Feeling threatened by the extending control of Kurdish peshmerga forces in Kirkuk, Iraqi Turkmens have begun to arm themselves, a prominent representative of the ethnic group has said, as the country finds itself dragged into further turmoil.
“We are definitely determined to establish an armed force. People are obliged to defend themselves,” Erşad Salihi, the leader of the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC), told daily Hürriyet.
“All other groups have militia forces. We are facing difficulties as we don’t have weapons. The central government’s weapons go to our Shiite brothers. The Sunnis and the Kurds are already armed,” Salihi added.
Following the seizure by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants of the Iraqi province of Mosul last week, Iraqi security forces retreated and left Kirkuk to Kurdish militants.
According to a deal reached between Iraqi defense and interior ministries and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), peshmarga will step in when the central government’s army fails to fulfil its duties, and this deal is the legal basis for the increasing peshmarga presence across northern Iraq.
The Kurdistan flag is now waving at a vast former U.S. military camp surrounded with concrete blocks as you enter Kirkuk, and it is clear that the Iraqi army is “out” while the Kurdish peshmarga forces are “in.”
Constabulary forces made up of Turkmen, Arab and Kurdish police officers are not totally absent from the streets, but the only military power now is the peshmerga.
“Our people have expectations and we won’t accept such fait accompli politics. Our message to our brothers in northern Iraq [is that] we have always lived here together; we should remain in control all together,” Salihi said.
Salihi also rejected claims that Turkmen militants are fighting as part of the peshmerga forces. “There is no such thing. Those people who are there to earn their living are like mercenaries,” he said.
He also expressed resentment that Turkey was “not supporting Iraqi Turkmens enough.”
He said Iraqi Turkmens have always been siding with “stability” in Syria as they “knew the war would affect Iraq.” “Now, it has spilled over to Iraq and it threatens Turkmens the most,” he said, adding that all developments in the region should be seen as being related.
“We are definitely determined to establish an armed force. People are obliged to defend themselves,” Erşad Salihi, the leader of the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC), told daily Hürriyet.
“All other groups have militia forces. We are facing difficulties as we don’t have weapons. The central government’s weapons go to our Shiite brothers. The Sunnis and the Kurds are already armed,” Salihi added.
Following the seizure by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants of the Iraqi province of Mosul last week, Iraqi security forces retreated and left Kirkuk to Kurdish militants.
According to a deal reached between Iraqi defense and interior ministries and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), peshmarga will step in when the central government’s army fails to fulfil its duties, and this deal is the legal basis for the increasing peshmarga presence across northern Iraq.
The Kurdistan flag is now waving at a vast former U.S. military camp surrounded with concrete blocks as you enter Kirkuk, and it is clear that the Iraqi army is “out” while the Kurdish peshmarga forces are “in.”
Constabulary forces made up of Turkmen, Arab and Kurdish police officers are not totally absent from the streets, but the only military power now is the peshmerga.
- “We definitely don’t see Kirkuk as a part of the Kurdish region,” said Salihi, expressing his annoyance at the possibility of Kurdish authority becoming permanent.
“Our people have expectations and we won’t accept such fait accompli politics. Our message to our brothers in northern Iraq [is that] we have always lived here together; we should remain in control all together,” Salihi said.
Salihi also rejected claims that Turkmen militants are fighting as part of the peshmerga forces. “There is no such thing. Those people who are there to earn their living are like mercenaries,” he said.
He also expressed resentment that Turkey was “not supporting Iraqi Turkmens enough.”
- “Turkey should have been closer to the Turkmens. Turkey stood at an equal distance from everyone, but we should have been supported more. Turkmens cannot live here for one minute without Turkey’s moral force,” he said.
He said Iraqi Turkmens have always been siding with “stability” in Syria as they “knew the war would affect Iraq.” “Now, it has spilled over to Iraq and it threatens Turkmens the most,” he said, adding that all developments in the region should be seen as being related.
Fehim Taştekin
KAYSERİ - Radikal
16/6/14
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ReplyDeleteAs the Iraqi army fights back against a rebel insurgency, questions remain over the lack of resistance met by insurgents who overran the country’s north last week. FRANCE 24 spoke to soldiers who fled to a refugee camp after abandoning their posts.
Around 1,000 Iraqis fled to the Ghazar refugee camp 20 kilometres north of Mosul after rebels led by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and the Levant (ISIS) took control of the city last week.
In the wake of the jihadists' lightning advance across wide swaths of Iraqi territory, many people were surprised to learn that soldiers trained by military experts from the US dropped their guns and shed their uniforms to join fleeing civilians as the insurgents approached Iraq’s second-largest city.
“We saw the officers putting on civilian clothes,” one such soldier at the Ghazar camp told FRANCE 24. “When we asked what was happening we were told that all the senior officers had fled, not one left. We could have continued to fight and defeat the jihadists. But our commanders betrayed us.”
ISIS militants have since offered amnesty to members of security forces who lay down their arms and return to Mosul, but many don’t trust the jihadists who have posted gruesome pictures of soldiers' executions online.............http://www.france24.com/en/20140616-video-iraq-soldiers-mosul-deserters-isis/