Iraqi Turkmen Human Rights Research Foundation | S O İ T M |
Date: May 05, 2009 No: Rep.9-E0509
In the early morning of Thursday 15 April 2009, the
inhabitants of the oldest Kerkuk neighborhood, Musalla, were awakened by the
sound of bulldozers destroying the wall and graves of
the Seyyid Kızı part of the large Musalla Turkmen graveyard.[1] The Musalla graveyard
is the oldest graveyard in Kerkuk and comprises thousands of graves including
those of many celebrated Turkmen. Inhabitants flocked to the area, stopping the
demolition before complaining to the police office. Nevertheless, about 15
graves were destroyed. After
investigation, it was found that an official contract was given by the chief of
the Investment Commission of Endowments directorate of Kerkuk, a Kurd from
Kerkuk, for the building of a commercial complex in that part of the graveyard.[2] The Commission director [3] is a Peshmerga Kurd brought
from the province of Sulaymaniya during the distribution of senior posts
between members of the Kurdish KDP and PUK political parties directly after
occupation. The person who was given contract is a Kurd from Sulaymaniya
province, too. This is part of policy of the Kurdish political
parties, who remain alone in administering Kerkuk since the occupation in 2003,
to eradicate the Turkmen characteristics of the region in their attempts to Kurdify
the province, control the huge oil reserve and annex it to the Kurdish region.
The names of streets, bridges, villages and sub-districts were changed to Kurdish.
The signboards inside governmental offices and hospitals were changed to
Kurdish, even though a large part of the Kerkuk population cannot read it. Sculptures of prominent Kurds,
such as, killed-Peshmerga militants, have also been erected on the streets. In 2003, the first Kurds-dominated Kerkuk city
council has dramatically Kurdified the administration, which was mainly distributed
between the two Kurdish parties, KDP and PUK. Approximately 10,000 staff was
appointed to Kerkuk governmental offices, of whom almost 80% were Kurds brought
from Duhok, Sulaymaniya and Kurdish political parties have also settled tens
of thousands of Kurdish families in Kerkuk province. Kerkuk’s population, which
was 870,000 at the day of occupation, became more than 1,300,000, [4] Moreover,
more than 100,000 Arabs have either left Kerkuk or been expelled by the Kurdish
Peshmerga militants. About thirty Arab villages in the south and south west
Kerkuk was evacuated. The population of some Kurdish
villages has been increased several-fold, for example, Kara Injir and Shuwan. The incoming families have built on almost every
piece of undeveloped land within Kerkuk city. [Table 1] Many large Kurdish neighborhoods and shopping
centers have been erected, particularly to the east and north of Kerkuk city. [Map 1 and 2] The Kerkuk city area
is increased about 20 km sq. [Map 3]. These lands mostly
belonged to Turkmen and also to municipality and government. The number of
complaint cases which have been presented to the Property Claim Commission
(PCC) in Kerkuk is about 40,000, about 80% of which are of Turkmen. The Kurdified administration of Kerkuk has
continually hampered the decisions of the PCC. Today, about 20% of the cases
are only completed. Many of those who win the decision of the PCC still could
not get their lands. UNAMI office in Kerkuk The degree to which the United Nations
Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) is involved in Kerkuk issues requires close
monitoring of the situation in the province. Furthermore, UNAMI is going to
make a historical decision on Kerkuk which is going to influence deeply all the
Iraqi communities and the future of Iraq. Despite numerous calls for a UNAMI
representation in Kerkuk from Arab and Turkmen groups, it was before about a
year such a presence was established and it remains under resourced and challenged
in meeting the requirements of the multifaceted Kerkuk crisis. The UNAMI
representative lacks a permanent staff, and staff members are frequently
replaced with others and work only two or three days in a week. Rarely can two
staff members be found at the same time. There is no bureau assigned for the
UNAMI in Kerkuk. A room had been assigned to UNAMI staff during the meetings of
the Kerkuk Article 23 Commission in the building of the Kerkuk governorate. At
the time Arab and Kurd, but not Turkmen, translators were present - making
Turkmen authorities worry about the accuracy of the translation of such
historical negotiations. Recommendations: >ü >To the United
Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq >·
>Complete the institution of UNAMI office in Kerkuk and
provide it with sufficient staff. >·
>Provide the office with experts in human rights, public
relations, minority issues, urbanization engineers and international law. >·
>Provide a Turkmen - English translator >ü >The Iraqi
government >·
>Provide the requirements to the Kerkuk Article 23 Commission
to enable the commissioners to realize their mission >·
>Realize the decision, which you made, to evacuate the
governmental buildings in Kerkuk >·
>Replace Peshmerga militants with Iraqi army units throughout
Kerkuk province >ü >The Kurdish parties >·
>Abandon the inflexible policies to assist the solution of
Kerkuk problem and facilitate the reconciliation processes which certainly quicken
building of Democratic Iraq and establishment of regional stability. >ü >The international
civil society organizations: Human Rights Watch & Amnesty International >·
>Open offices in Kerkuk to closely observe the human rights
situation and huge demographical changes [Map 1, 2 and 3] and publish
regular reports >ü >To the international community and authorities >·
>Actively support the decisions of Iraqi government and the
Iraqi parliament, particularly, on Kerkuk, and provide or withdraw your support
accordingly. >ü >The Turkmen and Arab
groups in Kerkuk >·
>Institute a well developed press office staffed with English
speaking journalists to enlighten the international community about: >o
>Developments in Kerkuk issues, particularly, that of the
Kerkuk commission >o
>The huge human rights violations since occupation, the
dramatic demographic changes and the Kurdish domination of almost all power
centers in Kerkuk
______________________________ References: >1.
>For centuries, Musalla
graveyard is visited every Thursday by thousands of females of Kerkuk.
Whilst such phenomenon shows the degree of importance which Kerkuk people give
to the dead, at the same time, it is considered one of the very few social
activities for females in such a conservative community. >2.
>Kurdish families had already built tens of
houses at the east and north of Musalla graveyard. >3.
>It is well known that almost all the
finances and lands which the directorate of endowments of Kerkuk province possesses have
been donated by Turkmen. >4.
>The numbers of both the Kurds and the Turkmen, who had been
exiled from Kerkuk province during the Arabification policies of Ba’ath regime,
were 100,000 according to the United States Special Committee for Refugees and 120,000 according to
the Human Rights Watch and the Kurdish parties. It should be
known that a large number of the expelled Kurdish families were not born in
Kerkuk, the came to Kerkuk from other Kurdish province. http://www.irinnews.org/InDepthMain.aspx?InDepthId=16&ReportId=62521&Country=Yes
Table No. 1. Estimated Turkmen, municipality
and government lands which were appropriated by Kurdish militias and families
after occupation
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