KONYA - Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) Executive Board member Dr. Aydin Beyatli said on Monday that the statement of Patriotic Union (PUK) statement that 'Kirkuk is a Kurdish city' was an unfortunate evaluation increasing ethnic sensitivities in a critical period.
Beyatli told A.A correspondent that PUK member Bahram Saleh held a press conference on Sunday and made statements that could harm democratic structure in Kirkuk ignoring some historical facts.
The statement of Saleh that 'Kirkuk is a Kurdish city' was an unfortunate evaluation increasing ethnic sensitivities in a critical period, Beyatli emphasized.
Beyatli noted that intensive population in Kirkuk was clearly seen by everybody after Saddam Hussein administration was toppled.
PUK also knew that 70 percent of the city was formed by the Turkmens currently and it continued efforts to increase Kurdish population in the city which was less than 10 percent, Beyatli said.
Beyatli said, ''we don't want Turkmen, Kurd and Arab brotherhood to be harmed in Kirkuk. But, such statements made on purpose harm the current atmosphere.''
Recalling that Turkmen population in Kirkuk was around 95 percent according to the 1957 census, Beyatli said, ''Turkmen population is always the majority in the city despite all pressure and forces for migration in 1970s and 1980s. Then, Kurdish people started to migrate from the north to Kirkuk in those days. But, new formulas are searched today since Turkmen population is the majority in the city. PUK, which is very efficient in the city, pays money to workplaces more than their real price and buys them from Turkmens. Turkmens who face financial problems have to sell their workplaces. Also, Arab population in the city are forced to migration by several threats and Kurds coming from the north settle down the places left by the Arabs.''
All those efforts served the aim to gain majority in the census to be made after the interim government was formed, Beyatli drew the attention.
Beyatli said, ''majority of any ethnic group in Kirkuk has never been a matter of discussion so far. We also want to live brotherly from now on.''
(BRC-AÖ) 30.06.2003