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294
295<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
296140%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
297Dark Era of the Turkmen of Tuz Khurmatu District under the Protection of the
298Kurdish Parties and the Peshmerga (2003-2017) *<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
299
300<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
301140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Sheth
302<span class=SpellE>Jerjis</span> ** <o:p></o:p></span></p>
303
304<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
305140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Journal
306of The Association for the Study of <span class=SpellE>EthnoGeoPolitics</span>
307(EGP) Forum of <span class=SpellE>EthnoGeoPolitics</span> Vol.12 Nos.1-2 Winter
3082024<o:p></o:p></span></p>
309
310<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
311140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
312
313<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
314140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Abstract
315This article seeks to provide details and revealing insights about the
316difficult, indeed dire conditions experienced by the Turkmen in the district of
317Tuz Khurmatu, due to the policies of the Kurdish parties and the <span
318class=SpellE>behaviour</span> of the Peshmerga fighters, who <span
319class=SpellE>monopolised</span> the administration and governance of the
320district, along with other Turkmen areas, after the fall of the Ba'ath regime
321led by Saddam Hussein in April 2003, for 11 years until mid-2014, and with the
322Shi'ite armed factions since then until October 2017. This occurred at a time
323when the Iraqi state had collapsed and the rule of law was absent, and the
324Kurdish parties were the second largest force in the administration of the
325Iraqi state after the international, US-led coalition forces. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
326
327<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
328140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
329article also examines the ethnic and sectarian composition of the Tuz Khurmatu
330district, the suffering of the district's Turkmen majority under the ethnic
331cleansing policies practiced by the Ba'ath regime, and the administrative and
332political situation after its fall. It also discusses how Western media,
333strategic <span class=SpellE>centres</span>, and human rights <span
334class=SpellE>organisations</span> dealt with the Turkmen presence in Iraq in
335general, and with the bloody events and the suffering of the Turkmen there
336during the period of study. The article concludes that the Turkmen of Tuz
337Khurmatu experienced the worst period in their history, specifically between
3382003 and 2014, when they were under the sole control of Kurdish parties and
339were 'protected' exclusively by Kurdish security forces and the Peshmerga. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
340
341<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
342140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
343article argues that the Kurdish parties and the Peshmerga played both a direct
344and indirect role in the violent attacks on the Turkmen, and that Western media
345outlets, strategic institutions, and research <span class=SpellE>centres</span>
346did not paint a true picture of those events. Instead, they relied on Kurdish
347politicians and the Peshmerga to gather, provide and interpret information,
348resulting in a lack of neutrality that <span class=SpellE>favoured</span> the
349Kurds.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
350
351<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
352140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
353article also shows that the Western approach to the Kurdish issue is
354superficial and biased, influenced by the overwhelming sympathy stemming from
355the largely unintentional exaggeration of Kurdish suffering in Western
356publications and the influence of Western political approaches. It also argues
357that Western studies of the Anfal campaigns (April-May 1988) lack adherence to
358scientific principles and rely entirely on Kurdish narratives, with all their
359attendant exaggerations and biases. As a result, thousands of inaccurate
360reports, articles and studies have emerged, portraying the operation as a fable
361brutal myth. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
362
363<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
364140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>These
365criticisms target the credibility of Western strategic <span class=SpellE>centres</span>,
366including the media, human rights <span class=SpellE>organisations</span> and
367academic research <span class=SpellE>centres</span>, which should rightly cast
368doubt on their integrity. Therefore, these Western <span class=SpellE>centres</span>
369are required to review their claims regarding the number of Kurdish victims in
370the Anfal campaign, which they estimated at between 50,000 and 200,000 people,
371while adhering to the principles of scientific research.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
372
373<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
374140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><b>Keywords</b>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Tuz Khurmatu, Kirkuk, Kirkuk, Turkmen,
375violence, Kurdish parties, Islamic State, Islamic state (ISIS), Peshmerga
376fighters, Iraq<o:p></o:p></span></p>
377
378<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
379140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
380
381<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
382140%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Introduction<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
383
384<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
385140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Nationalist
386sentiments have dominated Middle Eastern societies since the beginning of the
387twentieth century, and because Iraq has been part of this region, their impact
388on the multiethnic Iraqi society has been profound. Arab nationalist sentiments
389reached their peak in Iraq with the Ba'ath Party (<span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1581;&#1586;&#1576;
390&#1575;&#1604;&#1576;&#1593;&#1579;</span><span dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>),
391while Kurdish nationalist sentiments reached their peak with the launch of the
392Kurdish armed movement against the Iraqi state in the early 1961. On the other
393hand, nationalist sentiments among Iraq's smaller communities, the third
394largest of which is the Turkmen, grew with the same momentum, prompting them to
395insist on demanding their ethnic and cultural rights.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
396
397<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
398140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
399events that followed the fall of the Ba'ath regime in Iraq <span class=SpellE>fuelled</span>
400ethnical and religious conflicts. Iraqi society is a mosaic of diverse sects
401and religions. The challenges faced by Iraqi society, including racist
402dictatorship, ongoing wars and an economic blockade, have exacerbated internal
403divisions and conflicts. The absence of a democratic culture and system has
404made smaller, less powerful communities, such as the Turkmen, who lack the
405means to protect themselves and their regions, vulnerable to all forms of human
406rights violations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
407
408<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
409140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Iraqi
410Turkmen have suffered from this situation since the establishment of the Iraqi
411state in 1921. Their numbers were deliberately reduced immediately after the
412declaration of the Iraqi state, and this process continues to this day—although
413this intentionally reduction in their population size has been somewhat
414abandoned after the fall of the Ba'ath regime. Moreover, education in the
415Turkmen language was abolished in the 1930s, and their presence in state
416institutions dwindled over time. The Ba'ath regime violated the most basic
417human rights, extending to all Iraqi communities, with the Turkmen being the
418most affected. For example, vast Turkmen lands were confiscated, the
419demographic composition of their regions was altered, and they were forced to
420change their ethnicity to Arab. The Turkmen's adherence to their national
421culture, the oil wealth of their regions and the fertility of their lands have
422been among the most important reasons why they were subjected to the injustice
423of the fanatical racist nationalist powers that usurped the reins of government
424in Iraq.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
425
426<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
427140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Shi'ite
428Turkmen suffered from the Ba'ath regime's racism on both the national and
429sectarian levels. Tuz Khurmatu is one of their most important areas, where
430their suffering and rights violations have been widespread and ethnically
431based. At the sectarian level, large numbers of the district's citizens were
432arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment or death on the pretext of
433belonging to secret Shiite parties. Many of them disappeared without any
434information or trace of their whereabouts. Their areas were subjected to
435attacks and artillery shelling by the army and armed Ba'athist militias after
436the Second Gulf War in 1990 during the Sha'ban uprising. The Dutch
437anthropologist Van <span class=SpellE>Bruinessen</span> observed that the
438"Shiite Turkmen city of Tuz Khurmatu was destroyed" (Van <span class=SpellE>Bruinessen</span>
4392005: 46).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
440
441<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
442140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
443fall of the Ba'ath regime in 2003 was followed by a period of chaos and
444catastrophe in Iraq. The state collapsed, along with the security and military
445apparatuses. Laws lost their force, security stability was completely lost, and
446sectarian conflicts emerged. This coincided with the onset of various terrorist
447attacks across Iraq, reflecting acutely in the Turkmen regions, as most of
448these were and are religiously and ethnically mixed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
449
450<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
451140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
452complete control of the Kurdish parties and Peshmerga fighters over almost <span
453class=GramE>all of</span> northern Iraq immediately after the fall of the
454Ba'ath regime and for more than a decade after it, posed another extreme
455challenge to the Turkmen regions, no less serious than the sectarian conflicts
456of the same period. The Kurdish parties claim ownership of almost all Turkmen
457lands, considering these historically Kurdish lands and incorporating into the
458map and constitution of the Kurdish region. This monopoly enabled the Kurdish
459parties to <span class=SpellE>monopolise</span> power in Iraq immediately after
460the US-led occupation, with the full support of the latter's coalition forces,
461to place almost all Turkmen lands within the disputed territories, thus casting
462doubt on the Iraqi and Turkmen identity of these regions (Kane 2011:
46313-14,22,32,37).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
464
465<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
466140%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></b></p>
467
468<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
469140%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>General
470information <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
471
472<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
473140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Tuz
474(Duz) Khurmatu is a Turkmen name meaning salt, dates, and berries, which was a
475subdistrict of <span class=SpellE>Kifri</span> District in the Kirkuk
476Governorate. In 1922, it became a subdistrict of <span class=SpellE>Tawuq</span>
477(<span class=SpellE>Daquq</span>) in the same governorate (Edmonds 1957: 277).
478In 1951, it became a district of Kirkuk Governorate. In 1976, as part of the <span
479class=SpellE>Arabisation</span> policy pursued by the Ba'ath regime aimed to
480reduce the Turkmen population density in Kirkuk governorate, Tuz Khurmatu was
481separated from the Kirkuk and annexed to the Salah al-Din governorate, despite
482being closer to the central city of Kirkuk than to the central city of Salah
483al-Din Governorate. Additionally, the district forms a promontory approximately
48460 km eastward in relation to Salah al-Din Governorate, indicating that its
485connection to Salah al-Din is political in nature. The Tuz Khurmatu district
486also included the <span class=SpellE>Amerli</span> subdistrict until 2018, when
487the latter became a district.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
488
489<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
490140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
491Tuz Khurmatu district is located 75 km south of Kirkuk governorate. The
492district consists of dozens of villages and three subdistricts: Markaz, <span
493class=SpellE>Amerli</span> and Sulayman Bek. <span class=SpellE>Amerli</span>
494separated from Tuz in 2018 and became an independent district. Tuz District had
495a population of 30,000 in 1922 (Edmonds 1957: 277). In the 1957 census, the
496population of the district's central sub-district, which covered roughly the
497same area as today's Tuz district, was 88,466 (Principal bureau of statistics
4981958: 15). In the censuses of 1977, 1987, and 1997, the population of Tuz
499district was estimated at 61,744, 86,471, and 115,942, respectively (al-B
499ayati
5002014: 60). In the 2018 estimates, the population of the district, including <span
501class=SpellE>Amerli</span>, was 191,729. The area of Tuz Khurmatu district,
502along with <span class=SpellE>Amerli</span>, is 2,316 square <span
503class=SpellE>kilometres</span> (Central Statistical <span class=SpellE>Organisation</span>
5042018: 278). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
505
506<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
507140%'><b><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Ethnic
508composition<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
509
510<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
511140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Tuz
512Khurmatu is considered one of the Turkmen regions least exposed to Kurdish and
513Arab migration compared to many other Turkmen regions, such as the many regions
514in Kirkuk Governorate and the city of Erbil city (<span class=SpellE>Jerjis</span>
5152022: 76). <span class=GramE>The vast majority of</span> Arabs in Tuz Khurmatu
516are <span class=SpellE>Arabised</span> Turkmen from the Bayat Turkmen tribe,
517who reside mainly in the Sulayman Bek subdistrict and some of its villages, as
518well as other villages in the district. They are accompanied by a small pocket
519of the Arab Albu Hamdan tribe and some other Arab tribes, particularly in the
520Al-<span class=SpellE>Hlewa</span> area. The Kurds in the district live in the <span
521class=SpellE>centre</span>, and there are a few Kurdish villages to the east of
522Tuz Khurmatu.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
523
524<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
525140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>It
526can be said that Kurdish migration westward to the Turkmen regions was
527relatively smaller the further south one went. Kirkuk accounted for the largest
528share, due to its economic recovery <span class=GramE>as a result of</span> oil
529extraction, while Tuz Khurmatu's share of the Kurdish immigration was smaller
530than Erbil and Kirkuk's. Until the 1950s, when Kurdish migration to Kirkuk was
531massive, their arrival in Tuz Khurmatu was less frequent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
532
533<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
534140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>After
535the declaration of the republic in Iraq in 1958, Abdul Karim Qasim's government
536has built <span class=SpellE>neighbourhoods</span> in many Iraqi cities, naming
537these the <span class=SpellE>Iskan</span> or al-<span class=SpellE>Jumhuriya</span>
538<span class=SpellE>Neighbourhood</span>. Kurds acquired most of these houses in
539the Tuz Khurmatu city and the city of Kirkuk. The influx of Kurds continued
540into Turkmen areas with the start of the armed Kurdish movement (<span
541lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1575;&#1604;&#1581;&#1585;&#1603;&#1577; &#1575;&#1604;&#1603;&#1585;&#1583;&#1610;&#1577;
542&#1575;&#1604;&#1605;&#1587;&#1604;&#1581;&#1577;</span><span dir=LTR></span><span
543dir=LTR></span>) in the north in 1961, interspersed with periods of increasing
544numbers as events unfolded, like for example:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
545
546<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
547140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
548style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>With the collapse of the Kurdish
549movement in 1975, after the conclusion of the Algiers Agreement between Baghdad
550and Tehran.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
551
552<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
553140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
554style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>With the Kurdish Aghas (rural notables)
555selling their lands to the Iraqi government in the second half of the 1970s,
556particularly from the <span class=SpellE>Surji</span>, Khailani, and Khoshnaw
557tribes, this led to the displacement of large numbers of Kurdish villagers from
558their mountainous regions to cities and villages in <span class=SpellE>neighbouring</span>
559governorates, including Turkmen areas such as Erbil city, Kirkuk governorate,
560Tuz Khurmatu district and Diyala governorate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
561
562<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
563140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
564style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>With the Ba'ath government demolishing <span
565class=GramE>a large number of</span> villages in the northern provinces,
566particularly Kurdish ones, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which triggered
567another large wave of Kurdish displacement. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
568
569<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
570140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
571style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>With the Anfal operations of 1987 and
5721988, which were followed by the migration of larger waves of Kurds to Turkmen
573districts and cities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
574
575<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
576140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
577Tuz Khurmatu district had its share of these migrations. The Jamila district,
578an unofficial name, emerged within the predominantly Kurdish Al-<span
579class=SpellE>Jumhuriya</span> <span class=SpellE>neighbourhood</span> toward
580the end of the 1970s following the migration of Kurds, particularly from
581villages in the Qadir Karam subdistrict in the eastern part of the Tuz Khurmatu
582district.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
583
584<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
585140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>After
586the fall of the Ba'ath regime in 2003, and with the northern part of Iraq
587remaining under the control of Kurdish parties and their militants, it was easy
588for them to bring in thousands of families from Kurdish areas and settle them
589in all Turkmen areas. They built illegal housing on municipal, government, and
590Turkmen lands, and took control of all government buildings, housing Kurdish
591families in these or turning these into headquarters for Kurdish parties or the
592Peshmerga. The same events happened in most areas of northern Iraq,
593particularly in Kirkuk governorate. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
594
595<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
596140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>In
597the Tuz Khurmatu district, Kurdish families-built hundreds of homes on a vast
598expanse of land between the Al-<span class=SpellE>Jumhuriya</span> and Jamila <span
599class=SpellE>neighbourhoods</span> on one side and the mountains east of the
600city on the other. Both <span class=SpellE>neighbourhoods</span> expanded to
601several times their original size. <span class=GramE>The vast majority of</span>
602Kurdish families were not residents of the district but had migrated from the
603east. When the Iraqi army entered the city on November 17, 2017, all
604Kurds—families, employees, and Peshmerga—left the district in fear of
605retribution and all of them returned seven to eight months later, <span
606class=GramE>with the exception of</span> the Peshmerga, security forces and
607employees who had abused the Turkmen. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
608
609<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
610140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Thus,
611most of the Kurds who entered the district after the fall of the regime
612remained in Tuz Khurmatu. As for the expulsion of families from Tuz Khurmatu
613during the Ba'ath regime, the number of Turkmen people expelled reached in the
614hundreds, while the number of Kurds expelled did not exceed a few dozen
615families.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
616
617<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
618140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>As
619for the Turkmen areas in Tuz Khurmatu, the district <span class=SpellE>centre</span>,
620which contains more than half of the district's population, and the city of <span
621class=SpellE>Amerli</span>, the overwhelming majority are Turkmen. The <span
622class=SpellE>centre</span> of Sulayman Bek district is home to an overwhelming
623majority of residents belonging to the <span class=SpellE>Arabised</span>
624Turkmen Bayat tribe, with one-tenth of the population speaking Turkmen as their
625first language. Turkmen also inhabit many villages in the <span class=SpellE>Amerli</span>
626district, the largest of which are Bir <span class=SpellE>Awchili</span>, <span
627class=SpellE>Chardaghli</span>, and Qara Naz, as well as villages in the
628Sulayman Bek district, and some villages of the Tuz Khurmatu city, including
629the large village of Yengija.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
630
631<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
632140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Thus,
633although Tuz Khurmatu is considered a historical Turkmen district, and the
634Turkmen still constitute the vast majority there despite significant Arab and
635Kurdish migration, many Western sources err in presenting an ethnic composition
636that is contrary to the reality of the population of Tuz Khurmatu. They either
637present equal proportions of nationalities (Gaston 2018: 52), mention Kurds
638first (European Asylum Support Office 2018: 2; Human Rights Watch 2017), or
639mention Turkmen as a third nationality (International <span class=SpellE>Organisation</span>
640for Migration 2024A: 1). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
641
642<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
643140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>As
644is the case in all Turkmen regions, many Western sources exaggerate the size of
645the Kurdish presence in Tuz Khurmatu. For example, a Zoom News report indicates
646that "the Kurdish population in Tuz Khurmatu has decreased to 30% due to the
647Arabization campaign" (Zoom News 2024). However, today, after the settlement of
648hundreds of Kurdish families in the district after the fall of the Ba'ath
649regime, the actual percentage of Kurds in the district is much lower than the
650claimed percentage (Kirkuk Now 2024). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
651
652<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
653140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>As
654for the Kurdish media, their exaggeration in distorting the facts about the
655ethnic distribution of the population of the Turkmen regions in <span
656class=SpellE>
656favour</span> of the Kurds is even more pronounced. In one of its
657reports, the Kurdish <span class=SpellE>Rudaw</span> media network increased
658the percentage of Kurds in the district to 40% (<span class=SpellE>Rudaw</span>
6592017).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
660
661<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
662140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>There
663are international reports that do confirm the Turkmen nature of the Tuz
664district. A report by the United Nations International <span class=SpellE>Organisation</span>
665for Migration states: "The Tuz Khurmatu district, home to Shia, Sunni Turkmen,
666Sunni Kurds, and Sunni Arab communities, is strategically located on the
667Kirkuk-Baghdad highway in central Iraq. The <span class=SpellE>centre</span> of
668Tuz Khurmatu is Turkmen in origin. Its urban <span class=SpellE>centre</span>
669is composed of Turkmen, Kurds, and Sunni Arab populations" (International <span
670class=SpellE>Organisation</span> for Migration 2024B: 7).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
671
672<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
673140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Today,
674Turkmen constitute 65% of the district's population, Kurds 25% and Arabs 10%.
675These proportions have been agreed upon among the district's components (Kirkuk
676Now 2024). In the city of Tuz Khurmatu, the proportions are as follows: Turkmen
67775%, Kurds 20%, and Arabs 5%.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
678
679<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
680140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Historically,
681<span class=GramE>the vast majority of</span> the names of people, villages,
682plains, valleys and rivers in the Oblique Turkmen Line (Tal Afar-Badra) were
683Turkmen until the early twentieth century (see Map 1 below). For example, Ali
684Yazdi mentioned the names of <span class=SpellE>Daquq</span> and Altun <span
685class=SpellE>Kopru</span> with their Turkmen names in the fourteenth century
686(Yazdi 1723: 451). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
687
688<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
689140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
690Ottoman Almanac dating back to the Ottoman Sultan's conquest of Kirkuk in the
691sixteenth century mentions the names of people, cities, villages, rivers,
692valleys and mountains all with Turkmen names (Nakip 2008: 37-47). Likewise, all
693<span class=SpellE>travellers</span> who passed through the Turkmen Line for
694centuries mentioned these Turkmen names. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
695
696<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
697140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>For
698example, James Claudia Rich, in his journey from Baghdad to Kirkuk, <span
699class=SpellE>Sulaymaniya</span> and to Mosul in 1820, mentioned almost all the
700villages, towns, and districts along the way with Turkmen names. He mentioned
701these names from <span class=SpellE>Kifri</span> until he headed to
702Sulaymaniyah from Kirkuk: <span class=SpellE>Kifri</span>, K&ouml;r Dere, Kara <span
703class=SpellE>O&#287;lan</span>, <span class=SpellE>K&#305;z</span> <span
704class=SpellE>Kalas&#305;</span>, <span class=SpellE>Oniki</span> &#304;mam,
705Eski <span class=SpellE>Kifri</span>, <span class=SpellE>&Ccedil;emen</span>, Bayat
706Plain, Kuru &Ccedil;ay, <span class=SpellE>K&#305;z&#305;l</span> <span class=SpellE>Haraba</span>,
707Aksu River, <span class=SpellE>Yenijeh</span>, Tuz Khurmatu, <span
708class=SpellE>&Ccedil;ubuk</span>, Demir <span class=SpellE>Kap&#305;</span>, <span
709class=SpellE>Tawuq</span>, <span class=SpellE>Kehriz</span>, <span
710class=SpellE>Tawuq</span> <span class=SpellE>&Ccedil;ayi</span>, Ali Saray, <span
711class=SpellE>Jumaila</span>, Matara, Taze Khurmatu, Laylan and Kara Hasan (Rich
7121972).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
713
714<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
715140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
716<span class=SpellE>traveller</span> Rich visited Tuz Khurmatu in 1820 and
717considered the ethnic nature of Tuz Khurmatu to be Turkmen and estimated its
718population at five thousand (Rich 1972: vol. 1, 26, 33). A British political
719officer who served in the Iraqi governments at the highest levels, described
720Tuz Khurmatu as the most important <span class=SpellE>centre</span> of the
721Qizilbash Turkmen sect in the province (Edmonds 1957: 277-278). The League of
722Nations commission that determined the fate of Mosul Vilayet in the 1920s,
723described Tuz Khurmatu as being entirely Turkish or Turkmen (League of Nations
7241924: 38).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
725
726<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
727140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>In
7282018, a report by the United Nations Development <span class=SpellE>Programme</span>
729(UNDP), supported by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI),
730listed Tuz Khurmatu as one of the largest Turkmen-majority areas in Iraq
731considering that Turkmen constitute 7% of the population of the Diyala
732province, stating "<span class=SpellE>Turkomen</span> comprise ca. 7% of the
733population (with significant minority populations in <span class=SpellE>Kifri</span>,
734<span class=SpellE>Muqdadya</span>, Jalawla and Saadiya, and <span
735class=SpellE>Qarataba</span> being among the largest <span class=SpellE>Turkomen</span>-majority
736cities in Iraq)" (United Nations Development <span class=SpellE>Programme</span>
7372018: 29).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
738
739<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
740140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>As
741for the Kurdish presence in eastern Tuz Khurmatu, it is not ancient. For
742example, the <span class=SpellE>Dawuda</span> tribe constitutes <span
743class=GramE>the majority of</span> Kurds in the eastern part of the district.
744Abbas al-Azzawi and Edmonds estimated their presence there to be 150 years old
745at most (al-Azzawi 1947: 165; Edmonds 1957: 272-273).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
746
747<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
748140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
749
750<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
751140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Map
7521 Turkmen regions on the Oblique Turkmen Line from Tal Afar to Badra<o:p></o:p></span></p>
753
754<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
755140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>
756	<span class="editlinktip hasTip" title="" >
757	<a href="JavaScript:popup('http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/map-tuz-1-e.jpg',800,600)" TARGET="_parent">
758	<img src="http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/map-tuz-1-e.jpg" alt="" style="margin-left:0px;border:0pt solid #cccccc;" width="1000pt" height="780pt" hspace="0" border="0" align="center">
759	</span></a></span><span dir=LTR style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:170%;font-family:"Simplified Arabic",serif; mso-bidi-language:AR-IQ'><o:p></o:p></span><br>
760
761<o:p></o:p></span></p>
762
763
764
765
766
767
768<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
769140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><span
770style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Source: map designed by SOITM Foundation<o:p></o:p></span></p>
771
772<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
773140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
774
775<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
776140%'><b><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Sectarian
777structure<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
778
779<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
780140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
781sectarian composition of Tuz Khurmatu District is as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
782
783<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
784140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
785style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>The Turkmen in the cities of Tuz
786Khurmatu and <span class=SpellE>Amerli</span>, and the villages of Bir <span
787class=SpellE>Awchili</span>, <span class=SpellE>Chardaghli</span>, and Qara
788Naz, follow almost entirely the Shi'a sect of Islam.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
789
790<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
791140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
792style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>The <span class=SpellE>centre</span> of
793Sulayman Bek subdistrict, many of its villages and the villages of <span
794class=SpellE>Amerli</span> district are entirely follow the Sunni branch of
795Islam. In the large village of Yengija, Sunnis make up 80% of the population.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
796
797<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
798140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
799style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>The Arabs and Kurds of the district are
800all of Sunni sect.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
801
802<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
803140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
804style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>Even so, there are always some families
805of one sect in the areas of the other sect.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
806
807<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
808140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
809
810<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
811140%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
812Ba'ath regime period<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
813
814<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
815140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Before
8162003, the Turkmen in Tuz Khurmatu district faced hostility from the Ba'ath
817regime for two reasons: first, because they are of Turkmen origin, and second,
818because <span class=GramE>the majority of</span> them are Shia. The district
819was also subject to Kurdish migration due to its location on the continuous
820Kurdish migration route to the west. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
821
822<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
823140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Within
824the framework of the racist policy that <span class=SpellE>characterised</span>
825the Ba'ath regime for more than three decades, Tuz Khurmatu district, like
826other Turkmen areas, was subjected to all forms of human rights violations. By
827hundreds of measures, <span class=SpellE>Arabisation</span> policies included
828the settlement of hundreds of thousands of Arabs in Turkmen areas, the
829displacement of Turkmen from their areas, forcing them to change their
830ethnicity, removing all Turkmen names for cities, villages, streets, schools,
831businesses and even family names. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
832
833<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
834140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Hundreds
835of thousands of dunums (a little more than 900 square <span class=SpellE>metres</span>)
836of Turkmen land were confiscated and living conditions in Turkmen areas were
837made difficult by obstructing government transactions and restricting the scope
838of private businesses. Thousands of Turkmen were arrested, and hundreds of them
839were executed on the pretext of belonging to political parties. This racist
840policy of the Ba'ath Party was accompanied by neglect and deterioration of
841urban services and infrastructure in the Turkmen areas.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
842
843<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
844140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>In
845the 1970s and 1980s, Arab <span class=SpellE>neighbourhoods</span> and
846alleyways began to appear within the city of Tuz Khurmatu. The al-Tin <span
847class=SpellE>neighbourhood</span> and the al-Askari <span class=SpellE>neighbourhood</span>
848were built for Arabs. Land was also granted to them in the Al-Asriya <span
849class=SpellE>neighbourhood</span>, where the government financed the
850construction of homes. Similarly, homes were built by Arab families in the Imam
851Ahmed <span class=SpellE>neighbourhood</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
852
853<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
854140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>As
855for land confiscation, by Revolutionary Command Council Resolution No. 369,
856dated March 31, 1975, as part of the largest confiscation of Turkmen land in
857Kirkuk Governorate, 29,871 dunums of land were expropriated in the Tuz Khurmatu
858district, <span class=GramE>all of</span> whose owners were Turkmen from the
859district (see Appendix 1), as Tuz was one of the districts of Kirkuk
860Governorate. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
861
862<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
863140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>After
864the fall of the Ba'ath regime, the new Iraqi government established a
865governmental institution called the Property Claims Commission to resolve the
866issue of confiscated lands throughout Iraq. The number of lawsuits filed by the
867Turkmen of Tuz Khurmatu before this commission reached 4,970 by 2014 to 2015,
868and not a single land was returned to its Turkmen owners (Unrepresented Nations
869and Peoples <span class=SpellE>Organisation</span> 2013: 7).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
870
871<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
872140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
873Ba'ath regime regularly accused of hundreds of Tuz Khurmatu's Turkmen of being
874either nationalists belonging to national political parties or Shi'a religious
875parties. In a campaign of arrests that took place between 1980 and 1982,
876hundreds of Turkmen were arrested for their alleged affiliation with Iraqi
877Shi'a parties. As many as 101 of them were executed, while many others were
878sentenced to various harsh sentences, including life imprisonment. Many
879disappeared after their arrest, and many Tuz Khurmatu residents left Iraq for
880fear of persecution and death (Islamic Union of Iraqi Turkmen 1999).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
881
882<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
883140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>With
884the withdrawal of the Iraqi army from Kuwait in March 1991, <span class=GramE>local
885residents</span> took control of the administration in most Iraqi provinces.
886Ba'ath Party leaders were arrested, and their headquarters, as well as those of
887the Popular Army, security services, and police stations, were attacked, with
888many wounded and killed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
889
890<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
891140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>During
892this upheaval, Turkmen youth gathered in groups in the city of Tuz Khurmatu,
893particularly from the <span class=SpellE>neighbourhoods</span> of Mulla Safar,
894the Kuchuk Mosque area and the Tanki <span class=SpellE>neighbourhood</span>.
895They armed themselves and began writing and distributing leaflets to homes and
896shops, taking control of the intelligence and postal offices.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
897
898<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
899140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Contact
900was made with some Kurdish groups, and on the evening of March 11, 1991, most
901of the city's districts were seized, including the main police station, the
902security office, and later the Popular Army (<span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1575;&#1604;&#1580;&#1610;&#1588;
903&#1575;&#1604;&#1588;&#1593;&#1576;&#1610;</span><span dir=LTR></span><span
904dir=LTR></span>) headquarters. Turkmen armed youth set up guard posts on the
905outskirts of the city and prevented Kurdish militants from attacking
906educational institutions. Thefts then spread to state institutions by Kurdish
907groups and sometimes by residents of the city itself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
908
909<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
910140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
911city had been subjected to artillery and mortar shelling, and occasional aerial
912bombardment by the Ba'athist forces and paramilitary loyalists for more than a
913week since the uprising began. The city was then stormed. The Iraqi army and
914Arab tribes overcame the resistance of the city's residents, entered the city
915and suppressed the uprising after residents were threatened with chemical
916weapons attacks following a demonstration by warplanes across the city's skies.
917The city was also bombed before and during the assault, killing and wounding
918dozens of residents and damaging many homes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
919
920<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
921140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>On
922the first day of the government regained control of the city, all residents
923were evacuated. When they returned to the city more than a week later, many
924found their homes or shops empty and their cars stolen, having been looted by
925the Popular Army and members of the Arab tribes. The army had arrested
926approximately 500 young Turkmen, most of whom were assaulted and imprisoned.
927Many armed Turkmen who resisted the army fled to <span class=SpellE>neighbouring</span>
928countries for fear of retribution.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
929
930<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
931140%'><b><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>After
932the fall of the Ba'ath regime<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
933
934<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
935140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>This
936phase began with the overthrow of the Ba'ath regime on April 9, 2003, through
937US military intervention. The Coalition Provisional Authority was then formed,
938headed by Paul Bremer, who was directly linked to the US Secretary of Defense
939as the governor of Iraq. Immediately after the fall of the Ba'ath regime, all
940Iraqi state institutions being staffed by Ba'ath Party members were dissolved,
941including the civil administration, security forces, and army (Baker 2003: 4)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
942
943<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
944140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Within
945the framework of the strategic partnership between the United States and
946Turkey, the United States was confident of Turkish support for the overthrow of
947the Ba'ath regime in Iraq in 2003. However, the United States was disappointed
948when Turkey refused to participate and did not allow the use of Turkish
949territory. The United States then replaced Turkey with the Kurdish parties as
950its sole strategic partner in Iraq.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
951
952<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
953140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
954Kurdish parties and Peshmerga forces became the second largest force after
955those of the United States in administering Iraq and in rebuilding the Iraqi
956state and its new institutions, having received full support from the United
957States. The Kurdish parties came to dominate the mechanisms of governance in
958Iraq. The Kurdish Peshmerga fighters became the equivalent of the Iraqi army
959and took control of northern Iraq. Thus, all Turkmen and other minority areas
960in Iraq came under Kurdish control. The region remained under the absolute
961administrative, security, military, and economic control of the Kurdish parties
962for fourteen years, until 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
963
964<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
965140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>All
966non-Kurdish parties, including Arab, Turkmen, and Assyrian parties, were
967founded abroad, <span class=GramE>with the exception of</span> the Iraqi Dawa
968Party; all of those parties lacked experience in governing a state even on the
969local level or operating as a professional opposition. The Kurdish parties,
970however, had thirteen years of experience in governing their regions and had
971established their own security and military forces, represented by the
972Peshmerga and the <span class=SpellE>Asayish</span> (Kurdish security).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
973
974<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
975140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
976Kurds have long enjoyed excessive sympathy from the West, particularly because
977they were subjected to attacks from the states they fought, particularly in
978Iraq. This was reflected in the substantial financial, logistical, political,
979and media assistance provided to the Kurdish parties and Kurdish society, while
980ignoring other Iraqi communities, the largest of which were and are the
981Turkmen. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
982
983<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
984140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>In
985short, after the fall of the Ba'ath regime, the state's administrative,
986security and military institutions had collapsed and remained so for a
987considerable time, the rule of law was absent, chaos was <span class=GramE>rampant</span>
988and violence was prevalent throughout Iraq. Kurdish parties and the Peshmerga
989had come to dominate the Iraqi political scene. Under these trying and
990harrowing circumstances, the construction of a new Iraq began from scratch,
991including the drafting of a new constitution.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
992
993<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
994140%'><b><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>General
995situation<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
996
997<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
998140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>
998When
999the Ba'ath regime fell, the same things happened in Tuz Khurmatu as happened in
1000most of Iraq. In Tuz Khurmatu, particularly the Kurdish Peshmerga and Kurdish
1001security forces looted all government offices and emptied them of their
1002contents. They seized control of all government buildings, turning these into
1003headquarters for Kurdish political parties or the Peshmerga. Kurdish forces
1004arrested many Turkmen and expelled others from government offices, claiming
1005they were members of the Ba'ath Party and who had wronged some Kurds before the
1006occupation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1007
1008<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1009140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>In
1010northern Iraq, Arabs were <span class=SpellE>politicised</span>
1011nationalistically and well-<span class=SpellE>organised</span> partisanly and
1012being prepared to resist any force that would deprive them of the enormous
1013gains granted by the Ba'ath regime. They were also prepared to defend
1014themselves against any potential attack, especially by Peshmerga fighters,
1015given their role in the Ba'ath Party and the <span class=SpellE>Arabisation</span>
1016of Kurdish, Turkmen, and other minority areas.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1017
1018<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1019140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>As
1020for the Kurds, their parties and armed Peshmerga gained control of northern
1021Iraq, as well as much of the Iraqi political arena and the Iraqi government.
1022They have a strong desire to establish a Kurdish state in northern Iraq—and are
1023prepared to avenge the injustices they suffered at the hands of the Ba'ath
1024regime. They consider most of northern Iraq, especially the Turkmen regions and
1025areas with other minorities, to be historically Kurdish regions. <span
1026class=GramE>Thus</span> they include these among the disputed territories, registering
1027these in their constitution, and including these on their maps.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1028
1029<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1030140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1031Turkmen and other Iraqi minorities, most of whose territories <span
1032class=GramE>are located in</span> northern Iraq, were eager to redress the
1033injustices they suffered at the hands of the Ba'ath regime and to obtain their
1034cultural and national rights. They feared the control of the Kurdish parties
1035and the co-optation of their regions. The slightest administrative, political,
1036economic and security measures taken against them or with disadvantageous
1037effects for them became a source of resentment among Sunnis, Turkmen and other
1038minorities toward the state led by Shia and Kurdish parties. Tuz Khurmatu was
1039one of the areas that met <span class=GramE>all of</span> the afore-mentioned
1040conditions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1041
1042<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1043140%'><b><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1044administration<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
1045
1046<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1047140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1048Ba'ath regime subjected Tuz Khurmatu district to continuous oppression and
1049repression. The district housed the headquarters of political parties and the
1050armed popular army, as well as police and intelligence departments, where Arab
1051Ba'athists constituted the majority. The people of Tuz Khurmatu lived in
1052anxiety and suspicion under Ba'ath administration, lacking even the most basic
1053weapons to protect themselves in emergency situations. As was the case
1054throughout Iraq, all state institutions in Tuz Khurmatu were run by Ba'athist
1055cadres with high party ranks. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1056
1057<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1058140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1059decision of making the De-Baathification Commission, issued by the US civ
1059il
1060administrator and then-President of Iraq, Paul Bremer, at the insistence of
1061Iraqi political parties, particularly the Shi'ite ones, just days after the
1062fall of the Ba'ath regime on April 16, which took effect on May 16, 2003,
1063played a major role in the disintegration of the Iraqi state. Therefore, it was
1064necessary to form new administrative cadres for the state across all its
1065institutions. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1066
1067<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1068140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Tuz
1069Khurmatu fell to Peshmerga forces led by American soldiers in April 2003. A few
1070days later, a Kurd was appointed as Tuz Khurmatu's new mayor. Shortly
1071thereafter, American officers met with figures from the district's Turkmen,
1072Kurdish and Arab communities, informing them that a new council would be formed
1073to administer the district, consisting of nine members, three from each
1074community. The Kurd representatives requested four, one more than the other
1075communities, a request rejected by the Turkmen and Arab representatives. At the
1076same time, the Arabs generally were reluctant to participate in the process. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1077
1078<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1079140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Ultimately,
1080it was agreed that the council would have twenty-one members, seven from each
1081community, despite the Turkmen having a greater claim as the majority in the
1082district and the region being known for its Turkmen identity. This was <span
1083class=GramE>similar to</span> many Turkmen-majority areas and other regions in
1084northern Iraq where the rights of the Turkmen majority were deliberately
1085downplayed and ignored. This situation was repeated in the 2005 provincial
1086council elections. Since all Iraqi general and local elections in the Turkmen
1087regions were held under the absolute control of the Kurdish parties and the
1088Peshmerga, and in the absence of security stability, the Kurds achieved results
1089far superior to their actual presence in all areas of northern Iraq (see Table
10901 below).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1091
1092<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1093140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>American
1094officers supervised the formation of the new council in the district. It was
1095agreed that the council presidency would be assigned to a Turkmen. The Turkmen
1096Front intervened and imposed its own <span class=GramE>particular candidate</span>
1097for the presidency. However, the Kurds and Arabs rejected this Turkmen
1098candidate, claiming that he was an active member of the Ba'ath Party, and
1099demanded another candidate. But the Turkmen Front did not withdraw its
1100candidate, and it was decided to hold elections for the council presidency. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1101
1102<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1103140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1104Kurds and Arabs agreed, as some of the council members were Arabs chosen from
1105among those close to the Kurds. They elected an Arab to the presidency, and an
1106American representative attended council meetings. A Kurd from outside the
1107police force was appointed director of the judicial police, and the Kurds took
1108control of all state institutions in Tuz Khurmatu. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1109
1110<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1111140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Although
1112the directors of some departments were Turkmen, they were under the control of
1113the Kurdish administration. Later, when it was necessary to appoint people to
1114sovereign positions in the judiciary, the Judicial Council would send three
1115names, one from each ethnic group to the relevant ministry, and in most cases,
1116the Kurdish name was approved. This administrative structure remained largely
1117unchanged until the Iraqi army took control of the district in 2017
1118(Derzsi-Horvath 2017; Note 1).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1119
1120<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1121140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>So
1122immediately after the fall of the Ba'ath regime, the Kurdish parties and the
1123Peshmerga appointed large numbers of Kurds from outside the city to government
1124offices, especially in the health and education directorates, and they became
1125the overwhelming majority in the police department. The Kurdish Security
1126Directorate (<span class=SpellE>Asayish</span>) formed the security apparatus
1127consisting almost exclusively of Kurds, and the Peshmerga became the army of
1128the district.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1129
1130<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1131140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
1132
1133<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1134140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Table
11351<span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>Various estimates of the Kurdish
1136population in various areas along the
1137Oblique Turkmen Line after the fall of the Ba'ath regime *<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1138
1139<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1140140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Table
1141	<span class="editlinktip hasTip" title="" >
1142	<a href="JavaScript:popup('http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/table-tuz-1.jpg',800,600)" TARGET="_parent">
1143	<img src="http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/table-tuz-1.jpg" alt="" style="margin-left:0px;border:0pt solid #cccccc;" width="1000pt" height="400pt" hspace="0" border="0" align="center">
1144	</span></a></span><span dir=LTR style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:170%;font-family:"Simplified Arabic",serif; mso-bidi-language:AR-IQ'><o:p></o:p></span><br>
1145
1146<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1147
1148<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1149140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>*
1150Table 1 intends to illustrate the increase in the number of Kurdish members in
1151municipal councils in those areas relative to the size of the Kurdish
1152population.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1153
1154<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1155140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>(&#8224;)
1156Percentage of Kurds in district and subdistrict councils according to
1157appointments under the supervision of the American military, Kurdish political
1158parties, and Kurdish Peshmerga that took place in 2003, and in provincial
1159councils according to the elections that took place in January 2005. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1160
1161<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1162140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>(&#8225;)
1163Population of Kirkuk governorate during fall of the Ba'ath regime in 2003
1164(International Crisis Group 2006: 2). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1165
1166<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1167140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>(*)
1168There are no reliable statistics or estimates.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1169
1170<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1171140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>&#8195;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1172
1173<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1174140%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Military
1175and security forces in the district from 2003 to 2017<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
1176
1177<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1178140%'><b><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Kurdish
1179Peshmerga<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
1180
1181<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1182140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From
1183the first day after the fall of the Ba'ath regime, Kurdish parties controlled
1184the vast majority of northern Iraq and large parts of Diyala and 
1184Salah al-Din
1185provinces (Kane 2011: 9, 14-15). The Peshmerga were the sole military force in
1186these vast territories, and the police and security services were subordinate
1187to the Kurdish parties. There were three Peshmerga brigades in the Tuz Khurmatu
1188district, and the Kurdish parties controlled the security and police services.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1189
1190<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1191140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>With
1192the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) (<span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1575;&#1604;&#1583;&#1608;&#1604;&#1577;
1193&#1575;&#1604;&#1573;&#1587;&#1604;&#1575;&#1605;&#1610;&#1577; &#1601;&#1610; &#1575;&#1604;&#1593;&#1585;&#1575;&#1602;
1194&#1608;&#1575;&#1604;&#1588;&#1575;&#1605;</span><span dir=LTR></span><span
1195dir=LTR></span>) occupation of eastern Tuz Khurmatu in 2014, the Kurdistan
1196regional government deployed an additional fourth brigade of Peshmerga fighters
1197to Tuz Khurmatu, claiming to bolster security in the area. However, just as the
1198other three Peshmerga brigades deployed in the area did not provide protection
1199for the Turkmen, the deployment of the fourth brigade did not.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1200
1201<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1202140%'><b><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Federal
1203police<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
1204
1205<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1206140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>As
1207attacks on Turkmen in the region increased by ISIS, with bombings sometimes
1208reaching as many as 24 per day, the Iraqi government deployed a federal police
1209(<span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1575;&#1604;&#1588;&#1585;&#1591;&#1577; &#1575;&#1604;&#1575;&#1578;&#1581;&#1575;&#1583;&#1610;&#1577;</span><span
1210dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>) regiment in 2011 despite opposition and
1211threats from Kurdish parties and the Peshmerga. The federal police were
1212stationed in the Silo area outside the city, but they were subjected to
1213frequent harassment by the Peshmerga. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1214
1215<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1216140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1217presence of the federal police did not mitigate attacks on the Turkmen; rather,
1218it increased the bombings. When ISIS took control of the western part of the
1219district, Peshmerga forces attacked the Federal Police headquarters, expelling
1220them from the district and seizing their vehicles and weapons, including tanks.
1221During the same period, the Peshmerga also expelled Baghdad-backed forces in
1222Kirkuk governorate. Under the control of the security apparatuses affiliated
1223with the Kurdish parties and the Kurdish Security Service (<span class=SpellE>Asayish</span>-<span
1224lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1575;&#1587;&#1575;&#1610;&#1588;</span><span dir=LTR></span><span
1225dir=LTR></span>), the Kurds rejected the Turkmen parties' persistent requests
1226and strenuous efforts to establish armed Turkmen factions to protect themselves
1227and their areas.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1228
1229<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1230140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Iraqi
1231and Turkmen Shi'a armed factions<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1232
1233<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1234140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1235Kurds continued to refuse the entry of the Iraqi army and any other armed
1236faction into Tuz Khurmatu, despite the genocide being continued committed
1237against the Turkmen by ISIS. The fatwa issued by the Shia religious authority,
1238Ali al-Sistani, in Najaf in mid-2014 calling for the formation of a popular
1239army made the Kurds accept formation of Turkmen Popular Army factions. The
1240siege of <span class=SpellE>Amerli</span> by ISIS, which became an
1241international issue, forced the Kurdish parties to accept the entry of Shiite
1242factions into Tuz Khurmatu. In June 2014, <span class=SpellE>Asaib</span> Ahl
1243al-Haq, Hezbollah, the Badr <span class=SpellE>Organisation</span>, and Saraya
1244al-Salam entered the district.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1245
1246<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1247140%'><b><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1248new Iraqi army<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
1249
1250<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1251140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1252Iraqi armed and security forces were largely <span class=SpellE>politicised</span>
1253and partisan under the Ba'athist state, and completely disintegrated 
1253with the
1254fall of the regime, leaving the entire Iraqi society in a state of complete
1255insecurity amidst political, sectarian and ethnic instability. Rebuilding the
1256Iraqi army and security services took many years, and these still suffer from a
1257lack of professionalism and administrative and military problems.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1258
1259<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1260140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>As
1261it is mentioned elsewhere, with the advent of the new era, and for years, Kurds
1262played a major role in establishing and filling positions in the new military
1263institutions. For example, starting with assuming the positions of Chief of
1264Staff of the Army and Commander of the Air Force, they also had a significant
1265presence in the new military divisions formed in Mosul, where <span
1266class=GramE>a large number of</span> unqualified Kurds were appointed as
1267soldiers and commanders, most of whom were Peshmerga (Mahdi 2013). After nearly
126814 years, the Iraqi army wrested control of all areas of northern Iraq from the
1269Kurdish parties and the Peshmerga, <span class=GramE>with the exception of</span>
1270the three Kurdish provinces, in October 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1271
1272<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1273140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
1274
1275<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1276140%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Sectarian
1277and nationalist violence (2003-2017)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
1278
1279<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1280140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>After
1281the fall of the Ba'ath regime, all conditions were ripe for sectarian and
1282nationalist violence. The state collapsed administratively, security-wise, and
1283militarily, primarily due to the United States' mismanagement of the overthrow
1284of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship and the subsequent administration of Iraq, the
1285rule of law disappeared, and <span class=SpellE>marginalised</span> Islamist
1286Shiite and Kurdish parties assumed leadership of the government and state. The
1287Ba'athists were numerous and intellectually and militarily armed. They began
1288exploiting nationalist and sectarian sentiments immediately after the fall,
1289having inflamed them to the maximum extent during their rule. Almost all
1290Turkmen areas, including Tuz Khurmatu, had a mixed sectarian and ethnic
1291character.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1292
1293<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1294140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Sectarian
1295violence began immediately after the fall of the regime. In the first months
1296after the fall of the Ba'ath regime, two incidents in the cities of Tuz
1297Khurmatu and Kirkuk confirmed Turkmen suspicions that the Kurdish parties
1298intended to control and contain their areas and suppress any attempts to oppose
1299the dominance of the Kurdish parties and the Peshmerga in their areas. These
1300incidents also added momentum to the sectarian and ethnic conflict. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1301
1302<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1303140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>On
1304August 20, 2003, Kurdish Peshmerga gunmen, who controlled the district, blew up
1305the Mursi Ali shrine, a holy site for Shiite Turkmen in Tuz Khurmatu (Mufti
13062017). The next day, groups of Turkmen held a peaceful demonstration in the
1307city <span class=SpellE>centre</span>, but Peshmerga forces attacked the
1308demonstration and opened fire, killing five Turkmen and wounding many others.
1309The following day, other peaceful demonstrations took place in Kirkuk in
1310support of the Turkmen of Tuz Khurmatu. Peshmerga forces also attacked them, killing
1311some Turkmen demonstrators and wounding many others. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1312
1313<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1314140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>These
1315two incidents in Tuz Khurmatu and Kirkuk were among the first terrorist
1316bombings against religious shrines and killings of peaceful protestors,
1317igniting sectarian and ethnic strife in Iraq. Sectarian violence quickly spread
1318throughout Iraq, in the absence of law and order and state institutions. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1319
1320<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1321140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Then
1322came the bombing of the two major Shia shrines in Samarra on February 22, 2006.
1323Violence in Iraq escalated even further. All Turkmen areas, especially the Shia
1324Turkmen areas south of Kirkuk, which also includes the Tuz Khurmatu district,
1325were subjected to the largest and most violent explosions in Iraq. The Kurdish
1326Peshmerga forces were the only force protecting the region, dominating and
1327controlling it completely. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1328
1329<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1330140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Violence
1331rapidly increased in the Tuz Khurmatu district; the number of explosions was
1332estimated at several per month during the first post-Ba'athist years, including
1333massive explosions in the village of Yengija and the district's city of <span
1334class=SpellE>Amerli</span>. This later increased to several explosions per
1335week. By the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, explosions
1336had become daily, sometimes multiple times a day. They increased dramatically
1337with the increase in ISIS activity in the western part of the district and, at
1338the same time. By the beginning of the second decade, the number of daily
1339explosions sometimes reached dozens. The explosions were accompanied by
1340assassinations and kidnappings of Turkmen (see Appendix 3).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1341
1342<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1343140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1344psychological state of the district's Turkmen was in shambles. During one of
1345the sit-ins held by the people of Tuz Khurmatu under the title "Tuz Khurmatu is
1346calling... Is there a helper to help us?" in front of one of the largest
1347religious shrines in the city of Karbala. In an attempt to draw the attention
1348of Shiite religious authorities to their tragedy, one of the sit-in <span
1349class=SpellE>organisers</span> said: "We are holding a sit-in today next to
1350Imam Hussein so that the world may know the extent of our suffering and concerns
1351that have been hidden from public opinion and ignored even by those closest to
1352us for unknown reasons" (<span class=SpellE>Ruwaih</span> 2013).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1353
1354<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1355140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Appendix
1356II shown further below contains detailed information on some of the hundreds of
1357terrorist attacks targeting Turkmen areas in Tuz Khurmatu district. Appendix
1358III includes the names of <span class=GramE>a large number of</span> Turkmen
1359who were killed, assassinated, or kidnapped in Tuz Khurmatu between 2003 and
13602009 alone, a number that doubled several times between 2010 and 2014. Many of
1361the assassinations occurred in front of their homes or shops, and most of the
1362kidnappings took place outside the city while residents were traveling. Some
1363were aimed at extorting large ransoms from the kidnapped person's family. For
1364example, Turkmen in Kirkuk governorate paid approximately $50 million to secure
1365their kidnappers' release (SOITM Foundation 2019: 86; Mufti 2015).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1366
1367<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1368140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1369Turkmen Rescue Foundation estimated the losses of the Turkmen of Tuz Khurmatu
1370between 2003 and 2014 at approximately 600 dead, mostly men, 3,600 injured,
1371including women and children, 160 kidnapped and 1,500 families displaced from
1372the district. The number of homes and shops demolished or closed reached 1,200
1373homes and 200 shops (Note 2). The 2018 report of the Iraqi High Commission for
1374Human Rights estimated the number of Turkmen disabled in the district <span
1375class=GramE>as a result of</span> bombings at approximately 1,670 people (Iraqi
1376High Commission for Human Rights 2018: 9). An official from the Turkmen Front
1377office in Tuz Khurmatu estimated the number of families displaced from the
1378district to safe areas in 2013 alone at 500, saying "There is no worse place in
1379the world for Turkmens than Tuz" (Zurutuza 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1380
1381<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1382140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>All
1383areas of Tuz Khurmatu district suffered from massive bombings, indicating the
1384systematic targeting of Turkmen areas. The following incidents concern some of
1385the major bombings:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1386
1387<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1388140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1389style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>The Great Mosque explosion in Tuz
1390Khurmatu 2005<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1391
1392<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1393140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1394explosion of the Great Mosque in Tuz in September 2005 was one of the major
1395terrorist attacks at the time, killing at least eleven people and wounding
1396twenty-five others (Al-Jazeera 2005). The Euphrates News Agency put the death
1397toll in the Great Mosque explosion at 24 dead and 56 wounded, with the mosque <span
1398class=GramE>completely destroyed</span> (<span class=SpellE>Buratha</span> News
1399Agency 2013).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1400
1401<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1402140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1403style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>The assault on the village of Yengija in
14042006<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1405
1406<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1407140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1408village of Yengija, located 10 to 15 <span class=SpellE>kilometres</span>
1409southwest of Tuz Khurmatu, was subjected to constant harassment by the Iraqi
1410National Guard at the time, which was largely composed of Peshmerga forces. On
1411the evening of March 10, 2006, the National Guard surrounded the village and
1412shelled it indiscriminately with rifles and mortars. By midnight, the village
1413was stormed. Peshmerga forces ordered people via mosque loudspeakers to remain
1414in their homes or they would be shot if they left. The operation lasted
1415approximately 24 hours. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1416
1417<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1418140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>During
1419the indiscriminate shooting of the village, two persons (aged 32 and 26) were
1420killed and nineteen people were injured. The village's water and electricity
1421sources were the first to be attacked. Almost <span class=GramE>all of</span>
1422the water tanks on the roofs of houses were shot at and punctured. Generators,
1423electricity cables, and poles were destroyed. Two houses were severely damaged,
1424and six others were partially destroyed. Private cars, motorcycles, and
1425tractors belonging to villagers were shot at in front of houses (SOITM 2006).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1426
1427<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1428140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1429style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>Aksu Caf&#233; bombing in 2006<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1430
1431<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1432140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>On
1433June 16, 2006, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device inside the Aksu
1434Caf&#233; in the district, killing 25 people, wounding 34 and <span class=GramE>completely
1435destroying</span> the caf&#233; (<span class=SpellE>Buratha</span> News Agency
14362013).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1437
1438<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1439140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1440style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span><span class=SpellE>Amerli</span> bombing
1441in 2007<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1442
1443<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1444140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>In
1445one of the largest terrorist attacks in Iraq's history since 2003, a truck bomb
1446exploded in a popular Bazar in the <span class=SpellE>centre</span> of <span
1447class=SpellE>Amerli</span> sub-district, which was then part of Tuz Khurmatu
1448(now <span class=SpellE>Amerli</span> district), on July 7, 2007, killing
1449approximately 160 people and wounding 240 others (al-Jarida 2007: 18).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1450
1451<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1452140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1453style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>Taza Khurmatu bombing in 2009<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1454
1455<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1456140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Taza
1457Khurmatu is a large Shiite Turkmen village located outside Tuz Khurmatu
1458district, located between it and the city of Kirkuk. It was also under the
1459'protection' of the Kurdish Peshmerga. On June 20, 2009, a truck bomb exploded,
1460killing 73 people and wounding 200, including women and children. It also
1461destroyed approximately 30 homes (al-Ansary 2009).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1462
1463<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1464140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1465style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span><span class=SpellE>Husseiniyat</span>
1466Sayyid al-Shuhada bombing in 2013<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1467
1468<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1469140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>On
1470January 23, 2013, a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated an
1471explosive device inside the Sayyid al-Shuhada <span class=SpellE>Husseiniyat</span>
1472(Mosque) itself, killing 42 people and wounding 45 others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1473
1474<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1475140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
1476
1477<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1478140%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1479period of the Turkmen and Iraqi Shi'a armed factions (2014-2017)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
1480
1481<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1482140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1483Turkmen remained disarmed and exposed to daily terror until 2014. In the middle
1484of that year, the Islamic State (ISIS) swept through all the villages and the
1485Sulayman Bek district, south of Tuz Khurmatu. However, it was unable to enter
1486the city of Tuz Khurmatu, besieging <span class=SpellE>Amerli</span> city on
1487June 11, 2014. After fierce and unequal resistance to the attacking force,
1488which possessed various transport vehicles and tanks, the residents of Shi'ite
1489villages, such as Bir <span class=SpellE>Awchili</span>, Qara Naz, and <span
1490class=SpellE>Chardaghli</span>, took refuge in the city of Tuz, and some of
1491them in the city of Kirkuk (<span class=SpellE>Hauslohner</span> 2014); at
1492least twenty-six people were killed, and ISIS forces entered the villages and
1493inflicted great destruction on them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1494
1495<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1496140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Despite
1497this, the Kurds continued to refuse to allow the Iraqi army or any other armed
1498group to enter the district to help fight ISIS and protect the Turkmen, until
1499al-Sistani issued a fatwa <span class=SpellE>authorising</span> the formation
1500of the Popular <span class=SpellE>Mobilisation</span> Forces (PMF) (<span
1501lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1602;&#1608;&#1575;&#1578; &#1575;&#1604;&#1581;&#1588;&#1583;
1502&#1575;&#1604;&#1588;&#1593;&#1576;&#1610;</span><span dir=LTR></span><span
1503dir=LTR></span>) on June 13, 2014. This time, the Kurdish parties and Peshmerga
1504were unable to prevent the Turkmen of Tuz Khurmatu from forming armed groups to
1505defend themselves and their region.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1506
1507<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1508140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1509siege of <span class=SpellE>Amerli</span> became an international issue, and
1510international public opinion became more concerned with saving it from falling
1511into the hands of ISIS in the region. At that point, the Kurdish forces were
1512unable to prevent the entry of armed Shi'a factions into the Tuz Khurmatu
1513district. In mid-June 2014, armed factions from <span class=SpellE>Asaib</span>
1514Ahl al-Haq (League of the Righteous), Hezbollah (Party of God), Badr <span
1515class=SpellE>organisation</span>, and Saraya al-Salam (Peace Companies) entered
1516the district via the eastern <span class=SpellE>Kifri</span> district, where
1517ISIS militants were targeting the main road between Tuz Khurmatu and Baghdad.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1518
1519<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1520140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Shi'a
1521party factions arriving in Tuz Khurmatu were able to lift the siege of <span
1522class=SpellE>Amerli</span>, leading to the rapid collapse of ISIS. The western
1523part of the district and its villages were liberated within a few weeks.
1524Turkmen factions, formed in Tuz district based on the fatwa of al-Sistani,
1525joined the Shi'a party factions in the fight against ISIS. The security
1526situation required the Turkmen and Shia factions to remain in the district.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1527
1528<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1529140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>ISIS's
1530brutal control of many of the district's villages, and its subsequent defeat,
1531and the sectarian animosity it instigated, had extremely painful consequences
1532for the district. Many people were killed and wounded, and many homes and
1533shops, sometimes entire alleys, were destroyed. The villages had been
1534completely emptied of their Shi'ites when ISIS arrived, and then of their
1535Sunnis when they were liberated by Shi'ite factions. Many villages remained
1536empty for months and years, and <span class=GramE>a large number of</span>
1537residents have not returned to their villages to this day.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1538
1539<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1540140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Under
1541the new reality, the security situation in the district has improved, and
1542attacks on Turkmen declined significantly, though some bombings still occurred:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1543
1544<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1545140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1546style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>On August 29, 2014, ISIS shelled the
1547military <span class=SpellE>neighbourhood</span> in Tuz Khurmatu, killing five
1548people and wounding twenty-five others, including five women and six children.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1549
1550<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1551140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1552style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>On July 25, 2015, at least twelve people
1553were killed when two suicide bombers attacked a crowded swimming pool in Tuz
1554Khurmatu.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1555
1556<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1557140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1558style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>On October 22, 2015, a car bomb exploded
1559outside a Shiite Mosque in the city, killing five people and wounding 40
1560others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1561
1562<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1563140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1564style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>On December 12, 2017, a mortar attack on
1565the city <span class=SpellE>centre</span> killed civilians in central Tuz
1566Khurmatu.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1567
1568<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1569140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1570style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>On November 21, 2017, at least 23 people
1571were killed and 60 others wounded in a suicide bombing in the city.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1572
1573<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1574140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Resentment
1575and discontent among the Kurdish parties and the Peshmerga over the presence of
1576Shiite and Turkmen armed factions in the district became a source of ongoing
1577tension, leading to three major clashes between the Peshmerga and Turkmen armed
1578factions between 2014 and 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1579
1580<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1581140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1582first major clash occurred on October 16, 2015, when Kurdish Peshmerga forces
1583opened fire on a group of Turkmen belonging to the armed factions from the
1584village of <span class=SpellE>Chardaghli</span> as they passed through a
1585checkpoint at one of the city's entrances, killing three-five Turkmen. In
1586response, armed Turkmen attacked a Peshmerga detachment, killing several of
1587them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1588
1589<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1590140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Clashes
1591spread throughout Tuz Khurmatu, with Kurdish peshmergas burning five to ten
1592Turkmen homes in the Aksu <span class=SpellE>neighbourhood</span>, and Turkmens
1593burning Kurdish shops in several Turkmen <span class=SpellE>neighbourhoods</span>.
1594Peshmerga forces then burned approximately thirty Turkmen homes in the al-Barid
1595<span class=SpellE>neighbourhood</span>. <span class=GramE>A number of</span>
1596armed Kurdish stormed the home of Turkmen writer and politician Cevdet <span
1597class=SpellE>Kadioglu</span> and forcibly took him away in front of his family.
1598His fate remains unknown to this day. The religious authority and Shiite parties
1599then intervened, calming the clashes, which had lasted for two days (<span
1600class=SpellE>Imamli</span> 2015).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1601
1602<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1603140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1604second major clash occurred <span class=GramE>as a result of</span> the
1605Peshmerga's continued harassment of citizens in Turkmen <span class=SpellE>neighbourhoods</span>,
1606particularly by a well-known gang in the city led by a Kurd named Goran, who
1607extorted money from the city's wealthy Turkmen. At a time when the Kurdish
1608political parties and security forces were still firmly established in the city
1609<span class=SpellE>centre</span>, in the heart of the Turkmen areas, the
1610clashes erupted. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1611
1612<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1613140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>On
1614November 15, 2016, the Peshmerga shelled the headquarters of the Turkmen armed
1615factions, killing eight people. On the same day, the Peshmerga shelled the
1616Shiite endowment with tanks, prompting similar responses from the Turkmen
1617factions. The clashes continued for a day and a half, after which <span
1618class=GramE>some kind of a</span> reconciliation was reached. However, the
1619situation remained tense between the two sides, marred by minor incidents until
1620coming of the Iraqi army in October 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1621
1622<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1623140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1624third major clash between Turkmen factions and Peshmerga occurred when the
1625Iraqi army entered the city on October 17, 2017. Peshmerga, police, and Kurdish
1626security forces confronted the Iraqi army and attacked Turkmen <span
1627class=SpellE>neighbourhoods</span> at the same time. According to some
1628witnesses, hundreds of shells fell on Turkmen areas, killing at least five
1629Turkmen and wounding about thirty others. Dozens of Turkmen homes were also
1630burned. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1631
1632<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1633140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Shi'ite
1634armed factions cooperated with the Iraqi army to secure the central
1635government's control of the district, and the Turkmen burned some Kurdish
1636homes, in addition to about thirty homes belonging to the Goran gang. As it is
1637mentioned elsewhere in this article, all Kurds left the district after entering
1638the Iraqi army in it, and the Kurdish <span class=SpellE>neighbourhoods</span>
1639were emptied. The Iraqi army captured about twenty Peshmerga and handed them
1640over to Kurdish parties. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1641
1642<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1643140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>In
1644October 2017, the Iraqi army entered <span class=GramE>all of</span> northern
1645Iraq and expelled the Kurdish parties and Peshmerga from them, with the
1646exception of the three governorates within the Kurdish region.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1647
1648<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1649140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
1650
1651<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1652140%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1653role of Kurdish parties in the tragedy of the Turkmen of Tuz Khurmatu<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
1654
1655<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1656140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Many
1657Turkmen residents, intellectuals, and politicians in Tuz Khurmatu believe that
1658the Kurdish administration played a direct role in this dark period their
1659district experienced between 2003 and 2017. In addition to turning a blind eye
1660to attacks by Sunni extremists and ISIS against Turkmen, there is reasonable
1661speculation that Peshmerga and Kurdish security forces played a direct role in
1662the attacks, assassinations and kidnappings targeting Turkmen in Tuz Khurmatu.
1663As for the plausible reasons for these speculations:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1664
1665<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1666140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1667style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>The Kurds had exclusive control over the
1668district, particularly the city of Tuz Khurmatu, administratively, militarily,
1669and security-wise. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1670
1671<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1672140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1673style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>Three Peshmerga brigades controlled all
1674entrances to the city then the fourth came in 2014. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1675
1676<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1677140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1678style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>The entire security apparatus and police
1679forces in the district were Kurdish and under Kurdish administration.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1680
1681<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1682140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1683style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>These Kurdish forces surrounded the city
1684from all sides, set up checkpoints and monitored all the entrances and exits of
1685the city.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1686
1687<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1688140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1689style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>All explosions occurred in the Turkmen <span
1690class=SpellE>neighbourhoods</span> of the city only.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1691
1692<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1693140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1694style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>The Kurdish politicians and
1695intellectuals have an unbridled desire to establish a Kurdish state in northern
1696Iraq at any cost.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1697
1698<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1699140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1700style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>Kurdish politicians and writers consider
1701most of northern Iraq, including all Turkmen areas, to be historically Kurdish
1702regions and part of their historic homeland, Kurdistan (Kane 2011: 13-14).
1703Kurdish schools have taught this view for many years, even decades now,
1704convincing the Kurdish people of this myth. Western reports, articles and books
1705played an important role in this process. Thus, Kurdish intellectuals and the
1706Kurdish people have grown resentful that Arabs and Turkmen have occupied and
1707still live in their historic homeland.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1708
1709<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1710140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1711style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>Kurdish parties have succeeded in
1712casting doubt on the identity of the Turkmen regions and many other areas in
1713northern Iraq by including them among the disputed territories in the Iraqi
1714constitution, enshrining them in the constitution of so-called Kurdistan, and
1715including them on their own official maps.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1716
1717<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1718140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1719style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>The Kurdish authorities rejected all
1720attempts by Turkmen politicians and parties to involve the Turkmen at
1721checkpoints at the city's entrances and exits. As previously mentioned, they
1722refused formation of armed Turkmen factions to protect the Turkmen, and they
1723also refused the entry of any Iraqi forces into the district to protect them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1724
1725<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1726140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
1727style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>All Kurds, including the Peshmerga and
1728security forces, Kurdish police, all Kurdish employees, and all Kurdish
1729families, left when the Iraqi army entered the city, and all Kurdish <span
1730class=SpellE>neighbourhoods</span> became empty, fearing reprisals.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1731
1732<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1733140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>True,
1734all these reasons at this stage are speculations, however plausible and
1735credible. These do not (yet) constitute definite proofs that <span class=GramE>particular
1736Kurdish</span> individuals, units and institutions directly planned, ordered,
1737executed and participated in all these violent incidents against the Turkmen in
1738Tuz Khurmatu and other Turkmen areas, particularly in Kirkuk Governorate. These
1739reasons offer circumstantial evidence at best. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1740
1741<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1742140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Therefore,
1743additional research needs to be done to identify—and prosecute at local,
1744national or international courts—those truly responsible for these crimes
1745against the Turkmen, irrespective of their Kurdish or any other identity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1746
1747<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1748140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
1749
1750<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1751140%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Western
1752sources and pro-Kurdish bias <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
1753
1754<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1755140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>There
1756are several reasons for the West's embrace of the Kurdish cause. These include
1757the West's search for strategic partners in a sensitive region like the Middle
1758East, the Kurds' openness to the West, their status as one of the world's
1759largest ethnic groups without their own (ethno-) nation state, and they were
1760subjected to fierce attacks from the countries in which they revolted and
1761rebelled against the state. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1762
1763<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1764140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1765Kurds' association with the ancient peoples of the Zagros region, their robust
1766nature, the beauty of their lands, and the charm of their terrain, which
1767includes towering mountains and rugged valleys, have attracted many Western <span
1768class=SpellE>travellers</span> over the centuries, who have published their
1769fascinating stories about the Kurdish ethnicity. This has created a bright and
1770dazzling aura around the Kurds in the West, leading to increased media coverage
1771of the Kurds in Western literature and studies. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1772
1773<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1774140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Decades
1775of Ba'ath rule followed, fostering the development of the Kurdish movement and
1776exposing the Kurds to repression and bloody events. This situation has led to
1777increased interest in the Kurdish issue by Western strategic <span
1778class=SpellE>centres</span>, and numerous reports, articles and studies have
1779been published on the Kurds, their history, geography, suffering, and cause.
1780Because Iraq was not open to field research, most of these publications
1781interpreted, and sometimes distorted, facts to <span class=SpellE>favour</span>
1782the Kurds. In other words, Western interpretations of the region's events,
1783politics, history, and geography were influenced by their focus on the Kurdish
1784issue at the expense of other Iraqi communities, especially the Turkmen, who
1785constitute a vast geographic area and a significant proportion of the
1786population.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1787
1788<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1789140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1790<span class=SpellE>prioritisation</span> of national interests in Western
1791foreign policies, often at the expense of values of justice and human rights
1792established by Western societies, naturally reinforces the conspiracy theory
1793prevalent in non-democratic societies about the treatment and intentions of
1794Western states toward their societies and countries. This is manifested in
1795questioning the intentions and <span class=SpellE>behaviour</span> of all
1796Western governmental and non-governmental institutions in those countries. One
1797reason for this is that state control over all areas of administration and much
1798of social life is normal in non-democratic cultures.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1799
1800<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1801140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>This
1802phenomenon is <span class=GramE>clearly evident</span> in the West's handling
1803of the Kurdish issue. <span class=GramE>The majority of</span> peoples
1804suffering from the Kurdish problem, such as Iraqis, Turks and Syrians, believe
1805that Western countries, with all their institutions, are biased toward the
1806Kurds and support them in achieving national strategic gains. These peoples
1807believe that the news, reports and research published by Western media outlets,
1808civil society <span class=SpellE>organisations</span>, and universities are
1809deliberately prepared according to this strategy and represent a Western
1810positive bias in <span class=SpellE>
1810favour</span> of the Kurds.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1811
1812<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1813140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Addressing
1814these unconstructive perceptions in non-democratic cultures is essential to
1815improving their perceptions of the democratic system and human rights
1816principles. This will undoubtedly contribute to positive interaction between
1817these societies and Western culture and their countries eventually.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1818
1819<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1820140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Regarding
1821the relevance of this phenomenon to the subject of this study, it is clear that
1822the thousands of reports and studies published by Western media, human rights <span
1823class=SpellE>organisations</span>, and universities on the subject of the study
1824did not reflect even a small part of the reality of the tragedies suffered by
1825the Turkmen in Tuz Khurmatu and Kirkuk too at the hands of Kurdish parties and
1826Peshmergas over the fourteen years covered by this study. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1827
1828<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1829140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Furthermore,
1830Western communities have been preoccupied with the Kurdish issue for nearly a
1831century, which has been reflected in their policies and treatment in <span
1832class=SpellE>favour</span> of the Kurds, despite the presence of other major
1833communities in Iraq that, like the Kurds, were subjected to the most horrific
1834human rights violations under the Ba'ath regime. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1835
1836<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1837140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Nor
1838did Western sources ever address the inability of the Peshmerga militias as an
1839unprofessional military force, especially in such circumstances when the
1840central state and all its institutions were absent, given that the Iraqi
1841government had declared its inability to protect the Turkmen for most of the
1842period covered by this study (Minority Rights Group International 2014: 6, 14).
1843<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1844
1845<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1846140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Western
1847studies have not demonstrated the Kurdish parties' unbridled desire to
1848establish a Kurdish state and the permissibility of using all the available
1849means to achieve this. In the photo shown further below (Photo 1), published on
1850a German news website in September 2014, Kurdish Peshmerga forces are shelling
1851the large Turkmen village of <span class=SpellE>Bastamli</span> from an
1852isolated angle, claiming that ISIS is there. Under the prevailing conditions in
1853the region at the time, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, the only armed force in
1854the district, could not be absolved of the daily artillery shelling that
1855targeted Tuz Khurmatu and dozens of Turkmen villages in the district for years
1856(Bickel 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1857
1858<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1859140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>It
1860is worth noting that the Kurdish parties and Peshmerga forces were <span
1861class=SpellE>Kurdifying</span> Tuz Khurmatu and all areas of northern Iraq,
1862especially those belonging to minorities, without the Iraqi government and
1863coalition forces taking any action to prevent this. A report of the Middle East
1864Centre of London School of Economics and Political Science mentioned the
1865followings "The Kurds, who took advantage of US backing and occupied the
1866buildings of the former Iraqi regime. They held the office of the mayor and
1867other key positions and sought to administratively align the city with Kirkuk
1868over and above Tikrit. Ultimately, they filled the political and governmental
1869vacuum in the district, leaving the large Turkmen and Arab communities of Tuz
1870Khurmatu mostly powerless … When the Turkmen and Arabs began to complain about
1871the '<span class=SpellE>Kurdification</span>' of Tuz Khurmatu in 2004 and 2005,
1872US forces and administrators took limited measures to balance out the local
1873distribution of power" (Skelton 2019: 17).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1874
1875<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1876140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Regarding
1877the <span class=SpellE>Kurdification</span> of the Turkmen regions, a report of
1878the international Crisis group mentioned the following: "Unwilling, for now, to
1879cross its most reliable Iraqi allies, Washington has largely stood silent in
1880the face of Kirkuk's progressive <span class=SpellE>Kurdification</span>; to
1881lessen tensions created by the flood of displaced Kurds coming to the town, it
1882also has launched wide-scale countryside rehabilitation. Moreover, it provides
1883technical support and indirect funding to the Iraq Property Claims Commission.
1884When accused of aiding Kirkuk's <span class=SpellE>Kurdification</span>,
1885officials reportedly replied that other communities were free to bring their
1886people into the town" (International Crisis Group 2006: 2).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1887
1888<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1889140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>If
1890we take the numbers of Western publications and sources about the Kurdish issue
1891in Iraq, we find that these are hundreds of times greater than the numbers
1892published about other Iraqi minorities, especially the Turkmen, whose suffering
1893was not much less than the suffering of the Kurds, and whose population (9%)
1894was not much less than the population of the Kurds (13%) (Knights 2004: 262;
1895Shah 2003: 4).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1896
1897<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1898140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
1899
1900<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1901140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Photo
19021<span style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>Peshmerga artillery shelling the
1903Turkmen village of <span class=SpellE>Bastamli</span>, south of Tuz Khurmatu
1904District<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1905
1906<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1907140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><span
1908style='mso-spacerun:yes'></span>
1909<span class="editlinktip hasTip" title="" >
1910	<a href="JavaScript:popup('http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/photo-tuz-1.jpg',800,600)" TARGET="_parent">
1911	<img src="http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/photo-tuz-1.jpg" alt="" style="margin-left:0px;border:0pt solid #cccccc;" width="1000pt" height="500pt" hspace="0" border="0" align="center">
1912	</span></a></span><span dir=LTR style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:170%;font-family:"Simplified Arabic",serif; mso-bidi-language:AR-IQ'><o:p></o:p></span><br>
1913
1914
1915<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1916
1917<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1918140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Source:
1919Markus Bickel, 'Kein Schneller Krieg (No Quick Victory)' Frankfurter Allgemeine
1920Zeitung, 9 May 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1921
1922<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1923140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
1924
1925<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1926140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>It
1927has become clear today that the deliberate dwarfing of the Turkmen population
1928number in Iraq by the British Mandate of Iraq and the Iraqi monarchy when the
1929Iraqi Kingdom was established after World War I was for geopolitical reasons. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1930
1931<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1932140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
1933preliminary results of the 1957 census, which many Western authorities
1934considered closer to reality in terms of the size of Iraq's small constituents
1935(minorities), but which the Turkmen rejected, showed that the total Turkmen
1936population in Iraq was 136,806 (Al-Zubaidi 1981: 28). It should be noted that
1937the General Directorate of Population, which conducted the 1957 census, was
1938affiliated with the Ministry of Interior (General Directorate of Population
19391957), and Saeed <span class=SpellE>Qazzaz</span>, a Kurd from <span
1940class=SpellE>Sulaymaniya</span>, was the Minister of Interior (Saleh 2010:
1941309n16). However, the revised results of the same census, issued in 1958, when
1942the minister had changed, showed that the total Turkmen population in Iraq was
1943567,000 (Knights 2004: 262; Shah 2003: 4). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
1944
1945<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1946140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>According
1947to the General Directorate of Population, the initial results of the same
1948census estimated the Kurdish population in Kirkuk Governorate at 48.3% (General
1949Directorate of Population 1957: 243). The Kurds rely on these results in their
1950claims to ownership of Kirkuk Governorate and its inclusion in the Kurdish
1951region (Kane 2011: 5). However, revised results of the same census, as
1952mentioned above, showed that the Turkmen population in Iraq was a
1952pproximately
1953four times higher than the initial results. This increase in the Turkmen
1954population did not apply to the city and governorate of Kirkuk, which would
1955undoubtedly have led to a decrease in the proportion of Kurds in both the city
1956and governorate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1957
1958<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1959140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>It
1960is worth noting that the 1957 census estimated the number of Kurds in Iraq at
1961about 900,000 people (13%) of the total populations of Iraq (Knights 2004: 262;
1962Shah 2003: 4). However, today the Kurds, with all their administrative,
1963political and academic authorities, along with Western sources and references,
1964exaggerate the number of Kurds in Iraq, sometimes to the extent of 25% (<span
1965class=SpellE>Jongerden</span> 2016: 1; Bengio 2017: 15; Lasky 2018: 1), and
1966thus they obtain privileges and gains from the Iraqi state by inflating their
1967percentage of the total population of Iraq.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1968
1969<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1970140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>However,
1971all but two or three Western publications (Knights 2004: 262; Shah 2003: 4)
1972ignore the revised census results and solely cite the preliminary results,
1973which underestimate the size of the Turkmen population in Iraq by approximately
1974four times. The adjusted results for individual Turkmen regions, particularly
1975Kirkuk, have not been published, as the Kurdish claim to Kirkuk is based
1976primarily on the preliminary erroneous results of the 1957 census, which
1977logically suggests that the Turkmen population in Kirkuk at that time was
1978deliberately dwarfed fourfold.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1979
1980<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1981140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Any
1982researcher of the geography of northern Iraq can easily notice the widespread
1983presence of Turkmen, whose vast lands extend across all northern governorates,
1984including Salah al-Din, <span class=GramE>all of</span> Diyala and even Kut
1985governorate. Dozens of Western reports on the massive displacement of people
1986during the rise of ISIS reveal a significant Turkmen presence among displaced
1987families throughout northern Iraq, including Diyala and Salah al-Din provinces
1988(United Nations Development <span class=SpellE>Programme</span> 2018: 33,
198966-67, 29-30).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
1990
1991<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
1992140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>A
1993quick look at Iraq's history, and the sources are multiple, indicates that the
1994mass Kurdish migration from the east to Turkmen regions is not ancient, having
1995increased significantly only since the 1930s. However, most Western reports and
1996other research outputs do not address this issue. Rather, many consider Turkmen
1997regions, such as the <span class=SpellE>Kifri</span> district and the city of
1998Erbil, where the Kurdish population subsequently increased, to be historically
1999Kurdish regions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2000
2001<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2002140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>In
2003the same context, many Western reports consider Tuz Khurmatu a Kurdish region
2004or mention Kurds first when mentioning its components—even though Turkmen still
2005constitute the majority (65%) in Tuz Khurmatu (Kirkuk Now 2024).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2006
2007<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2008140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>So
2009overall, information can be found distorted in <span class=SpellE>favour</span>
2010of the Kurds in most Western reports. To take just example among numerous, Vice
2011Media mis interpreted the barriers built by the Turkmen to repel attacks as
2012barriers to protect the Kurds from snipers (McDiarmid 2016).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2013
2014<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2015140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>According
2016to a report by the International Crisis Group, "During 2003-2017, the city of
2017Tuz saw frequent clashes between Kurdish parties … and Turkmen parties <span
2018class=GramE>... .</span> Tuz's Kurdish residents fled, and the Hashd wrought
2019major destruction on Kurdish property. Backed by the Hashd, local government
2020administrators sacked Kurdish public employees who did not return, replacing
2021them with Turkmen" (International Crisis Group 2018: 16, 17).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2022
2023<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2024140%'><span class=GramE><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
2025font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>In reality, the</span></span><span
2026style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>
2027Turkmen were <span class=SpellE>defenceless</span>, exposed to daily terrorist
2028attacks, and unable to confront the three Peshmerga brigades and the
2029exclusively Kurdish security and police forces that controlled the city.
2030Moreover, after the formation of the Turkmen armed factions in 2014, three
2031clashes with the Peshmerga occurred there, up until 2017. This study already
2032has provided details of these clashes elsewhere, and the commentary on the
2033Amnesty International report in the following paragraph provides details of the
2034Kurds' flight from the city after the arrival of the Iraqi army and the damage
2035inflicted in their areas, and how it was exaggerated.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2036
2037<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2038140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>An
2039Amnesty International report on the Iraqi army's entry into Tuz Khurmatu in
2040October 2017, which must have been transmitted by the Kurds, clearly distorts
2041the facts in <span class=SpellE>favour</span> of the Kurds. The report states:
2042"It looked like 90% of the buildings in al-<span class=SpellE>Jumhuirya</span>
2043were burned <span class=GramE>... .</span> Those who had returned briefly to
2044the city reported seeing extensive damage to homes in al-<span class=SpellE>Jumhuriya</span>
2045and Hai Jamila, both Kurdish-majority <span class=SpellE>neighbourhoods</span>".
2046In the article, Amnesty International published a satellite image of part of
2047Tuz Khurmatu showing some red and black spots to support its claims. It did not
2048give any title for the image other than to indicate some of the black spots,
2049claiming these were smoke rising from burning Kurdish homes. However, the
2050locations of the red and black spots in the image are overwhelmingly in Turkmen
2051areas. The image also shows the al-<span class=SpellE>Jumhuriya</span> <span
2052class=SpellE>neighbourhood</span> mainly populated by Kurds, where there are
2053almost no black or red spots (Amnesty International 2017 (incl, quotes); see
2054Photo 2 further below). As usual, the Kurdish media distorted the facts even
2055further (<span class=SpellE>Rudaw</span> 2017).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2056
2057<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2058140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>As
2059mentioned above, the reliance of Western authorities, including academics, on
2060politicians, intellectuals, Peshmerga fighters, and other Kurdish actors as
2061sources of information about Iraqi minorities, especially the Turkmen, is one
2062of the most important reasons why Western reports and other research outputs
2063present misleading and even false information in <span class=SpellE>favour</span>
2064of the Kurds and their cause at the expense of non-Kurdish Iraqi communities. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
2065
2066<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2067140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>For
2068example, a Western academic resurrected the Turkmen poet Hijri Dede about
2069twenty years after his death in 1952 and appointed him a member of the Turkmen
2070Writers' Union, with the aim of demonstrating the Turkmen's attempts to erase
2071Kirkuk's Kurdish identity and portray prominent Kurdish figures as Turkmen. He
2072also stated that Hijri Dede did not write poetry in Turkmen (<span
2073class=SpellE>Leezenberg</span> 1994: 12). However, <span class=GramE>the
2074overwhelming majority of</span> Hijri Dede's poems are in Turkmen (Fieldhouse
20752002: 176); true he also has poems in Persian-but no poems in Kurdish (Mardan
20762010: 12; Kakai 2019: 10).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2077
2078<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2079140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>An
2080Al-Jazeera report stated the following: "<span class=SpellE>Beshtowan</span>
2081Kadir, 44, says ... When he is wearing traditional Kurdish clothes, he cannot
2082visit the market. The Shia militia would kill me the minute they see me. Some
2083[Kurds] have lost their lives only because of who they are, and those who are
2084still alive cannot reveal their identity" (<span class=SpellE>Khoder</span>
20852016). This information starkly contrasts with the reality of Tuz Khurmatu
2086district between 2003 and 2017, when the Kurds controlled the city with <span
2087class=GramE>a large number of</span> Peshmerga, and the security and police
2088forces were entirely Kurdish. The Turkmen in the district were in a precarious
2089position, unable even to defend themselves. The Shi'ite factions that entered
2090Tuz in 2014 were affiliated with Shiite parties with close ties to Kurdish
2091parties and thus were careful not to <span class=SpellE>jeopardise</span> their
2092relationship amid the security chaos in Iraq. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
2093
2094<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2095140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>One
2096must keep in mind that after the fall of the Ba'ath regime, Iraq <span
2097class=GramE>opened up</span> to Western media, human rights <span class=SpellE>organisations</span>,
2098and research <span class=SpellE>centres</span>, while vast areas of Iraq were
2099under Kurdish and Peshmerga administration. <span class=GramE>Later on</span>,
2100a large number of Western correspondents, human rights monitors, and
2101researchers flocked to the region to closely monitor and document the
2102situation, particularly with the rise of ISIS after the fall of Ba'ath regime.
2103The generally tense situation required assistance from the Kurdish parties and
2104administration, particularly Peshmerga fighters, to accompany these outsider
2105analysts to their areas of study or accompany the Peshmerga in their areas of
2106existence and dominance. They also received diverse logistical support from the
2107regional authorities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2108
2109<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2110140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>This
2111situation has made Kurdish sources, such as the Peshmerga, Kurdish politicians,
2112administrators, and researchers—who claim ownership of most of northern Iraq
2113and <span class=SpellE>
2113harbour</span> a strong desire to establish a
2114nation-state for the Kurds—the primary source of information for Westerners
2115about this troubled region, <span class=GramE>actually home</span> to diverse
2116Iraqi communities and minorities, including Turkmen. On the other hand, the
2117close relationship between Westerners and Kurds sustained the latter as a
2118primary source of information for Westerners about northern Iraq and its
2119communities. Professor Leezenberg's grave error stems from the fact that
2120Kurdish actors and sources were the primary source of his analysis.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2121
2122<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2123140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
2124
2125<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2126140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Photo
21272<span style='mso-tab-count:2'></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A satellite photo of part
2128of Tuz Khurmatu city from a 2017 Amnesty International (AI) article to support
2129its claims<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2130
2131<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2132140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Variant
2133<span class=GramE>2.a</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>When AI site
2134and relevant article was visited on February 28, 2025<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2135
2136<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2137140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><span
2138style='mso-spacerun:yes'></span>
2139
2140	<a href="JavaScript:popup('http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/photo-tuz-2-a.jpg',800,600)" TARGET="_parent">
2141	<img src="http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/photo-tuz-2-a.jpg" alt="" style="margin-left:0px;border:0pt solid #cccccc;" width="1000pt" height="700pt" hspace="0" border="0" align="center">
2142	</span></a></span><span dir=LTR style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:170%;font-family:"Simplified Arabic",serif; mso-bidi-language:AR-IQ'><o:p></o:p></span><br>
2143
2144
2145<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2146
2147<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2148140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
2149
2150<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2151140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Variant
2152<span class=GramE>2.b</span><span style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>When AI site
2153and relevant article was visited on June 13, 2025: photo reduced in size and
2154the name Tuz Khurmatu removed<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2155
2156<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2157140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><span
2158style='mso-spacerun:yes'></span>
2159
2160	<a href="JavaScript:popup('http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/photo-tuz-2-b.jpg',800,600)" TARGET="_parent">
2161	<img src="http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/photo-tuz-2-b.jpg" alt="" style="margin-left:0px;border:0pt solid #cccccc;" width="1000pt" height="700pt" hspace="0" border="0" align="center">
2162	</span></a></span><span dir=LTR style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:170%;font-family:"Simplified Arabic",serif; mso-bidi-language:AR-IQ'><o:p></o:p></span><br>
2163
2164
2165<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2166
2167<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2168140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Source:
2169Amnesty International, Iraq: Fresh evidence that tens of thousands forced to
2170flee Tuz Khurmatu amid indiscriminate attacks, lootings and arson Amnesty
2171International, 24 October 2017, pp.16, 17 (see Bibliography for webpage).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2172
2173<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2174140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>NB:
2175Names of the <span class=SpellE>neighbourhoods</span> were written by the
2176author of the article.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2177
2178<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2179140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
2180
2181<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2182140%'><b><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
2183Anfal campaign and the Western approach<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
2184
2185<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2186140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
2187dictionary meaning of the word al-Anfal is "(the) spoils". In Islamic
2188jurisprudence, as a Qur'anic Surah, al-Anfal refers to "the wealth of infidel
2189warriors seized by force and coercion during combat". The Anfal campaign,
2190launched by the Ba'ath regime in 1988, which included the destruction of mainly
2191Kurdish villages in some areas of northern Iraq, has been subject to widespread
2192distortion, to the point that it has become extremely difficult to find
2193reliable information about it in any publication. Western reports and studies
2194play a major role in exaggerating the campaign's content and results, in terms
2195of its human costs and geopolitical impact.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2196
2197<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2198140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>These
2199reports and studies have overestimated the areas covered by the campaign and
2200contradicted estimates of the number of operations it involved. Some
2201publications refer to six campaigns (Hasan 2021), others to seven (<span
2202class=SpellE>Hiltermann</span> 2008), while others estimate eight (Human Rights
2203Watch 1993: 10). Most of these publications include events within the Anfal
2204operations that <span class=GramE>actually were</span> not part of these, such
2205as the Iraqi army's April 1987 attacks on the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
2206(PUK) headquarters in the village of <span class=SpellE>Balisan</span>, which
2207some western sources consider the beginning of the campaign. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
2208
2209<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2210140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Others
2211consider the February 1988 attack on the village of al-<span class=SpellE>Jafati</span>
2212to be the beginning of it, and most Western publications include the chemical
2213attack on Halabja in March 1988 as part of the Anfal operations. There are also
2214differences in the duration of the Anfal operations. Some sources estimate it
2215to have lasted six months in 1988 (<span class=SpellE>Hiltermann</span> 2008;
2216Unrepresented Nations and Peoples <span class=SpellE>Organisation</span> 2013:
22172), while others indicate it continued until 1989 (McGregor 2009: 1-2)—or place
2218it between 1987 and 1988 (Bengio 2023). However, there is sometimes an implicit
2219acknowledgment in these publications that the operation began closer to the
2220actual date. For example, although the Human Rights Watch report considers the
2221February 1988 attack on al-<span class=SpellE>Jafati</span> to be the beginning
2222of the Anfal campaign, its table of contents places the beginning of the first
2223Anfal campaign on March 23, 1988 (Human Rights Watch 1993).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2224
2225<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2226140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
2227
2228<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2229140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Map
22302 A sketch of the Anfal operations and their axes (April-May 1988)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2231
2232<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2233140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><span
2234style='mso-spacerun:yes'></span>
2235
2236	<a href="JavaScript:popup('http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/Map-tuz-2-a.jpg',800,600)" TARGET="_parent">
2237	<img src="http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/Map-tuz-2-a.jpg" alt="" style="margin-left:0px;border:0pt solid #cccccc;" width="1000pt" height="1300pt" hspace="0" border="0" align="center">
2238	</span></a></span><span dir=LTR style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:170%;font-family:"Simplified Arabic",serif; mso-bidi-language:AR-IQ'><o:p></o:p></span><br>
2239
2240
2241
2242<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2243
2244<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2245140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>NB:
2246sketch developed by the author<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2247
2248<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2249140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
2250
2251<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2252140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
2253Anfal operations were an official government plan, including specific actions
2254in specific areas, undertaken by the Ba'ath government in 1988. According to
2255Iraqi military personnel involved in the Anfal Campaign, the operation began in
2256Ramadan in April 1988 and consisted of three phases. The second phase was
2257conducted along three axes. The operational axes, participating Iraqi army
2258units, and their commanders were as follows (see Map 2 shown above):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2259
2260<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2261140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
2262style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>The first Anfal operation took place
2263along the <span class=SpellE>Sulaymaniya-Sargalu-Bargalu-Dokan</span> axis,
2264with the participation of the First National Army (<span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1575;&#1604;&#1580;&#1581;&#1601;&#1604;
2265&#1575;&#1604;&#1608;&#1591;&#1606;&#1610; &#1575;&#1604;&#1571;&#1608;&#1604;</span><span
2266dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>), led by Major General Saad Shams al-Din,
2267and lasted approximately ten days.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2268
2269<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2270140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
2271style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>The second Anfal operation began
2272simultaneously along three axes, meeting in the <span class=SpellE>Sangaw</span>
2273area.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2274
2275<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2276140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>&#9702;<span
2277style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>The first axis: <span class=SpellE>Sulaymaniya</span>-Qara
2278Dagh-<span class=SpellE>Sangaw</span>, with the participation of the First
2279National Army, led by Major General Saeed Mohammed Hamdan.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2280
2281<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2282140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>&#9702;<span
2283style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>The second axis: <span class=SpellE>Chamchamal-Sangaw</span>,
2284with the participation of the Infantry Division Command (<span lang=AR-SA
2285dir=RTL>&#1602;&#1610;&#1575;&#1583;&#1577; &#1601;&#1585;&#1602;&#1577; &#1575;&#1604;&#1605;&#1588;&#1575;&#1577;</span><span
2286dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>), led by Major General Saad Shams al-Din.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2287
2288<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2289140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>&#9702;<span
2290style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>The third axis: Tuz Khurmatu-Qader
2291Karam-<span class=SpellE>Sangaw</span>, with the participation of the Oil
2292Protection Forces Command (<span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1602;&#1610;&#1575;&#1583;&#1577;
2293&#1602;&#1608;&#1575;&#1578; &#1581;&#1605;&#1575;&#1610;&#1577; &#1575;&#1604;&#1606;&#1601;&#1591;</span><span
2294dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>), led by Major General Bariq Haj Hunta.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2295
2296<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2297140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>-<span
2298style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span>The third Anfal operation took place
2299along the <span class=SpellE>Chamchamal</span>-<span class=SpellE>Agjalar</span>-Shwan-Taq
2300Taq axis, with the participation of some of the forces that participated in the
2301previous operations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2302
2303<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2304140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Each
2305phase of these Anfal operations lasted between one to two weeks, meaning the
2306entire operation lasted approximately one month and covered the area between
2307Kirkuk, Tuz Khurmatu, Kalar, <span class=SpellE>Sulaymaniya</span>, <span
2308class=SpellE>Dokan</span> and Altun <span class=SpellE>Kupri</span> (see Map 2
2309shown above). The population of villages in most of the Kurdish regions at
2310eastern northern Iraq, including the Anfal operations areas, had already been
2311depleted by pressure from the Peshmerga and years of economic sanctions imposed
2312by Ba'ath regime in response to Peshmerga attacks, and the hostile stance of
2313the Kurdish parties and their collaboration with Iran.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2314
2315<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2316140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Western
2317reports portray the Anfal campaign as a meticulously planned and carefully
2318executed military operation to exterminate the Kurdish people, exaggerating the
2319size and type of Iraqi forces involved (<span class=SpellE>Hiltermann</span>
23202008; Human Rights Watch 1993: 10). However, the Iraqi state was in a state of
2321administrative collapse, with most ministry employees joining the military and
2322budgets sharply reduced. Ministries such as education and health were in a
2323deplorable state, and chaos reigned in the administration of security and
2324police. Militarily, the Iraqi army was depleted by seven years of war with
2325Iran. The Anfal operations came at a time when Iraq was being subjected to
2326devastating attacks by the Iranian army, supported by Kurdish parties and the
2327Peshmerga in northern Iraq, and the Iraqi army, police, and security forces
2328were suffering from a severe shortage of qualified, trained, and experienced
2329personnel and logistical resources. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
2330
2331<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2332140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>As
2333for Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein's cousin, whom he granted a number of
2334military and civilian ranks, including that of lieutenant general, and to whom
2335all Western reports attribute personal responsibility for planning and
2336executing these operations, had no advanced military education or experience,
2337having originally been a deputy officer in the Iraqi Air Force in Kirkuk during
2338the Ba'athist coup of 1968.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2339
2340<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2341140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Western
2342sources also greatly exaggerated the Iraqi army's use of chemical weapons
2343against the Kurds, as if all Kurdish areas had been bombarded with chemical
2344weapons. No conclusive evidence of any use of chemical weapons against the
2345Kurds in northern Iraq has been found, except for what occurred in Halabja.
2346Western correspondents and researchers appear to have accepted as fact
2347everything they were told by Kurdish authorities, political parties and
2348Peshmerga forces, as well as what they read in Kurdish sources, without
2349verifying its authenticity. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
2350
2351<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2352140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>It
2353is well known to most members of the Iraqi army, especially officers, that
2354chemical weapons were never used against Kurdish areas except for Halabja. It
2355should be noted that the author of this article was a reserve medical officer
2356on the front lines between 1981 and 1985, moving along the front lines from the
2357most distant battlefield in <span class=SpellE>Gardamand</span> in northern
2358Iraq to the far south in the city of Al-Faw. Before and after that, he worked
2359in hospitals in Mosul and Kirkuk, where wounded soldiers and civilians
2360frequently received treatment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
2361
2362<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2363140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Regarding
2364the non-use of chemical weapons in the Anfal operations, it was and is well
2365known to the <span class=GramE>general public</span>, even to non-political and
2366non-nationalist Kurds in and nearby most of the areas of the Anfal operations,
2367as they were adjacent to Tuz Khurmatu, Kirkuk and Altun <span class=SpellE>Kupri</span>,
2368and given that nearly half of the Anfal areas fall within the Kirkuk
2369Governorate. Knowing that Kurdish propaganda, supported by Western sources, is
2370so powerful and influential in those areas that when one asks about what
2371happened in the Anfal operations, one gets the answer that 180,000 Kurds were
2372killed by these operation—but immediately followed with the remark, "But there
2373is no evidence to prove that".<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2374
2375<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2376140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>What
2377is known about the Anfal operations, which can also be noted in some Western
2378reports, is the fact that before these operations began, residents of all
2379relevant villages were informed of the necessity of evacuating the villages and
2380moving to the eastern Kurdish regions, otherwise they would be forcibly
2381transferred to settlements outside the region. Several collective housing
2382complexes were being identified for them in various areas of the governorates
2383of <span class=SpellE>Sulaymaniya</span>, Erbil and Kirkuk, as well as some southern
2384governorates. It is worth noting that residents of Turkmen villages demolished
2385during the same period, such as the village of Bashir, were also rehoused in
2386these complexes in the same region and in southern Iraq. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
2387
2388<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2389140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>There
2390was no control over migration from these villages, as <span class=GramE>the
2391majority of</span> their inhabitants headed to nearby cities such as Tuz
2392Khurmatu and Kirkuk, where the Kurdish Al-<span class=SpellE>Jumhuriya</span> <span
2393class=SpellE>neighbourhood</span> expanded, and the Kurdish Jamila <span
2394class=SpellE>neighbourhood</span> emerged in Tuz Khurmatu. In Kirkuk, the
2395Kurdish <span class=SpellE>neighbourhoods</span> expanded too, and the
2396population of Rahim Awa increased significantly, to the point that it is now
2397the largest <span class=SpellE>neighbourhood</span> in Kirkuk city in terms of
2398population. In 2020, the <span class=SpellE>neighbourhood's</span> population
2399was approximately 95,000 (Al-Jubouri 2021: 665). It is also worth noting that
2400the Rahim Awa <span class=SpellE>neighbourhood</span> is from the relatively
2401recent Kurdish <span class=SpellE>neighbourhoods</span> in Kirkuk, emerging in
2402the second half of the twentieth century (International Crisis Group 2004: 9).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2403
2404<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2405140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Civil
2406service groups, such as teachers, had been formed in areas adjacent to the
2407Anfal operations' areas to inform villagers of the need to leave. Therefore,
2408when the Anfal campaign began, a large percentage of the population had already
2409left their villages, while those who remained offered almost no resistance or
2410disobedience. For example, in the eastern Laylan district of Kirkuk
2411Governorate, a small force made up of elements from the Popular Army, a
2412paramilitary <span class=SpellE>organisation</span> composed of Ba'ath Party
2413members, and the regular army, equipped with an <span class=SpellE>armoured</span>
2414vehicle and a cavalry unit, went out to inform villagers of the need to leave.
2415A Peshmerga force clashed with them, specifically in the village of Osman Lak,
2416resulting in the deaths of a police commissioner, two members of the Popular
2417Army, and several Peshmerga.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2418
2419<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2420140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Notably,
2421in July 1987, approximately several dozen Kurdish civilians, including children
2422and women, and Iraqi soldiers wounded by chemical weapons were transferred from
2423the <span class=SpellE>Penjwen</span>-Sayyid Sadiq Operations field to the
2424Republican Hospital in Kirkuk Governorate. The author of this article was a
2425senior resident physician at the hospital at the time, who learned from his
2426fellow treating physicians that these casualties had been wounded by Iranian
2427shelling. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
2428
2429<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2430140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
2431question that arises here is: if the Ba'ath government wanted to exterminate
2432the Kurds through the widespread use of chemical weapons, as Western reports
2433and research tend to depict, why did it bring in and treat the wounded from
2434chemical weapons? This was <span class=GramE>despite the fact that</span>
2435transporting these wounded from the front lines and treating them was a
2436daunting task at a time when fierce fighting was raging in the region and Iraqi
2437military capabilities had been depleted due to the length of the Iraq-Iran war.
2438Information circulated at the time among army personnel about the presence of
2439chemical injuries that were unlike those caused by the chemical weapons
2440possessed by the Iraqi army.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2441
2442<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2443140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>As
2444for the direct causes that exposed the Kurds to the Anfal operations and other
2445operations, particularly during the Iran-Iraq War, almost all Western
2446publications attribute these solely to the Ba'ath regime's <span class=SpellE>Arabisation</span>
2447policy (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples <span class=SpellE>Organisation</span>
24482013: 2) without addressing the direct underlying causes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2449
2450<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2451140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
2452armed Kurdish movement against the Iraqi state had virtually ended after the
24531975 Algiers Agreement between Baghdad and Tehran, which forced Iran to cease
2454its military and logistical support for the Kurdish movement. Iranian
2455artillery, anti-aircraft weapons, and a wireless communications station had
2456provided direct support to the Kurdish movement at the time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2457
2458<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2459140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
2460Kurdish movement re-emerged in the 1980s thanks to its support and active
2461participation in Iranian military attacks on the Iraqi army, even planning and
2462carrying out joint attacks with the Iranian army (<span class=SpellE>Hiltermann</span>
24632008). They also served as guides for the Iranian army inside Iraq. In return,
2464the Kurdish movement received all forms of financial and military support from
2465the Iranian state. The Peshmerga militias assisted Iranian forces in
2466penetrating deep into Iraqi territory, sometimes bombing vital targets, such as
2467the oil facilities in the city of Kirkuk.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2468
2469<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2470140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
2471Iraq-Iran War not only revived the Kurdish armed <span class=GramE>movement,
2472but</span> also created a vast battlefield for it and expanded the scope of
2473Kurdish party attacks to encompass vast areas. They controlled only a
2474relatively narrow strip of Iraqi territory along the Iranian border, such as
2475the <span class=SpellE>Penjwen</span> and Haji Omran areas, and then some
2476rugged valleys between the towering mountains inside Iraq such as the <span
2477class=SpellE>Sargalo-Bargalo</span> and <span class=SpellE>Balisan</span>
2478areas, where the headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (<span
2479lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1575;&#1604;&#1575;&#1578;&#1581;&#1575;&#1583; &#1575;&#1604;&#1608;&#1591;&#1606;&#1610;
2480&#1575;&#1604;&#1603;&#1585;&#1583;&#1587;&#1578;&#1575;&#1606;&#1610;</span><span
2481dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>) were located, as well as in the village
2482of Gali <span class=SpellE>Zewa</span> in Dohuk Governorate, where the
2483headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (<span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1575;&#1604;&#1581;&#1586;&#1576;
2484&#1575;&#1604;&#1583;&#1610;&#1605;&#1602;&#1585;&#1575;&#1591;&#1610; &#1575;&#1604;&#1603;&#1585;&#1583;&#1587;&#1578;&#1575;&#1606;&#1610;</span><span
2485dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>) was located.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2486
2487<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2488140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
2489Iraqi state also lost almost complete control over the eastern half of northern
2490Iraq <span class=GramE>as a result of</span> the continuous attacks launched by
2491the Peshmerga militias on government departments and facilities, employees and
2492civilian and military traffic in 1980s. This was also due to the Iraqi army's
2493preoccupation with combat operations on the front lines along the Iraq-Iran
2494border, which is nearly 1,000 <span class=SpellE>kilometres</span> long. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
2495
2496<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2497140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Under
2498these difficult circumstances and facing almost daily attacks by Kurdish
2499militias on the external roads even at the level of villages, soldiers, senior
2500officers and larger units of the Iraqi army were constantly moving to supply
2501and maintain front-line military units with equipment and provisions along the
2502Iraq-Iran border throughout the eight years of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).
2503Army personnel would pass through these roads to enjoy their monthly vacations.
2504<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2505
2506<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2507140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>These
2508movements were most intense during Iranian offensives, which sometimes lasted
2509for months, as regiments, brigades and even entire divisions of the Iraqi army
2510moved toward the front lines to support combat units and repel Iranian attacks.
2511For example, the Iranian offensive on Mount Mawat lasted nearly a year, from
2512April 1987 to the first months of 1988. The losses during these attacks were
2513heavy, with thousands killed; military hospitals in many provinces were often
2514overwhelmed with seriously wounded, requiring the additional use of civilian
2515hospitals. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
2516
2517<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2518140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
2519Peshmerga launched continuous attacks on vehicle and road traffic, particularly
2520against Iraqi army personnel, vehicles, institutions, and units, generally
2521launched from Kurdish villages. In response the state had banned intercity
2522traffic after 4 p.m. and until the following morning on roads across a vast
2523area that encompassed roughly the eastern half of northern Iraq. These measures
2524had been in place for long periods, even before the Iraq-Iran War.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2525
2526<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2527140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>These
2528military convoys were subjected to continuous attacks by Kurdish militias,
2529resulting each time in dozens of deaths and injuries before they reached the
2530front. The cousin of the author of this article, Mazhar Ahmed, a 33-year-old
2531man with three children and a wife, was killed in 1986 during Peshmerga attacks
2532on a Special Forces brigade on the Kirkuk-<span class=SpellE>Sulaymaniya</span>
2533Road. The brigade was on its way to the front to support army units repelling a
2534major Iranian attack at the time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2535
2536<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2537140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>As
2538for the chemical attack on Halabja on March 16, 1988, it occurred after Iranian
2539forces, alongside Peshmerga, surprised Iraqi army units and annihilated two
2540brigades. One brigade was on the front lines, while the 68th Special Forces
2541Brigade came to support the repelling of the Iranian-Kurdish attack. The Anfal
2542operations may <span class=GramE>to a large extent have been</span> a sadly
2543vengeful response of the Ba'ath regime to the Iranian-Kurdish attack on
2544Halabja, as the official starting date for the Anfal operations was in the second
2545half of April 1988.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2546
2547<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2548140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Western
2549reports and research have greatly exaggerated the number of casualties by the
2550Anfal operations. Some Western studies estimated the number of Kurdish
2551fatalities at fifty thousand (Human Rights Watch 1993), while other Western
2552reports put the number at one hundred thousand killed. Some reports even
2553estimated the number of Kurdish deaths during the campaign at two hundred
2554thousand (Newton 2007: 1530). These figures were echoed in countless subsequent
2555Western reports and studies. Undoubtedly, these exaggerations of the death toll
2556played a significant role in inflaming the sentiments of the international
2557community, especially in the West, generating overwhelming feelings of sympathy
2558and attracting significant support for the Kurdish cause. This excessive
2559exaggeration of the Kurds' suffering, which has brought them immense
2560international sympathy and support, can be considered as one of the reasons
2561behind the neglect of the suffering of other Iraqi communities by international
2562community, the Kurds' push to claim the lands of other Iraqi communities, and
2563Kurdish attempts to partition Iraq. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
2564
2565<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2566140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Although
2567the Kurdish parties and Peshmerga forces, with full support from the US-led
2568coalition, gained near-total control over the Iraqi state administration for
2569several years after the fall of the Ba'ath regime in 2003, and although Kurdish
2570influence in Iraq has remained strong since then, they have been unable to find
2571or provide the slightest tangible evidence of such a massive death toll, not
2572even the bodies of the few thousand Kurds killed during the Anfal campaigns.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2573
2574<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2575140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>If
2576the Iraqi army used chemical weapons against the Kurds extensively and in
2577numerous areas, according to Western reports and research, and if every Anfal
2578operations was preceded by chemical bombing, and that the Anfal operation took
2579place in eight stages covering most of the Kurdish regions, it is likely that
2580the killed victims of the chemical bombing remained in the Kurdish areas—or at
2581least half of the 50 to 200 thousand fatalities, according to Western research.
2582The questions which arise here, are: where are the bodies of at least 100,000
2583Kurds? Is it conceivable that the Iraqi army would have been able at the time
2584to gather all those bodies contaminated with chemical weapons and hide them
2585during this critical period without anyone seeing them? How was this enormous
2586number of bodies hidden? How many tons of chemical weapons were used to kill
2587this massive number of people, and how much did these operations cost, given
2588the depletion of the Iraqi economy? How did the Iraqi Air Force engage in this
2589massive operation, while it was embroiled in a fierce war that threatened to
2590cost Iraqi territory?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2591
2592<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2593140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>However,
2594as mentioned earlier in this article, a Dutch court ruled in 2007 that the
2595Anfal operations did not constitute a wholesale massacre (Heller 2007), as so
2596often claimed by western sources which largely means that chemical weapons were
2597not used during the operations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2598
2599<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2600140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Some
2601participants of the Iraqi army in the Anfal operations estimate that
2602approximately 300 villages were evacuated during the entire operation, and
2603several thousand villagers were displaced. Some also point to the execution of
2604many villagers proven to have committed acts against the state and to be
2605members of the Peshmerga.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2606
2607<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2608140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
2609
2610<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2611140%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Discussion
2612and Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
2613
2614<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2615140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
2616Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights' report submitted to the United Nations
2617Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 2018 states the
2618following:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2619
2620<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2621140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Regarding
2622the violations committed against the Turkmen community in the Tuz Khurmatu
2623district, the Commission notes that the Turkmen in this district have been
2624subjected to systematic targeting by terrorists and groups associated with them
2625for 15 years, without the presence of a local or central force to protect them
2626(Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights 2018: 9).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2627
2628<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2629140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
2630report's failure to openly address the culpability or even participation of the
2631Kurdish parties and the Peshmerga in the daily attacks against the Turkmen for
2632fifteen years, despite the fact that the Kurdish parties, the Peshmerga and the
2633Kurdish security services were the only forces responsible for protecting
2634Turkmen and Turkmen areas, is clearly due to the fact that attacking the ruling
2635powers in undemocratic cultures is taboo and entails significant risks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2636
2637<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2638140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>As
2639with the tragedies experienced by the Iraqi Turkmen from the establishment of
2640the Iraqi state, this long period of tragedy experienced by the Turkmen in Tuz
2641Khurmatu has also been inadequately documented to this day—and is unknown to
2642most Iraqis, regionally, and internationally.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2643
2644<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2645140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>This
2646is primarily due to the <span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>marginalisation</span></span>
2647and oppression suffered by the Iraqi Turkmen at the hands of the Ba'ath regime
2648for more than thirty years. It is also due to the Turkish state's control over
2649the Turkmen's political will since the 1990s, and its dominance over their
2650political institutions and civil society. For the same reasons, the Turkmen
2651have failed to establish their own professional civil society <span
2652class=SpellE>organisations</span> and strategic and political institutions
2653capable of confronting major challenges. This Turkish dominance over the
2654Turkmen political system has also led to their general <span class=SpellE>marginalisation</span>,
2655especially after the fall of the Ba'ath regime, as a result of strained <span
2656class=GramE>Turkish-American</span> relations due to Turkey's refusal to
2657cooperate with the United States in overthrowing the Ba'ath government (<span
2658class=SpellE>Jerjis</span> 2020; SOITM Foundation 2019).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2659
2660<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2661140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>As
2662is the case with the Turkmen of Tuz Khurmatu, it is quite abnormal for <span
2663class=GramE>the majority of</span> a region's population to be subjected to
2664horrific human rights violations for more than a decade without attracting the
2665attention or intervention of national, regional, or international powers. Not
2666to mention that Iraq has been the focus of the world's attention' for numerous
2667years now, with correspondents from major Western media outlets and
2668representatives of international human rights <span class=SpellE>organisations</span>
2669being constantly present in the region.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2670
2671<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2672140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>This
2673means, at the same time, that the Turkmen presence in Iraq is unknown
2674nationally, regionally, and internationally, and that their large population
2675size and vast territory are virtually unknown. One of the most important
2676reasons for this neglect is that the Turkmen presence in Iraq was a factor in
2677Turkey's efforts to gain control of the Ottoman province of Mosul, an issue
2678discussed at the Lausanne and League of Nations conferences for eight years
2679from 1918 to 1926 (Fieldhouse 2002: 107; Yildirim 2018: 169-186). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
2680
2681<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2682140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Both
2683the British Mandate and the Kingdom of Iraq deliberately underestimated the
2684Turkmen population as a result, falsely estimating it at around a mere 2%, a
2685figure repeated by successive Iraqi governments amid growing Arab nationalist
2686sentiments until the fall of the Ba'ath regime in 2003, details of which have
2687been given elsewhere in this study.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2688
2689<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2690140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>The
2691absence of a functioning state, the extreme lack of security, and the sectarian
2692war that followed the fall of the Ba'ath regime played a role in obscuring the
2693repression suffered by the Turkmen and other Iraqi communities under Kurdish
2694protection. Moreover, the new Iraqi administration and the international
2695community were shocked by the emergence and rapid development of Sunni
2696extremism and were primarily preoccupied with sectarian fighting in Baghdad and
2697central Iraq, which diminished their focus on what was happening to Arabs,
2698Turkmen, and other Iraqi minorities under the control of Kurdish tribal parties
2699and unprofessional Peshmerga forces (Fadel 2008; Smith 2017; Bali 2008; Amnesty
2700International 2016; Human Rights Watch 2004).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2701
2702<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2703140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Other
2704reasons for not revealing the true nature of the suffering and challenges faced
2705by the Turkmen in general, and the people of Tuz Khurmatu between 2003 and <span
2706class=GramE>2017 in particular, is</span> the lack of experience in managing
2707state affairs among all the political cadres in the Iraqi parties that assumed
2708power after the fall of the Ba'ath regime (Note 3). This is <span class=GramE>with
2709the exception of</span> the Kurdish parties, which gained some experience in
2710managing the Kurdish areas in the de facto Safe Haven between 1991 and 2003. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
2711
2712<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2713140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Moreover,
2714the Kurdish parties, with their modest experience in state administration and
2715unprofessional Peshmerga forces, controlled nearly half of Iraq's territory
2716until 2017, where the population is currently estimated at 20 million and where
2717virtually all of Iraq's minorities and millions of Arabs live. The insistence
2718of the Kurdish parties and Peshmerga on establishing a Kurdish state at any
2719cost, along with the reliance of Western media, academic and strategic
2720institutions on Kurdish politicians and Peshmerga, played a prominent role in
2721this regard.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2722
2723<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2724140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>This
2725article also concludes that the Western approach, through its policies, media,
2726civil society <span class=SpellE>organisations</span> and research <span
2727class=SpellE>centres</span>, toward events in northern Iraq that affect all
2728Iraqi communities, including the Tuz Khurmatu issue, is unfair and biased in <span
2729class=SpellE>
2729favour</span> of the Kurds. The manuscript also indicates that the
2730vast number of narratives they promoted about the Anfal operations are based on
2731their personal imaginations, woven by their Kurdish sources, including Kurdish
2732officials, politicians, writers and informants, which were prepared for them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2733
2734<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2735140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
2736
2737<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2738140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
2739
2740<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2741140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Sheth
2742<span class=SpellE>Jerjis</span> is Chairperson of the Iraqi Turkmen Human
2743Rights Research Foundation (<span class=SpellE>Stichting</span> <span
2744class=SpellE>Onderzoekscentrum</span> <span class=SpellE>Iraaks</span> <span
2745class=SpellE>Turkmeense</span> <span class=SpellE>Mensenrechten</span> (SOITM)
2746in Dutch) based in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. [email protected]<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2747
2748<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2749140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
2750
2751<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2752140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>*
2753This research and the original version of this paper was presented at the
2754"Memory of Pain in Iraq" conference, <span class=SpellE>organised</span> by the
2755al-Abbas Holy Shrine, UNESCO and the College of Arts at the University of
2756Baghdad on April 16-17, 2025, in the city of Karbala, Iraq.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2757
2758<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2759140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>**
2760Sheth <span class=SpellE>Jerjis</span>, President of the Iraqi Turkmen Human
2761Rights Research Foundation, based in the Netherlands (www.turkmen.nl).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2762
2763<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2764140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
2765
2766<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2767140%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Notes<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
2768
2769<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2770140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>1.<span
2771style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>Information for this study on events in
2772the region after the fall of the regime in 2003 was obtained from Turkmen
2773politicians in the administration of Tuz Khurmatu district, members of the Tuz
2774Khurmatu District Council, which was dissolved in 2019, and eyewitnesses. Their
2775identities have been in this study concealed for their safety.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2776
2777<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2778140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>2.<span
2779style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>The information was obtained by telephone
2780contact with the administration of the Iraqi Turkmen Rescue Foundation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2781
2782<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2783140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>3.<span
2784style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>The founding principles of the Arab
2785Socialist Ba'ath Party were the establishment of Arab unity and liberation from
2786colonialism through a socialist system, and it raised the slogans of unity,
2787freedom and socialism. The party adopted a revolutionary approach and did not
2788restrict itself to any means in achieving its goals. Over time, Saddam Hussein
2789in Iraq and Hafez al-Assad in Syria gained control of the party, and their
2790ideas and <span class=SpellE>behaviour</span> became the identity of the Ba'ath
2791Party. The main differences between the Iraqi and Syrian Ba'ath parties are
2792that the former adopted more moderate socialist policies, perhaps due to Iraq's
2793vast oil wealth, and an extreme nationalist approach to the multi-ethnic Iraqi
2794society, which had been subjected to oppression. In Syria, the party adopted
2795more strident socialist policies, perhaps due to the country's lack of natural
2796resources, and an extreme religious policy that suppressed religious sects, particularly
2797Sunnis, due to the Alawite leadership and the widespread presence of the Muslim
2798Brotherhood in Syria.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2799
2800<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2801140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
2802
2803<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2804140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
2805
2806<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2807140%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Bibliography—References<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
2808
2809<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2810140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Al-Ansary,
2811Kh., 'Suicide truck bomber kills dozens in northern Iraq' Reuters, 21 June
28122009; www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE55J1GL20090621 (accessed on 27
2813February 2025). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
2814
2815<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2816140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Al-Azzawi,
2817A., The Tribes of Iraq (2) Kurdish Baghdad: Al-Maarif Press, 1947.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2818
2819<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2820140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Al-Bayati,
2821A. T. K., <span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1602;&#1590;&#1575;&#1569; &#1591;&#1608;&#1586;
2822&#1582;&#1608;&#1585;&#1605;&#1575;&#1578;&#1608;: &#1583;&#1585;&#1575;&#1587;&#1577;
2823&#1601;&#1610; &#1575;&#1604;&#1580;&#1594;&#1585;&#1575;&#1601;&#1610;&#1575; &#1575;&#1604;&#1573;&#1602;&#1604;&#1610;&#1605;&#1610;&#1577;</span><span
2824dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span> (Tuz Khurmatu District: A Study in
2825Regional Geography) PhD Thesis, College of Education for Girls - University of
2826Baghdad, 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2827
2828<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2829140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Al-Jarida,
2830'<span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1575;&#1604;&#1593;&#1606;&#1601; &#1601;&#1610; &#1575;&#1604;&#1593;&#1585;&#1575;&#1602;
2831&#1610;&#1581;&#1589;&#1583; &#1633;&#1637;&#1632; &#1602;&#1578;&#1610;&#1604;&#1575;&#1611;
2832&#1608;&#1580;&#1610;&#1588; &#1575;&#1604;&#1605;&#1580;&#1575;&#1607;&#1583;&#1610;&#1606;
2833<span class=GramE>&#1610;&#1604;&#1575;&#1581;&#1602; )&#1575;&#1604;&#1602;&#1575;&#1593;&#1583;&#1577;</span>(
2834&#1601;&#1610; &#1576;&#1593;&#1602;&#1608;&#1576;&#1577;</span><span dir=LTR></span><span
2835dir=LTR></span>' (Violence in Iraq claims 150 lives and the Mujahideen Army
2836pursues Al-Qaeda in <span class=SpellE>Baqubah</span>)' Al-Jarida News website,
2837Issue 32, 8 July 2007; www.aljarida.com/articles/1461250330055809700 (accessed
283827 February 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2839
2840<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2841140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Al-Jazeera,
2842'Iraq attacks kill dozens' Al-Jazeera Media Network, 16 September 2005;
2843www.aljazeera.com/news/2005/9/16/iraq-attacks-kill-dozens (accessed on 12 June
28442025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2845
2846<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2847140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Al-Jubouri,
2848R. A. Y.,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2849
2850<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2851140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><span
2852style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>'<span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1578;&#1581;&#1604;&#1610;&#1604;
2853&#1580;&#1594;&#1585;&#1575;&#1601;&#1610; &#1604;&#1605;&#1588;&#1603;&#1604;&#1577;
2854&#1575;&#1604;&#1593;&#1588;&#1608;&#1575;&#1574;&#1610;&#1575;&#1578; &#1575;&#1604;&#1587;&#1603;&#1606;&#1610;&#1577;
2855&#1601;&#1610; &#1605;&#1583;&#1610;&#1606;&#1577; &#1603;&#1585;&#1603;&#1608;&#1603;
2856&#1608;&#1587;&#1576;&#1604; &#1605;&#1593;&#1575;&#1604;&#1580;&#1578;&#1607;&#1575;</span><span
2857dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>' (A geographical analysis of the problem
2858of slums in Kirkuk city and ways to address them)' Humanities and Natural
2859Sciences Journal Vol. 2, No. 9, 2021.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2860
2861<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2862140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Al-Zubaidi,
2863L. A., <span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1579;&#1608;&#1585;&#1577; &#1633;&#1636; &#1578;&#1605;&#1608;&#1586;
2864&#1633;&#1641;&#1637;&#1640; &#1601;&#1610; &#1575;&#1604;&#1593;&#1585;&#1575;&#1602;</span><span
2865dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span> (The July 14, 1958, Revolution in Iraq) Baghdad:
2866Arab Library, Second Edition, 1981.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2867
2868<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2869140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Amnesty
2870International, Banished and dispossessed. Forced displacement and deliberate
2871destruction in Northern Iraq London: Amnesty International, 2016.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2872
2873<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2874140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>______________________,
2875Iraq: Fresh evidence that tens of thousands forced to flee Tuz Khurmatu amid
2876indiscriminate attacks, lootings and arson London: Amnesty International, 24
2877October 2017;
2878www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2017/10/iraq-fresh-evidence-that-tens-of-thousands-forced-to-flee-tuz-khurmatu-amid-indiscriminate-attacks-lootings-and-arson/
2879(accessed on 28 February 2025 and revisited on 13 June 2025 - see Photo 2).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2880
2881<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2882140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Baker,
2883P. H., Iraq as a Failed State: A six-month progress report. Executive Summary
2884and Recommendations Report 1: Pre-war through September 2003 Washington: Fund
2885for Peace, 2003.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2886
2887<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2888140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Bengio,
2889O., 'The Kurds in a Volatile Middle East' Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic
2890Studies: Mideast Security and Policy Studies No. 130, February 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2891
2892<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2893140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>__________,
2894'Anfal and Halabja genocide: lessons not learned' The Journal of the Middle
2895East and Africa Vol.14 No.3, 2023, pp.277-298.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2896
2897<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2898140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Bickel,
2899M., 'Kein <span class=SpellE>schneller</span> Sieg (No Quick Victory)' Frankfurter
2900Allgemeine Zeitung, 9 May 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2901
2902<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2903140%'><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
2904font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Buratha</span></span><span style='font-size:
290516.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> News Agency, ''<span
2906lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1575;&#1581;&#1589;&#1575;&#1574;&#1610;&#1577;:
2907{&#1633;&#1635;&#1640;&#1641;} &#1588;&#1607;&#1610;&#1583;&#1575; &#1608;&#1580;&#1585;&#1610;&#1581;&#1575;
2908&#1608;&#1578;&#1583;&#1605;&#1610;&#1585; {&#1636;&#1639;&#1632;}
2908 &#1605;&#1606;&#1586;&#1604;&#1575;
2909&#1581;&#1589;&#1610;&#1604;&#1577; {&#1635;&#1633;} &#1578;&#1601;&#1580;&#1610;&#1585;&#1575;
2910&#1575;&#1587;&#1578;&#1607;&#1583;&#1601; &#1591;&#1608;&#1586; &#1582;&#1585;&#1605;&#1575;&#1578;&#1608;
2911&#1601;&#1610; &#1633;&#1632;&#1587;&#1606;&#1608;&#1575;&#1578;</span><span
2912dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span> (Statistics: 1,389 martyrs and wounded,
2913and 470 homes destroyed, <span class=GramE>as a result of</span> 31 bombings
2914targeting Tuz Khurmatu in 10 years)' <span class=SpellE>Buratha</span> News
2915Agency, 3 July 2013; https://burathanews.com/arabic/news/201587 (accessed on 27
2916February 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2917
2918<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2919140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Central
2920Statistical Organization, '<span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1578;&#1602;&#1583;&#1610;&#1585;&#1575;&#1578;
2921&#1587;&#1603;&#1575;&#1606; &#1575;&#1604;&#1593;&#1585;&#1575;&#1602;
2922&#1634;&#1632;&#1633;&#1637;-&#1634;&#1632;&#1633;&#1640;</span><span dir=LTR></span><span
2923dir=LTR></span>' (Iraq Population Estimates 2015-2018) Central Statistical
2924Organization: Directorate of Population, Statistics and Labor Force, Ministry
2925of Planning, Republic of Iraq, July 2018.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2926
2927<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2928140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Derzsi-Horvath,
2929A., Iraq after ISIL: Tuz Berlin: Global Public Policy Institute, 17 August
29302017.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2931
2932<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2933140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Edmonds,
2934C. J., Kurds Turks and Arabs: Politics, Travel and Research in North-Eastern
2935Iraq 1919-1925 London: Oxford University Press, 1957.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2936
2937<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2938140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>European
2939Asylum Support Office, Iraq - Treatment of Kurds in Tuz and Kirkuk European
2940Asylum Support Office (EASO): COI Query, Query Code Q131, 14 December 2018;
2941www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2003099/IRQ_131.pdf (accessed on 24 April 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2942
2943<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2944140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Fadel,
2945L., 'Kurdish Expansion Squeezes Northern Iraq's Minorities' McClatchy, 11
2946November 2008; www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/article24509785.html
2947(website accessed on 24 April 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2948
2949<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2950140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Fieldhouse,
2951D. K., Kurds, Arabs and Britons: The Memoir of Col. W.A. Lyon in Kurdistan,
29521918-1945 London: I.B. Tauris, 2002. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
2953
2954<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2955140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Gaston,
2956E. &amp; A. Derzsi-Horvath, Iraq After ISIL: Sub-State Actors, Local Forces,
2957and the Micro-Politics of Control Berlin: Public Policy Institute, 2018.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2958
2959<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2960140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>General
2961Directorate of Population (1957), <span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1575;&#1604;&#1605;&#1580;&#1605;&#1608;&#1593;&#1577;
2962&#1575;&#1604;&#1573;&#1581;&#1589;&#1575;&#1574;&#1610;&#1577; &#1604;&#1578;&#1587;&#1580;&#1610;&#1604;
2963&#1587;&#1606;&#1577; &#1633;&#1641;&#1637;&#1639;</span><span dir=LTR></span><span
2964dir=LTR></span> (Statistical Group for the 1957 Registration) General
2965Directorate of Population: Republic of Iraq, Ministry of Interior, Sulaymaniyah
2966and Kirkuk Governorates Baghdad: Al-Ani Press, 1957.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2967
2968<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2969140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Hasan,
2970G., '<span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1593;&#1605;&#1604;&#1610;&#1575;&#1578; &#1575;&#1604;&#1575;&#1606;&#1601;&#1575;&#1604;<span
2971class=GramE>&quot;..</span> &#1575;&#1604;&#1575;&#1576;&#1575;&#1583;&#1577; &#1575;&#1604;&#1580;&#1605;&#1575;&#1593;&#1610;&#1577;
2972&#1590;&#1583; &#1575;&#1604;&#1588;&#1593;&#1576; &#1575;&#1604;&#1603;&#1608;&#1585;&#1583;&#1610;</span><span
2973dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>" ("Anfal Operations": Genocide Against the
2974Kurdish People)' Draw Media Foundation, 14 April 2021;
2975www.drawmedia.net/ar/page_detail?smart-id=8192 (accessed on 2 March 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2976
2977<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2978140%'><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
2979font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>
2979Hauslohner</span></span><span
2980style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>,
2981A., 'Iraqi Crisis: Villagers Sprayed with Bullets as They Flew Black Flags of
2982ISIS' Independent, 24 June 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2983
2984<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2985140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Heller,
2986K. J., 'Dutch Court Concludes Anfal Campaign Wasn't Genocide' <span
2987class=SpellE>Opinio</span> Juris, 19 May 2007.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2988
2989<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2990140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>High
2991Commission for Human Rights in Iraq, Report on Iraq's Compliance with the
2992International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
2993Discrimination High Commission for Human Rights in Iraq: European Country of
2994Origin Information Network, <span class=GramE>2018;</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
2995
2996<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
2997140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1452161/1930_1542968137_int-cerd-ngo-irq-32978-e.pdf
2998<o:p></o:p></span></p>
2999
3000<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3001140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>(accessed
3002on 2 March 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3003
3004<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3005140%'><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
3006font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Hiltermann</span></span><span
3007style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>,
3008J., The 1988 Anfal Campaign in Iraqi Kurdistan National Foundation of Political
3009Science Paris Institute of Political Studies, 3 February 2008;
3010www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/1988-anfal-campaign-iraqi-kurdistan.html
3011(accessed on 2 June 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3012
3013<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3014140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Human
3015Rights Watch, Genocide in Iraq, The Anfal Campaign against the Kurds <span
3016class=GramE>A</span> Middle East Watch Report London/New York/Washington
3017DC/etc.: Human Rights Watch, 1993.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3018
3019<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3020140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>____________________,
3021'Claims in Conflict Reversing Ethnic Cleansing in Northern Iraq' Human Rights
3022Watch Vol. 16, No.4(e), August 2004.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3023
3024<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3025140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>_____________________,
3026'Iraq: Fighting in Disputed Territories Kills Civilians' Human Rights Watch, 20
3027January 2017;
3028www.hrw.org/news/2017/10/20/iraq-fighting-disputed-territories-kills-civilians
3029(accessed on 10 March 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3030
3031<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3032140%'><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
3033font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Imamli</span></span><span style='font-size:
303416.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>, M.,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3035
3036<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3037140%'><span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
3038font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>&#1576;&#1585;&#1606;&#1575;&#1605;&#1580; ) &#1585;&#1580;&#1575;&#1604;
3039&#1589;&#1583;&#1602;&#1608;&#1575; ( &#1575;&#1604;&#1580;&#1586;&#1569;&#1634;/&#1575;&#1604;&#1581;&#1604;&#1602;&#1577;&#1633;&#1641;/&#1575;&#1604;&#1605;&#1582;&#1591;&#1608;&#1601;
3040&#1580;&#1608;&#1583;&#1578; &#1602;&#1575;&#1590;&#1610; &#1571;&#1608;&#1594;&#1604;&#1608;/&#1583;&#1575;&#1574;&#1585;&#1577;
3041&#1575;&#1604;&#1608;&#1602;&#1601; &#1575;&#1604;&#1588;&#1610;&#1593;&#1610; &#1591;&#1608;&#1586;
3042&#1582;&#1608;&#1585;&#1605;&#1575;&#1578;&#1608;</span><span dir=LTR></span><span
3043lang=AR-SA style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><span
3044dir=LTR></span> </span><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
3045font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
3046
3047<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3048140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>(Program
3049of Men of Truth, Part 2, Episode 19, the Kidnapped Jawdat <span class=SpellE>Kadioglu</span>,
3050Shiite Endowment Department, Tuz Khurmatu)' Mohamed <span class=SpellE>Imamli</span>
3051YouTube account, 7 September 2022; www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtJa09DDz-4
3052(accessed on 27 February 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3053
3054<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3055140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>International
3056Crisis Group, Iraq's Kurds: Toward an Historic Compromise? International Crisis
3057Group (ICG) - Middle East Report No.26, 8 April 2004;
3058www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/26-iraq-s-kurds-toward-an-historic-compromise.pdf
3059(accessed on 2 March 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3060
3061<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3062140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>____________________________,
3063Iraq and the Kurds: The Brewing Battle over Kirkuk International Crisis Group
3064(ICG) - Middle East Report No.56, 18 July 2006.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3065
3066<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3067140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>_____________________________,
3068Reviving UN Mediation on Iraq's Disputed Internal Boundaries ICG - Middle East
3069Report No.194, 14 December 2018.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3070
3071<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3072140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>International
3073<span class=SpellE>Organisation</span> for Migration, Progress Toward Durable
3074Solutions in Iraq: Tuz Khurmatu Baghdad: International <span class=SpellE>Organisation</span>
3075for Migration (IOM) - Displacement tracking Database (DTM), August 2024. 'International
3076<span class=SpellE>Organisation</span> for Migration 2024A'<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3077
3078<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3079140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>________________________________________,
3080Prospects for Resolving Displacement in Areas of Limited and No Return in Tuz
3081Khurmatu District IOM - UN Migration, December 2024. 'International <span
3082class=SpellE>Organisation</span> for Migration 2024B' <o:p></o:p></span></p>
3083
3084<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3085140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Islamic
3086Union of Iraqi Turkmen,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3087
3088<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3089140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><span
3090style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span><span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1575;&#1604;&#1588;&#1607;&#1583;&#1575;&#1569;
3091&#1575;&#1604;&#1578;&#1585;&#1603;&#1605;&#1575;&#1606;: &#1589;&#1601;&#1581;&#1575;&#1578;
3092&#1605;&#1606; &#1575;&#1604;&#1578;&#1575;&#1585;&#1610;&#1582; &#1575;&#1604;&#1587;&#1610;&#1575;&#1587;&#1610;
3093&#1575;&#1604;&#1605;&#1593;&#1575;&#1589;&#1585; &#1604;&#1578;&#1585;&#1603;&#1605;&#1575;&#1606;
3094&#1575;&#1604;&#1593;&#1585;&#1575;&#1602; &#1633;&#1641;&#1639;&#1641; -
3095&#1633;&#1641;&#1641;&#1633;</span><span dir=LTR></span><span lang=AR-SA><span
3096dir=LTR></span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
3097
3098<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3099140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>(The
3100Turkmen Martyrs: Pages from the Contemporary Political History of Iraqi Turkmen
31011979-1991) Damascus: Dar Al-Daleel for Press and Publishing / Islamic Union of
3102Iraqi Turkmen (IUIT), 1999.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3103
3104<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3105140%'><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
3106font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Jerjis</span></span><span style='font-size:
310716.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>, S., 'The Emergence
3108and Collapse of the Iraqi Turkmen Political System under the Domination of
3109Turkey' Forum of <span class=SpellE>EthnoGeoPolitics</span> Vol.8 No.2, Winter
31102020; www.turkmen.nl/1A_soitm/ECITPSTCe.pdf (accessed on 23 April 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3111
3112<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3113140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>________,
3114'Who owns Erbil? The Turkmen Case' Forum of <span class=SpellE>EthnoGeoPolitics</span>
3115Vol.10 No.1-2, Winter 2022; www.turkmen.nl/1A_soitm/WOEE.pdf (accessed on 23
3116April 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3117
3118<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3119140%'><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
3120font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Jongerden</span></span><span
3121style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>, J.
3122&amp; A.H. Akkaya<span class=GramE>, ,</span> 'Kurds and the PKK', in: J. Stone
3123et al., Wiley Blackwell <span class=SpellE>Encyclopaedia</span> of Race,
3124Ethnicity and Nationalism London: Routledge, 2016, pp.1-5.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3125
3126<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3127140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Kakai,
3128R. A., <span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1603;&#1575;&#1603;&#1575;&#1574;&#1610;: &#1610;&#1575;&#1585;&#1587;&#1575;&#1606;</span><span
3129dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span> (Kakai: Yarsan) Iraqi Minorities Alliance
3130Network, 2019.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3131
3132<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3133140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Kane,
3134S., Iraq's Disputed Territories. A View of the Political Horizon and
3135Implications for U.S. Policy Washington DC: United States Institute for Peace,
31362011; www.usip.org/sites/default/files/PW69_final.pdf (website accessed on 10
3137June 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3138
3139<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3140140%'><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
3141font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Khoder</span></span><span style='font-size:
314216.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>, S., 'Iraq: The
3143separating walls of Tuz Khurmatu' Al-Jazeera Media Network, 18 April 2016;
3144www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/4/18/iraq-the-separating-walls-of-tuz-khurmatu
3145(accessed on 22 April 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3146
3147<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3148140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Kirkuk
3149Now, 'Government Positions of Tuz Khurmatu District Shared' Kirkuk Now
3150electronic news website, 21 May 2024; https://kirkuknow.com/en/news/70183
3151(accessed on 10 October 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3152
3153<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3154140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Knights,
3155M., Operation Iraqi Freedom and the New Iraq <span class=GramE>The</span>
3156Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2004.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3157
3158<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3159140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Lasky,
3160From Tribe to Nation: Assessing the Influence of Political Exclusion and Access
3161to Mobilization Resources on Kurdish Ethnonationalism Undated manuscript, prob.
3162<span class=GramE>2018;</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
3163
3164<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3165140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>https://concept.journals.villanova.edu/index.php/concept/article/download/2261/2151/6842
3166(accessed on 9 June 2025). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
3167
3168<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3169140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>League
3170of Nations, Question of the Frontier Between Turkey and Iraq Report Submitted
3171to the Council by the Commission instituted by the Council Resolution of
3172September 30th, <span class=GramE>1924</span> Lausanne: League of Nations,
31731924.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3174
3175<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3176140%'><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
3177font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Leezenberg</span></span><span
3178style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>,
3179M., The Shabak and the <span class=SpellE>Kakais</span>: Dynamics of Ethnicity
3180in Iraqi Kurdistan Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC)
3181Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam, 1994;
3182https://eprints.illc.uva.nl/id/eprint/630/1/X-1994-07.text.pdf (accessed on 13
3183June 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3184
3185<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3186140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Mahdi,
3187O., <span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1601;&#1588;&#1604;&#1578; &#1605;&#1576;&#1575;&#1581;&#1579;&#1575;&#1578;&#1607;&#1605;&#1575;...
3188&#1571;&#1585;&#1576;&#1610;&#1604; &#1583;&#1593;&#1578; &#1576;&#1594;&#1583;&#1575;&#1583;
3189&#1573;&#1604;&#1609; &#1608;&#1602;&#1601; &#1606;&#1602;&#1604; &#1590;&#1576;&#1575;&#1591;&#1607;&#1575;
3190&#1608;&#1575;&#1604;&#1578;&#1581;&#1602;&#1610;&#1602;</span><span dir=LTR></span><span
3191dir=LTR></span> (Their talks failed... Erbil called on Baghdad to halt the
3192transfer of its officers and investigate) Elaph Publishing Limited, 28 December
31932013; https://elaph.com/news/789410/?page=1&amp;per-page=10 (accessed on 20
3194April 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3195
3196<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3197140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Mardan,
3198N., '<span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1575;&#1604;&#1586;&#1608;&#1585;&#1575;&#1569;
3199&#1608;&#1576;&#1583;&#1575;&#1610;&#1575;&#1578; &#1575;&#1604;&#1589;&#1581;&#1575;&#1601;&#1577;
3200&#1575;&#1604;&#1593;&#1585;&#1575;&#1602;&#1610;&#1577; &#1601;&#1610; &#1575;&#1604;&#1593;&#1607;&#1583;
3201&#1575;&#1604;&#1593;&#1579;&#1605;&#1575;&#1606;&#1610;</span><span dir=LTR></span><span
3202dir=LTR></span>' (Al-Zawraa and the Beginnings of Iraqi Journalism in the
3203Ottoman Era)' Iraqi Memory Issue 1921, Year 7, 14 June 2010.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3204
3205<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3206140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>McDiarmid,
3207C., 'The Iraqi Town Where Kurds and Turkmens Shoot Each Other, Not Islamic
3208State' Vice Media, 4 May 2016.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3209
3210<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3211140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>McGregor,
3212A., 'Iraq-Based Komala Party Describes the Struggle for Iranian Kurdistan' The
3213Jamestown Foundation - Terrorism Monitor <span class=SpellE>Vol.VII</span>
3214Issue 10, 24 April 2009;
3215https://jamestown.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/TM_007_03.pdf (accessed on 2
3216March 2025). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
3217
3218<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3219140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Minority
3220Rights Group International, From Crisis to Catastrophe: The Situation of
3221Minorities in Iraq Minority Rights Group International, October 2014,
3222https://minorityrights.org/app/uploads/2023/12/download-1468-from-crisis-to-catastrophe-the-situation-of-minorities-in-iraq-english.pdf
3223(accessed on 2 March 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3224
3225<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3226140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Mufti,
3227N., 'Iraq's Turkmen on their own' Al-<span class=SpellE>Usbu'iya</span>
3228Al-Arabiya, 2 October 2015. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
3229
3230<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3231140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>_________,
3232'Iraq's Tuz Khurmatu: A town rich in history and conflict' Al-<span
3233class=SpellE>Usbu'iya</span> Al-Arabiya, 26 November 2017. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
3234
3235<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3236140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Nakip,
3237M., <span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1603;&#1585;&#1603;&#1608;&#1603; &#1608;&#1607;&#1608;&#1610;&#1578;&#1607;&#1575;
3238&#1575;&#1604;&#1602;&#1608;&#1605;&#1610;&#1577; &#1608;&#1575;&#1604;&#1579;&#1602;&#1575;&#1601;&#1610;&#1577;</span><span
3239dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span> (Kirkuk and its National and Cultural
3240Identity) Istanbul: <span class=SpellE>Yaylacik</span> Printing Ltd., 2008.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3241
3242<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3243140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Newton,
3244M. A., 'The <span class=SpellE>Afal</span> Genocide: Personal Reflections and
3245Legal Residue' Vanderbilt journal of transnational Law Vol.40, Issue 5, 2007.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3246
3247<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3248140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Paley,
3249A. R., 'Strip of Iraq' on the Verge of Exploding' Washington Post Foreign
3250Service, 13 September 2008.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3251
3252<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3253140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Principal
3254bureau of statistics, Statistical abstract 1958 Baghdad: Zahra Press / Ministry
3255of Economics, Republic of Iraq, 1959.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3256
3257<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3258140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Rich,
3259C. J., Narrative of a residence in <span class=SpellE>Koordistan</span>: and on
3260the site of ancient Nineveh; with journal of a voyage down the Tigris to Bagdad
3261and an account of a visit to <span class=SpellE>Shirauz</span> and Persepolis Farnborough
3262UK: Gregg International, two Volumes, 1972.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3263
3264<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3265140%'><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
3266font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Rudaw</span></span><span style='font-size:
326716.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>, 'Tens of thousands
3268of Kurds from Tuz Khurmatu unsure their return' <span class=SpellE>Rudaw</span>
3269Media Network, 30 October 2017; www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/301020175
3270(accessed on 22 April 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3271
3272<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3273140%'><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
3274font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Ruwaih</span></span><span style='font-size:
327516.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>, A., '<span
3276lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1591;&#1608;&#1586;&#1582;&#1608;&#1585;&#1605;&#1575;&#1578;&#1608;
3277&#1578;&#1606;&#1575;&#1583;&#1610; &#1605;&#1606; &#1603;&#1585;&#1576;&#1604;&#1575;&#1569;...
3278&#1607;&#1604; &#1605;&#1606; &#1606;&#1575;&#1589;&#1585; &#1610;&#1606;&#1589;&#1585;&#1606;&#1575;&#1567;
3278</span><span
3279dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span> (Tuz Khurmatu is calling... Is there a
3280helper to help us?)' <span class=SpellE>Shabakat</span> <span class=SpellE>Annabaa</span>,
32812013; https://annabaa.org/nbanews/2013/12/086.htm (accessed on 1 March 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3282
3283<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3284140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Saleh,
3285A. I., '<span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL>&#1601;&#1610;&#1590;&#1575;&#1606;
3286&#1633;&#1641;&#1637;&#1636;: &#1601;&#1589;&#1604; &#1605;&#1606; &#1578;&#1575;&#1585;&#1610;&#1582;
3287&#1576;&#1594;&#1583;&#1575;&#1583; &#1575;&#1604;&#1575;&#1580;&#1578;&#1605;&#1575;&#1593;&#1610;</span><span
3288dir=LTR></span><span lang=AR-SA><span dir=LTR></span> </span>(The 1954 Flood: A
3289Chapter from the Social History of Baghdad)' Diyala Magazine Issue 44, 2010.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3290
3291<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3292140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Shah,
3293T. S., 'Iraq: Making Ethnic Peace After Saddam: A Conversation with Kanan
3294Makiya and Patrick Clawson' Center for Ethics and Public Policy No.18, March
32952003; https://eppc.org/docLib/20030728_CenterConversation22.pdf (accessed on 12
3296June 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3297
3298<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3299140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Skelton,
3300M. &amp; Z.A. Salim, Iraq's disputed internal boundaries after ISIS:
3301heterogeneous actors vying for influence London School of Economics and
3302Political Science-Middle East Centre Report, February 2019,
3303https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/100100/3/DIBsReport.pdf (accessed 2 March 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3304
3305<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3306140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Smith,
3307C. M. I. &amp; V. <span class=SpellE>Shadravian</span>, Wilting in the Kurdish
3308Sun: The Hopes and Fears of Religious Minorities in Northern Iraq United States
3309Commission on International Religious Freedom, 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3310
3311<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3312140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>SOITM
3313Foundation, A Reason of the Terror in the Occupied Iraq A report of the Iraqi
3314Turkmen Human Rights Research Foundation (SOITM), 13 March 2006;
3315www.turkmen.nl/1A_soitm/Rep.16-C1306.pdf (accessed on 12 June 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3316
3317<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3318140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>__________________,
3319Turkey's Iraqi Turkmen Policy: Merciless Exploitation and Violation of
3320International Law Nijmegen: Benda Press / Publications of the Iraqi Turkmen
3321Human Rights Research Foundation (SOITM), 2019;
3322www.turkmen.nl/1A_soitm/BIIA.pdf (accessed on 1 March 2025). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
3323
3324<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3325140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>United
3326Nations Development <span class=SpellE>Programme</span>, Local area development
3327program in Iraq: Provincial response plan, Diyala governorate Financed by the
3328European Union, Implemented by United Nations Development <span class=SpellE>Programme</span>
3329(UNDP), 2018.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3330
3331<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3332140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Unrepresented
3333Nations and Peoples <span class=SpellE>Organisation</span>, The Kurdish
3334Genocide: Achieving Justice through EU Recognition Unrepresented Nations and
3335Peoples <span class=SpellE>Organisation</span> (UNPO) 25th anniversary of the
3336Halabja massacre, 6 March <span class=GramE>2013;</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
3337
3338<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3339140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/d-iq/dv/03_kurdishgenocidesofanfalandhalabja_/03_kurdishgenocidesofanfalandhalabja_en.pdf
3340(accessed on 2 March 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3341
3342<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3343140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>________________________________________________,
3344The Iraqi Turkmen: Unveiling Repression in Iraq Conference Report prepared by
3345the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples <span class=SpellE>Organisation</span>
3346(UNPO), September 2013; https://unpo.org/downloads/765.pdf (accessed on 23
3347April 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3348
3349<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3350140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Van
3351<span class=SpellE>Bruinessen</span>, M., 'Iraq: Kurdish challenges', in:
3352Walter <span class=SpellE>Poesch</span> (ed.), Looking into Iraq Paris:
3353Institute for Security Studies, European Union, 2005, pp.45-72.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3354
3355<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3356140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Yazdi,
3357S. A., The History of Timur-Bec: Known by the Name of <span class=SpellE>Tamerlain</span>
3358the Great, Emperor of the Moguls and Tartars: Being an Historical Journal of
3359His Conquests in Asia and Europe Volume II London/Bartholomew Close: J. Darby,
33601723.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3361
3362<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3363140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Yildirim,
3364O., 'The Mosul Strategy of Lord Curzon' Journal of Atatürk and the History of
3365Turkish Republic Vol.1/2, Winter 2018.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3366
3367<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3368140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Zoom
3369News, 'Kurds in Tuz Khurmatu brace for general census amid concerns over
3370population representation' Zoom News, 11 November 2024;
3371https://zoomnews.info/en/50419/ (accessed on 22 April 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3372
3373<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3374140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Zurutuza,
3375C., 'Imprisoning Themselves to Stay Safe' Inter Press Service, 22 April 2014,
3376https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/imprisoning-themselves-stay-safe (website
3377accessed on 12 June 2025).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3378
3379<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3380140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
3381
3382<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3383140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
3384
3385<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3386140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>NB:
3387do you have any comments on Sheth <span class=SpellE>Jerjis</span> article?
3388Please send these to [email protected] or by <span class=SpellE>contactform</span>
3389at www.ethnogeopolitics.org. To reiterate, we at the Editorial Board state in
3390our 'Call and Guidelines for Contributions' in every issue and volume of our
3391journal that any controversial a/o contestable article published here "does not
3392necessarily mean that we approve of everything that these contributors may say.
3393The contributors themselves are responsible and accountable for their statements"—even
3394if any of them happen to be editors of our journal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3395
3396<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3397140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
3398
3399<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3400140%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Appendices<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
3401
3402<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3403140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Appendix
34041<span style='mso-tab-count:1'>         </span>Decision of the Revolutionary
3405Command Council in its session held on March 31, 1975, regarding expropriation
3406of lands in Kirkuk Governorate <o:p></o:p></span></p>
3407
3408<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3409140%'><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
3410font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>
3411
3412	<a href="JavaScript:popup('http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/Tuz-app-1.jpg',800,600)" TARGET="_parent">
3413	<img src="http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/Tuz-app-1.jpg" alt="" style="margin-left:0px;border:0pt solid #cccccc;" width="1000pt" height="1300pt" hspace="0" border="0" align="center">
3414	</span></a></span><span dir=LTR style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:170%;font-family:"Simplified Arabic",serif; mso-bidi-language:AR-IQ'><o:p></o:p></span><br>
3415
3416
3417<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3418
3419<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3420140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
3421
3422<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3423140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>
3424
3425Appendix 2<span style='mso-tab-count:1'></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;
3426&nbsp;
3427
3428A list of some of the thousands of terrorist attacks against Turkmen in the city of Tuz Khurmatu, targeting
3429Turkmen neighbourhoods, during the period from August
343022, 2003 to June 30, 2013<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3431
3432<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3433140%'><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
3434font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>
3435
3436	<a href="JavaScript:popup('http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/Tuz-app-2-e.jpg',800,600)" TARGET="_parent">
3437	<img src="http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/Tuz-app-2-e.jpg" alt="" style="margin-left:0px;border:0pt solid #cccccc;" width="1000pt" height="1300pt" hspace="0" border="0" align="center">
3438	</span></a></span><span dir=LTR style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:170%;font-family:"Simplified Arabic",serif; mso-bidi-language:AR-IQ'><o:p></o:p></span><br>
3439<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3440
3441<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3442140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
3443
3444<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3445140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>
3446
3447
3448Appendix 3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;List of documented killings,
3449kidnappings, and assassinations of Turkmen citizens in Tuz Khurmatu District2003 to 2009 (also undocumented cases)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3450
3451<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3452140%'><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;
3453font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>
3454
3455
3456	<a href="JavaScript:popup('http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/Tuz-app3e1.jpg',800,600)" TARGET="_parent">
3457	<img src="http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/Tuz-app3e1.jpg" alt="" style="margin-left:0px;border:0pt solid #cccccc;" width="1000pt" height="1300pt" hspace="0" border="0" align="center">
3458	</span></a></span><span dir=LTR style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:170%;font-family:"Simplified Arabic",serif; mso-bidi-language:AR-IQ'><o:p></o:p></span><br>
3459<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3460	<a href="JavaScript:popup('http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/Tuz-app3e2.jpg',800,600)" TARGET="_parent">
3461	<img src="http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/Tuz-app3e2.jpg" alt="" style="margin-left:0px;border:0pt solid #cccccc;" width="1000pt" height="1300pt" hspace="0" border="0" align="center">
3462	</span></a></span><span dir=LTR style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:170%;font-family:"Simplified Arabic",serif; mso-bidi-language:AR-IQ'><o:p></o:p></span><br>
3463<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3464	<a href="JavaScript:popup('http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/Tuz-app3e3.jpg',800,600)" TARGET="_parent">
3465	<img src="http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/Tuz-app3e3.jpg" alt="" style="margin-left:0px;border:0pt solid #cccccc;" width="1000pt" height="1300pt" hspace="0" border="0" align="center">
3466	</span></a></span><span dir=LTR style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:170%;font-family:"Simplified Arabic",serif; mso-bidi-language:AR-IQ'><o:p></o:p></span><br>
3467<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3468
3469<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3470
3471<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3472140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
3473
3474<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3475140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
3476
3477<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3478140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>(Advertisement)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3479
3480<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:
3481140%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>
3482
3483
3484<a href="JavaScript:popup('http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/bookIIe.jpg',800,600)" TARGET="_parent">
3485	<img src="http://www.turkmen.nl/photo/bookIIe.jpg" alt="" style="margin-left:0px;border:0pt solid #cccccc;" width="1000pt" height="1400pt" hspace="0" border="0" align="center">
3486	</span></a></span><span dir=LTR style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:170%;font-family:"Simplified Arabic",serif; mso-bidi-language:AR-IQ'><o:p></o:p></span><br>
3487<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3488
3489
3490<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3491
3492</div>
3493
3494
3495			</TH></TR></TABLE> 
3496
3497
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3513
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3518
3519
3520
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3522
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3527
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3529
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3532
3533
3534
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3536
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3538
3539
3540	
3541
3542
3543	<!--end of containing EIGHTH div-->
3544		</td></tr><tr>
3545		<td align="center" width="100%" colspan="2" valign="top" style="
3546		align:		center; 
3547		border-left: 	1pt solid #21610B;
3548		border-right: 	1pt solid #21610B;
3549		border-bottom: 	0pt solid #21610B;
3550		border-top: 	0pt solid #f1Fff5;
3551		background:	#259A9A;">
3552
3553<table width="90%" border="0" bordercolorlight="lightyellow">
3554<tbody><tr>
3555<td style="border: 0pt #F0FDFD;"><a href="http://www.turkmen.nl/1.3rds/3rdsC1.html"><span style="line-height:140%;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:verdana;color:#ffffff">About SOITM 
3556</span></a></td>
3557<td style="border: 0pt #F0FDFD;"><a href="http://www.turkmen.nl/1.3rds/3rdsC2.html"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:verdana;color:#ffffff">Contact 
3558</span></a></td>
3559<td style="border: 0pt #F0FDFD;"><a href="http://www.turkmen.nl/1A_soitm/links.html"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:verdana;color:#ffffff"> Links 
3560</span></a></td>
3561<td style="border: 0pt #F0FDFD;"><a href="https://www.turkmenelitv.com/"> <span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:verdana;color:#ffffff">Turkmeneli TV 
3562</span></a></td>
3563<td style="border: 0pt #F0FDFD;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbDtmAb7N-5FUsYFVmyfp1A"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:verdana;color:#ffffff">Al-Turkmaniya TV 
3564</span></a></td>
3565<td style="border: 0pt #F0FDFD;"><a href="https://turkmen.nl/index75a.html"> <span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:verdana;color:#ffffff"> &#1571;&#1585;&#1588;&#1610;&#1601;
3566&#1605;&#1580;&#1604;&#1577; &#1578;&#1585;&#1603;&#1605;&#1575;&#1606;
3567&#1575;&#1604;&#1593;&#1585;&#1575;&#1602;
3568</span></a></td>
3569<td style="border: 0pt solid linen;"><a href="http://turkmen.nl/-----"> <span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:verdana;color:#A9F5F2">----
3570</span></a>
3571</td></tr></tbody></table>
3572
3573
3574
3575		</td></tr><tr>
3576		<td width="100%" colspan="2" valign="top" style="
3577		border: 	0pt solid #660566;
3578		align:		left; 
3579		background:	#F0FDFD ;
3580		border: 	1pt solid #21610B;
3581		border-top: 	0pt solid #f1Fff5;">
3582
3583
3584<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height:140%;margin-bottom:0pt; margin-top:4pt;text-align:center;margin-left:.25in;text-indent:-.25in;
3584mso-list:l0 level1 lfo4">
3585<!--[if !supportLists]-->
3586<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;color:#336699;mso-bidi-font-weight:">
3587<span style="mso-list:Ignore">
3588<span style="font:7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
3589</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span>
3590<a href="http://www.turkmen.nl/1A_soitm/contact.html">
3591<b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;">
3592SOITM 
3593<br><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:verdana;color:navy">
3594Stichting Onderzoekscentrum Iraaks Turkmeense Mensenrechten 
3595</b></span></b></a><br>
3596
3597<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:verdana;color:navy">
3598
3599Nijmegen - The Netherlands 
3600<br>
3601[email protected]
3602<o:p></o:p></span></p>
3603
3604
3605
3606
3607	<!--end of containing NINTH div-->
3608
3609
3610
3611</td></tr></tbody></table> 
3612
3613</center></body></html>

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