BY ASLI AYDINTASBAS
SABAH- Columnist Asli Aydintasbas writes on recent incidents in Kirkuk and Turkey’s policy towards Iraq’s Turkmen groups. A summary of her column is as follows:
The latest incidents in Kirkuk came as no surprise. We already knew that the city was seething with anger and hostility. Since it captured the city, the Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (IKDP) has been busy making anti-democratic moves. Signs posted in Arabic were taken down and replaced by ones in Kurdish. Human Rights Watch has criticized the Kurdish peshmerga for terrible acts such as forcing people out of their homes. The peshmerga have also confiscated many public buildings. But in the face of these injustices, Arab and Turkmen groups are determined to organize themselves. The situation will grow worse unless the Americans take effective measures against the peshmerga human rights violations.
Moreover, we should at this point also recall our country’s unsteady, unsuccessful policies towards the ethnic Turkmen groups. We should be honest with ourselves. Our Turkmen policy has changed considerably since the end of the ‘90s. The Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF), once a successful political bloc supported by Ankara, has faded in importance for us. Although the ITF is defending a just cause, it withdrew – under orders from Ankara – from all platforms which include Shiite and Arab opposition groups. And the ITF also expelled its Shiite Turkmen members. (Sources say, in fact, that four of every nine Turkmen districts in Kirkuk are of Shiite origin) These are some of our government’s blunders.
Ankara is now recommending that the ITF convey its demands directly to Baghdad. ‘Be active in this new political formation,’ our politicians are telling Turkmen groups. This is a good advice. However, the Turkmen groups need a powerful organization to achieve this, which is why we must help these people to put together a solid, well-established organization. First of all, autonomy is a must for the ITF. Not only our military officials but also Foreign Ministry diplomats and National Intelligence Organization (MIT) analysts must contribute to formulating a new Turkmen policy. The ITF’s general congress meeting due in a few weeks will be pivotal for the Iraqi Turkmen’s future. An independent and powerful Turkmen bloc in Iraq could be a guarantee of stability there. But is Ankara ready for that?