“Iraqi Turkmen: The Human Rights Situation and Crisis in Kerkuk"

 26 – 27 March 2007
European Parliament, Brussels
(ASP 5G1)Organised by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) and Iraqi Turkmen Human Rights Research Foundation (SOITM), in partnership with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and the Non-Violent Radical Party. Session I: “Sources of Conflict”
26 March, 3pm – 6.30pmWelcoming Remarks by:         
Marino Busdachin, UNPO General Secretary
Sheth Jerjis, SOITM Chairman
Marco Cappato MEP, Committee on Foreign Affairs and Subcommittee on Human Rights
 
Remarks by Jan Marinus Wiersma MEP, Vice-Chairman of the Socialist Group Views on Turkmen Policy:
Muzaffer Arslan, Advisor on Turkmen Affairs to the President of Iraq H.E. Jalal Talabani
Statement from Sadettin Ergec (Presented by Dr. Hassan Aydinli)
Member of the Iraqi Parliament and Head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front
Jasim Mohammed Jafar
Iraqi Minister and Member of the Iraqi ParliamentTurkmen Population, History, and Geography
Suphi Saatci, Editor of Qardashlik Journal
Mohammad Koja, author and Editor of the Turkmen Times
Aydin Aksu, Baghdad Representative of the Iraqi Turkmen Front (tbc)    
 

The Assyrians of Northern Iraq
Mary Younan, Assyrian Universal Alliance                  

Kerkuk’s Demography after the Founding of the Iraqi State
Ersed Hurmuzlu, author 
Human Rights Violations against the Iraqi Turkmen
Sheth Jerjis, SOITM Chairman
 
Baghdad after Occupation
Nermin al-Mufti, Author and Al-Ahram Correspondent
 
Question Period
Moderated by Ken Kostyo, Director of Global Democracy Resource
 Session II: “An Iraq for the Future and the Crisis in Kerkuk”
27 March, 9am – 12.30pmRemarks by;
Marco Pannella MEP, Leader Nonviolent Radical Party (tbc)
Marino Busdachin, UNPO General Secretary
Nicola Dell’Arciprete, Parliamentary Assistant ALDE Group The Current Situation in Kerkuk
A Turkmen View: Ali Mehdi, Head of the Turkmen Group at the Kerkuk City Council
An Arabic View: Mohammed Khalil, Head of the Arabic Group at the Kerkuk City Council
A Kurdish View: Burhan Jaf, EU Representative of the Kurdish Regional Government
An Assyrian View: Abdulahad Astepho
A Turkish View: Turhan Comez, Member of Turkish Parliament’s Kerkuk CommissionComments from:
Muzaffer Arslan, Advisor on Turkmen Affairs to the President of Iraq H.E. Jalal Talabani
Jasim Mohammed Jafar, Iraqi Minister and Member of the Iraqi Parliament
 Elections in Kerkuk and the Legacy of Demographic Distortion
Hasan Turan, Member of the Kerkuk City Council
 Land Confiscation and Regional Administration
Jale Neftchy, Member of the Kerkuk City Council (tbc)
Ali Mehdi, Head of the Turkmen Group at the Kerkuk City Council
Hasan Turan, Member of the Kerkuk City Council
 The Situation in Telafer City
Merry Fitzgerald, Secretary of the Representative of the Iraqi Turkmen Front in Belgium
 The Iraqi Constitutions and Article 140
A Kurdish View:
Saabi Barzangi, Member of the Iraqi Parliament (tbc)
A Turkmen View:
Enver Bayraktar, Member of Iraqi Parliament’s Article 140 Commission
An Arabic View:
Mohammed Khalil, Member of Iraqi Parliament’s Article 140 Commission

Question Period
Moderated by Martin Schulthes, Special Programs Manager, No Peace without Justice  Press Conference
27 March, 1pm – 1.30pmTo be held in the Press Room of the European Parliament
With Participation From:
 
Marco Pannella MEP, Leader Nonviolent Radical Party (tbc)
Marco Cappato MEP, Committee on Foreign Affairs and Subcommittee on Human Rights (tbc)
Marino Busdachin, UNPO General Secretary
Sheth Jerjis, SOITM Chairman
Muzaffer Arslan, Advisor on Turkmen Affairs to the President of Iraq H.E. Jalal Talabani
Jasim Mohammed Jafar, Iraqi Minister and Member of the Iraqi Parliament
Hassan Aydinli, Iraqi Turkmen Front Representative in Europe, Belgium
Ali Mehdi, Head of the Turkmen Group at the Kerkuk City Council
Mohammed Khalil, Head of the Arabic Group at the Kerkuk City Council
Enver Bayraktar, Leader of the Turkmen Justice and Development Party
Burhan Jaf, EU Representative of the Kurdish Regional Government  Background: Northern Iraq emerged from the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime as an area of relative stability. What calm there was appears however now under threat, as simmering ethnic tensions threaten to set the stage for a new theatre of conflict. The region is the historic home of a number of Iraqi Communities, including Arabs, Iraqi Turkmen, Iraqi Kurds, and Assyrians, all of whom suffered extensively under a campaign of “Arabisation”, instigated by a Ba’ath Party regime intent on securing its domination. Violence and forced displacement radically altered the demographic make-up of the region, a process the Iraqi Constitution has now set out to reverse through process of “normalisation”. In a region burdened by a violent past, little consensus has however emerged on what might constitute “normality”, greatly complicating the democratic processes aimed at safeguarding future stability. Kerkuk, a city rich with both oil and history, has emerged as the focal point of this dispute. Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution suggests the status of the city should be determined by the “will of its citizens” by the end of 2007, making the process of normalisation a pressing priority. The Iraqi Turkmen, Iraq’s third largest ethnic group, in particular stand opposed to the city’s inclusion in a Kurdish region, drawing attention to their long historical presence in the city. Their leaders fear however that their input into the normalisation process has been marginalised, owing to a lack of political representation in local administrative structures or a strong voice on the international stage. This is reflected in what they view as primarily Kurdish immigration and voter registration in anticipation of the crucial referendum, as well as a catalogue of unresolved land claims following confiscation during the Ba’ath era.

The conference therefore aimed to convene representatives of Iraq’s new institutions, with outside policy makers with an interest and opportunity to influence the reconstruction of the Iraqi state, in an effort to ensure that the next crucial steps in the reconstruction process proceed in a manner consistent with the principles of democracy, human rights, and with the genuine inclusion of all affected communities. These are principles without which a stable Iraq will inevitably remain illusive.

Read Press Release