Kurdification Campaign In Kirkuk Intensifies In Lead Up To October Census- Turkmen Officials Claim

ISTANBUL (CIHAN) - Iraqi Kurds have intensified their Kurdification campaign in the oil-rich Northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, Iraqi Turkmen sources have claimed.
Kurdish officials working at the administration of the Kirkuk Municipality have been accused of confiscating real estate and lands belong to the town administration with a view to granting them to ethnic Kurds newly arrived in Kirkuk. The intention according to Turkmen sources is to change the demographic structure of the city ahead of the census to be held on October 12.
Iraqi Turkmen Culture and Solidarity Association Chairman Kemal Beyatlý told a press conference on Friday that Kurdish officials in Kirkuk have been setting up tent cities around Kirkuk in order to boost the Kurdish population.
Beyatli said that armed Kurdish groups were transferring Kurds from Suleymaniye and Erbil to Kirkuk.
He added that Kurdish officials working in the city administration were supplying construction materials to arriving Kurds so that they could set up permanent buildings.
Turkmens and Arabs have criticized Kurdish groups for encouraging the migration of Kurds from the mountainous Northern Iraqi region with a view to changing the demographic structure of the oil-rich Kirkuk and Mosul regions.
Turkmens and Arabs had previously protested against the Kurdish influx to Kirkuk last April.
Turkish Foreign Ministry and Turkish Army have warned that efforts to change the demographic structure of Kirkuk could prove to be dangerous.
It is estimated that the 3 million Iraqi Turkmen constitute 13 percent of the total Iraqi population.