AN INTERVIEW WITH IRAQ BODY COUNT
January 29, 2013 at 7:07 pm | Posted in Turkmens | Leave a commentTags: Iraq Body Count
An Interview With Iraq Body Count
فيديو: عشرات النواب يقفون الى جانب ارشد الصالحي في القائه بيان الكتلة التركمانية والمجلس يقف اجلالا ولقراءة الفاتحة على ارواح الشهداء التركمان والكتل النيابية تساند مطاليب التركمان
January 27, 2013 at 12:30 pm | Posted in Turkmens | Leave a commentTags: Attacks against Turkmens, Ershad Salihi speech Iraq Parliament, TUZ KHURMATU killings
| http://www.bizturkmeniz.com/ar/showArticle.asp?page=article&id=26718 | |||
فيديو: عشرات النواب يقفون الى جانب ارشد الصالحي في القائه بيان الكتلة التركمانية والمجلس يقف اجلالا ولقراءة الفاتحة على ارواح الشهداء التركمان والكتل النيابية تساند مطاليب التركمان |
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مطالب التركمان في مجلس النواب التي تلقى دعما من الكتل النيابية |
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Hassan Aydinli met with MEP Struan Stevenson and William Spencer at the EU Parliament in Brussels
January 25, 2013 at 9:14 pm | Posted in Turkmens | Leave a commentTags: Hassan Aydinli, Struan Stevenson MEP, Turkmens' Human Rights, William Spencer
William SPENCER, Executive Director, Institute for International Law and Human Rights and Dr. Hassan AYDINLI, ITF EU Representative
Struan STEVENSON, Chairman of the Delegation for Relations with Iraq and Dr. Hassan AYDINLI, Iraqi Turkmen Front EU Representative.
Hassan Aydinli met with MEP Struan Stevenson and William Spencer at the EU Parliament in Brussels
The Delegation for Relations with Iraq Meeting took place at the EU Parliament in Brussels on 24th January 2013
The object of the Meeting was the Preparation for the 5th Interparliamentary meeting EP-Iraqi CoR. Situation of the country, logistics and practical arrangements.
The guest speaker was Mr. William SPENCER, Executive Director, Institute for International Law and Human Rights. The Meeting was attended by Mrs. Sybille RIEDER, EEAS INTCEN and Mr. Charles STUART, EEAS Security Directorate.
MEP Ms. Ana GOMEZ attended the first half of the meeting.
The Chair, MEP Struan STEVENSON, opened the Meeting by saying that he deplored the continued assassinations and lack of security in Iraq. He also deplored the fact that although Iraq now has a huge income from its massive oil production, the access to electricity, running water and sewage remains very limited. Baghdad is considered to be the second dirtiest city in the world.
MEP Struan STEVENSON announced that the EU Mission to Iraq would take place from 11th to 15th February 2013.
The Members of the EU Delegation will arrive in Baghdad from Vienna on Sunday 10th February where they will hold meetings until Wednesday 13th February. They will be staying at the Rasheed Hotel and all the meetings will take place in the Green Zone for security reasons.
From Wednesday 13th February to Friday 15th February they will be in Erbil to meet with the KRG officials and members of the Civil society.
They will leave Iraq on Friday 15th February 2013.
Mr. Zana KURDA from the Iraqi Embassy said that the Kurdish Peshmerga have offered to take care of the security of the delegation.
MEP Struan Stevenson said that the Delegation would like to visit Kirkuk to meet with the Kirkuk representatives and that they will have to travel by helicopter. MEP Ana GOMEZ intervened to say that this would be a waste of time for the delegation and she advised for the meetings to take place in Erbil.
The Chair then gave the floor to Mr. William SPENCER.
William SPENCER said that the Institute for International Law and Human Rights is a Civil Society NGO, which has worked in Baghdad since 2005, where they established the H.R. Commission. He said they have offices in Brussels, Baghdad and Washington D.C.
He said that the number of attacks have not changed significantly since 2009 in Iraq, that Baghdad and Ninewah remain the most violent.
William SPENCER said that there is great dynamism in construction in Baghdad. He said that the Kurds are now present all over the ‘disputed territories’. He mentioned that in Ninewah people complain that the oil money goes to Erbil. He said that Al-Qaeda terrorists enter in Iraq from the Syrian border.
William SPENCER said that life remains a struggle for ordinary Iraqis and that there is government corruption. He added that Maliki and Barzani want to appear strong before the Provincial elections which are due to take place in April 2013 and the General Elections foreseen in January 2014.
William SPENCER recommended that the Members of the EU Delegation reach out to various groups outside the green zone when they are in Baghdad.
Dr. Hassan AYDINLI spoke with the Chairman MEP Struan Stevenson regarding MEP Ana GOMEZ’s advice against the delegation going to Kirkuk to meet with Kirkuk representatives and her recommendation to hold the meetings in Erbil instead. Hassan AYDINLI told MEP Struan Stevenson that if the EU delegation does not go to Kirkuk to meet with the Kirkuk representatives it is preferable to hold the meetings with them in Baghdad rather than in Erbil.
ITF EU Representative spoke with Mr. William SPENCER about the situation of the Turkmens who are caught between the Arabs and the Kurds. He said that the tensions between Arabs and Kurds have increased since the creation of the Dijla forces, and that when the Dijla and Peshmerga confront each other in the Turkmen Region it is the Turkmens who get killed.
The Turkmens are caught between hammer and anvil and the recent attacks on their leaders and intellectuals in Tuz Khurmatu show that the unarmed Turkmens continue to be targeted and that they are victims of ethnic cleansing.
Mr. Spencer said he was aware of the Turkmens’ plight and that the Turkmens and the minorities who are not armed are at risk in Iraq.
Dr. Hassan Aydinli informed Mr. Spencer that the Central government in Baghdad remains deaf to the Turkmens’ repeated demands to grant the Turkmens their right to defend themselves and form law enforcement units of each locality from the local Turkmens and provide them with financial support and proper training.
He asked Mr. Spencer to be the voice of the Turkmens at the international level and to mention the Turkmens’ plight in the publications of his NGO, the Institute for International Law and Human Rights.
Mass Killing of TURKMENS in IRAQ’S TURKMEN CITY OF TUZ KHURMATU
January 25, 2013 at 2:07 pm | Posted in Turkmens | Leave a commentTags: TUZ KHURMATU killings
Get the facts right New York Times!
TUZ KHURMATU is not ‘in the Kurdish north’!
TUZ KHURMATU is a Turkmen name.
The original inhabitants of TUZ KHURMATU are Turkmens.
All the victims in this latest attack are Turkmens.
TUZ KHURMATU was NOT included in the ‘safe haven‘ that the U.S. created in 1991 to protect the Kurds. How come that in 2013 you are considering it as belonging to the “Kurdish north”?
Mass Killing of TURKMENS in TUZ KHURMATU
Below is the NY Times article:
Bombing at a Funeral in Northern Iraq Kills at Least 35
<nyt_byline>
By DURAID ADNAN
Published: January 23, 2013
Both the dead and wounded victims included a number of high-ranking regional dignitaries, military officers, professors and religious men among the Turkmen population of the Tuz Khurmato district in Salahuddin Province, an area in the Kurdish north also claimed by Arabs and Turkmens. It came a day after an extended outbreak of sectarian shootings and bombings in the country that killed at least 24 Iraqis.
MESSAGE OF CONDEMNATION FROM ITF TURKEY REPRESENTATIVE KAZANCI
January 24, 2013 at 12:26 am | Posted in Turkmens | Leave a comment
MESSAGE OF CONDEMNATION FROM ITF TURKEY REPRESENTATIVE DR. HICRAN KAZANCI
Health Directorate staff Ahmet Salah Asker, a close relative of Deputy Head of Iraqi Turkmen Front and member of the Selahattin Province Assembly Ali Haşim Muhtaroğlu lost his life in an armed attack executed by unidentified assailants in the Tuzhurmatu district of Selahattin province.
This was followed by an attack targeting the assembly of condolence established on behalf of Martyr Ahmet Salah Asker in which the Honorary President of ITF Sadettin Ergeç, Ali Haşim Muhtaroğlu and Head of Kirkuk District Assembly Münir Kafili who were in attendance were slightly injured.
As the Iraqi Turkmen Front Turkey Representation we abhor the malicious attack targeting the assembly of condolence set up on behalf of Ahmet Salah Asker. May our martyr rest in peace and God give his family, relatives and the Turkmen nation patience and condolence and may those who were injured in the condolence assembly get well soon.
The young Ahmet Salah Asker was hailed with bullets in the middle of the street on his way home from work. This saddening event and the attack targeting the condolence assembly once again showed that the Turkmen community which is completely defenseless has no guarantee of life. Once again together with these incidents it is revealed clearly that the administration who controls the security forces in the country is at fault. We anticipate that the administration will prevent acts of terror and detain those responsible for the attack against the assembly of condolence and put them in front of justice as soon as possible.
Iraq suicide bomb at Shiite mosque kills 42
January 24, 2013 at 12:04 am | Posted in Turkmens | Leave a commentIraq suicide bomb at Shiite mosque kills 42
SAMARRA, Iraq – Agence France-Presse
REUTERS/Ako Rasheed
A suicide bomb at a funeral in a Shiite mosque in north Iraq killed at least 42 people on Wednesday, the latest in a spate of deadly violence amid a political crisis engulfing the country.
The attack, which also left 75 people wounded, struck at the Sayid al-Shuhada mosque in Tuz Khurmatu, 175 kilometres north of Baghdad, and targeted the funeral of a relative of a politician who was killed a day earlier.
No group claimed responsibility, but Sunni militants often launch attacks in a bid to destabilise the government and push Iraq back towards the sectarian violence that blighted it from 2005 to 2008.
Niyazi Moamer Oghlu, the secretary general of the provincial council of Salaheddin, which surrounds Tuz Khurmatu, put the toll from the attack at 42 dead and 75 wounded.
“Corpses are on the ground of the Husseiniyah (Shiite mosque),” said Shallal Abdul, mayor of Tuz Khurmatu, which lies 175 kilometres (110 miles) north of Baghdad. “The suicide bomber managed to enter and blow himself up in the middle of the mourners.” Among the wounded were officials and tribal leaders, including Ali Hashem Mukhtar, the deputy chief of the Iraqi Turkman Front and a provincial councillor in Salaheddin, which surrounds Tuz Khurmatu.
The funeral had been for Mukhtar’s brother-in-law, who was shot dead in Tuz on Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday’s suicide bomb came after a wave of attacks in and around Baghdad and in northern Iraq killed 26 people and wounded dozens more, shattering a relative calm after a spate of deadly violence last week.
The unrest comes amid a political crisis that has pitted Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki against several of his erstwhile government partners and with more than four weeks of anti-government protests in Sunni majority areas hardening opposition against the Shiite leader’s rule.
January/23/2013
TERROR ATTACK IN TUZHURMATU
January 23, 2013 at 9:27 pm | Posted in Turkmens | Leave a commentTags: Ahmet Salah Asker, Ali Hasim Muhtaroglu, Attack in Tuzkhurmatu
TERROR ATTACK IN TUZHURMATU
23rd January 2013
Health Directorate staff Ahmet Salah Asker, a close relative of Deputy Head of Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) and member of the Selahattin Province Assembly Ali Haşim Muhtaroğlu lost his life in an armed attack executed by unidentified assailants in the Tuzhurmatu district of Selahattin province.
Ahmet Salah Asker who was born in 1978 was hailed by a storm of bullets in the middle of a street on his way home after work. Asker’s body and head were hit with bullets and he lost his life on the spot. Asker’s body was taken to Tuzhurmatu Hospital and later to the Kirkuk Forensic Medicine Morgue. Asker’s house was also the target of a bomb attack on the 1st of January 2013 and greatly damaged. Two days before his death (the 20th of January 2013) Asker spoke on a television channel indicating that the Turkmen in Tuzhurmatu were defenseless and constantly the victims of attacks and demanded that the government establish an armed forces for the Turkmen.
Deputy Head of ITF Ali Haşim Muhtaroğlu, member of the Executive Board of the ITF and Head of the Kirkuk Province Assembly Hasan Turan and ITF Spokesman and member of Kirkuk Province Assembly Ali Mehdi went to Kirkuk State Hospital for the body.
Head of the Kirkuk Province Assembly Hasan Turan said that the government did not listen to the Turkmen and demanded that a serious investigation be made about the incident. Turan said:
“Unfortunately there is no end to the incidents. Turkmen are always being targeted. All parties are silent and wait and watch the massacre of the Turkmen. We have hundreds of statements. Unfortunately we have not received any significant help from the government. The government should deputize a serious commission. Not like the other commissions.”
ITF Spokesman Ali Mehdi demanded that a Turkmen force be established and that the Turkish world support the Iraqi Turkmen. Mehdi voiced his reaction by saying, “There is no government in Iraq. Every day the Turkmen people are targeted somewhere. The Turkish world, Turkey hear us. The Turkmen here are all alone”.
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, October 2012
January 23, 2013 at 7:10 pm | Posted in Turkmens | Leave a commentTags: Report SIGIR, SIGIR October 2012 report, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Report
Re-posting for those who have missed it:
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction
Quarterly Report to the United States Congress
[October 30, 2012]
http://www.sigir.mil/files/quarterlyreports/October2012/Report_-_October_2012.pdf
145 pages
Continue Reading Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, October 2012…
Emine Bozkurt, a member of the European Parliament, spoke about the Turkmens and Assyrians in Iraq in the parliament session on January 16
January 23, 2013 at 11:01 am | Posted in Turkmens | Leave a commentTags: Emine Bozkurt, Violations of Turkmens' Human Rights in Iraq
Emine Bozkurt, a member of the European Parliament, spoke about the Turkmens and Assyrians in Iraq in the parliament session on January 16.
Ms. Bozkurt brought attention to the unsatisfactory and deteriorating humans rights of Assyrians and Turkmens in Iraq.
Below are Ms. Emine Bozkurt’s remarks:
The news coming from Iraq is not very pleasant. Tensions among religious and ethnic groups are on the rise, and the situation in the country is deteriorating. At such a critical time, the EU is concluding a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Iraq.
In the early days of this year, a 54-year-old Assyrian woman was killed. She was not the first to be murdered because of her religion. Assyrians in Iraq do not feel safe; their churches have been attacked, perpetrators have not been brought to justice. They do not have their own police to protect them.
Turkmens of Iraq are also alarmed over a wave of assassinations and abductions targeting their community. They face discrimination in the labor market and suffer from arbitrary detentions.
I support the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, not despite of, but because of these problems. The people of Iraq need a deep, sustainable democracy based on human rights, equality and rule of law. However, how is the EU going to make sure that these principles are being upheld? Can all the religious and ethnic groups depend on the support of the EU?
Steun voor Partnerschap- en Samenwerkingsovereenkomst EU – Irak
http://www.socialistenendemocraten.nl/nieuws/2013/01/Steun+voor+Partnerschap-+en+Samenwerkingsovereenkomst+EU+-+Irak
donderdag 17 januari 2013
Vandaag heeft het Europees Parlement in Straatsburg ingestemd met de Partnerschap- en Samenwerkingsovereenkomst (PSO) tussen de EU en Irak. Emine Bozkurt, lid van het Europees Parlement namens de PvdA, spreekt haar zorgen uit over de situatie in het land: “De precaire mensenrechtensituatie in Irak is een belangrijke reden om de banden met Irak te versterken. Hierdoor kan de EU het land beter aanspreken op haar mensenrechtenbeleid. De Iraakse bevolking heeft behoefte aan een duurzaam democratiseringsproces met aandacht voor mensenrechten en het versterken van de rechtstaat. Het is van belang voor de stabiliteit in het land en de regio dat de EU dit proces in Irak ondersteunt.”
Terwijl de PSO wordt ondertekend, is de mensenrechtensituatie in Irak nog steeds zeer zorgwekkend. De Iraakse grondwet biedt op papier waarborgen voor fundamentele vrijheden en mensenrechten, maar de spanningen tussen religieuze en etnische groepen in de samenleving lopen alsmaar op. Zo werd begin dit jaar een 54-jarige Assyrische vrouw vermoord wegens haar religieuze achtergrond. Ook de Iraaks-Turkmeense gemeenschap wordt geconfronteerd met ontvoeringen en moorden. De politiediensten beschermen deze gemeenschappen totaal niet. De EU zal door de PSO meer druk moeten uitoefenen op de Iraakse regering om de mensenrechten van alle bevolkingsgroepen en minderheden gelijk te beschermen en te verbeteren.
De PSO is de opvolger van de reeds bestaande Handels- en Samenwerkingsovereenkomst en vormt het eerste rechtskader voor Europese betrekkingen met Irak. Er wordt onder andere in vastgesteld dat er een politieke dialoog zal plaatsvinden tussen de regio’s. Ook worden er handels- en investeringsregels vastgelegd die in lijn zijn met de eisen van de Wereldhandelsorganisatie.
Tipping Towards Iraq’s Squares: An Interview with Falah Alwan
January 22, 2013 at 10:18 pm | Posted in Turkmens | Leave a commentTags: Falah Alwan, Iraqi protests
Excerpt:
Not looking at Iraq as a chain of events, but rather seeking the roots, they lie in a political system and the division of a society based on what they call Shi’a, Sunni, Kurdish, Turkmen, and Christian “component parts.”
The government then says that it does not discriminate between one part or another, and that “Iraq is one.” Then politicians wrestle over dividing the ministries between political blocs based on ethnicity, each in a team that hates the other, uniting only in their animosity towards Iraqi society.
The centralization of power in Shi’a Islamic parties, the spread of corruption in the government institutions were set up, and the inability of the authorities to create a broad political frame that can contain the whole society has all lead to a general societal disgust, which the people have expressed through a series of protests and sit-ins across Iraq, that preceded the moment we are living now.
Tipping Towards Iraq’s Squares: An Interview with Falah Alwan
Jan 22 2013
by Ali Issa
Please click on the link below:
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/9699/tipping-towards-iraqs-squares_an-interview-with-fa
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