a president and council of ministers in accordance with the logic of a parliamentarian system.

The president must be chosen by a pre-determined majority (2/3 for instance) of the legislative body.

The distribution of ministers in the Ministers Council must be based on representation ratio according to the communities´ population.

The Prime Minister must be appointed by the President from among the ministers of the community with the population majority. One Minister each from the second and third highest vote community must be chosen as deputy prime minister. Community prime minister deputies must be determined by relevant community representatives.

Type of administration in Iraq; the administration will be central, supported by local administrations with increased authorities and contingencies. The administrators of provincial administrations forming the central authority´s local organizations must be elected to these positions according to community population ratio. Local administrative agencies must be elected for the office. Local administrations must be given financial opportunities to cover the needs of the region in the best possible way in line with overall country standards.

Adjudicatory power; is carried out on behalf of the Iraqi people by independent and impartial courts of law. Determination and appointment of Supreme court members must be based on representation in accordance with the community´s population.

Everyone is in possession of untouchable, non-transferable and non-renouncable rights.

Each person has equal rights in the application of law regardless of language, religion, race, sect, gender and philosophical beliefs and opinions.

Communities have the right to be educated and represent and defend themselves before official authorities in their own language.

Communities have the right to have cultural activities, speak and have a printed publication in their own language.

Individuals have the right to religious freedom and the freedom to worship. No one can be condemned and punished because of his religion.

Every one is entitled to own property and to inherit. Any restrictions applied on property rights must target public benefits. In case reclamation is unavoidable, the legal requirements are observed and the real value is paid in full. The property rights violations based on government originated applications must be abolished. The target of reclamation procedures cannot be applied to violate the demographic structures of communities.

The Republic of Iraq will establish and structure the military forces and police department based on the representation of community populations. The present locally based armed components will be terminated.

The Republic of Iraq accepts and undertakes to uphold the requirements of international law and apply the conventions in internal jurisprudence.

The Turkoman Front represents the majority of the Turkoman community ; The above explanations and summary set forth the decisiveness to establish an Iraq of territorial integrity and political unity of all communities living in Iraq and constitutionally securing all the rights of the people (political, administrative, social, economic, cultural, etc.).

Note

Picture: the Turcoman flag