Iraqi Turkmen: TRF Deplores Disregard for its People in US Resolution on Nineveh Province
The Turkmen Rescue Foundation (TRF) expresses its profound disappointment with a resolution about the Nineveh plain province released by the US House of Representatives on 9 September 2016. By distributing the region to other Iraqi minorities, the Resolution, in effect, refuses to acknowledge the presence of Iraqi Turkmen in the Nineveh plain province. In its statement, TRF urges the US to not repeat the mistakes committed in 2003 by effectively excluding the Turkmen population from any political process.
Photo Courtesy of Leif Hinrichsen 2012 @Flickr
Below is a statement released by the Turkmen Rescue Foundation:
After the declaration of genocide statement by the US department of state in March 2016, we have been waiting for real serious action from US institutions, but after reading US house of representatives' resolution about Nineveh plain province we were extremely disappointed.
It is a good thing to see such a resolution from the US house of representatives which might offer some hope for the oppressed people of Iraq, but the most important thing is to act with justice for all people. Therefore, as a Turkmen Rescue Foundation representing and defending Turkmen’s rights, we express our dissatisfaction with and resentment of this resolution through the following points:
1- The Iraqi ministerial council passed the law of the creation of new provinces in Iraq in January 2014 which included "Tellafer and Tuz Khurmatoo provinces". Tellafer; however, is not mentioned in the Houses' resolution and it is very strange to see such marginalization from such an important institution.
2- The resolution does not specify the border of this province and what the fate of other minorities' lands, including Tellafer and Sinjar, is.
3- There are more than half a million Turkmen in Mosul, distributed in the Tellafer district and Nineveh plain, most of them today are displaced in either the northern or southern part of Iraq or are refugees in different countries.
4- Turkmen represent 6 of 13 members of the provincial council and four parliamentarians in Mosul, proving the Turkmen's population’s presence in the province.
5- Tellafer is considered the biggest district in Iraq in terms of its population, lands and infrastructure.
Therefore, we appeal to the US house of representatives and international community to bring justice to all the people of Iraq. We should avoid repeating the mistake of 2003 when the political process focused on other minorities (Shitte, Sunni and Kurds) and left out the other marginalized people of Iraq.
