As Baghdad braces itself for oncoming massive military operations, Turkomans in Kurdistan feel abandoned and in danger, writes Nermeen El-Mufti Iraq's unity and the future of Kirkuk featured prominently in a seminar held by the Turkish Strategic Studies Institute in Ankara last week. The seminar, which was attended by a number of Turkish and Iraqi politicians and academics, called for the postponement of the referendum on Kirkuk's future. Kurds denounced the recommendation, considering it an example of "Turkish interference" in their affairs. The Turks didn't take kindly to the Kurdish rebuke. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reminded the Kurds that Turkey gave refuge to 500,000 peshmergas -- Kurdish fighters -- in the past. Erdogan himself used to take medical and food supplies to the peshmergas in their camps in Turkey, the prime minister pointed out. Deniz Baykal, leader of the Turkish People's Republican Party, called on the Turkish government to intervene militarily in Kirkuk, saying that the Turkoman population was under attack. Kirkuk's fate will be decided in a referendum to be held before the end of this year. The Turkomans and Arabs strongly oppose the referendum, and they are not alone. The Baker- Hamilton report recommended that the referendum be postponed, calling it a "powder keg". A recent UN report on Iraq warned of imminent ethnic cleansing should the situation in Kirkuk remain unchanged. According to press reports, 100 Turkoman families have begun to leave Kirkuk. Shan Omar, general director of education in Kirkuk and the only Turkoman in a senior government position, went on television recently displaying a letter threatening him with death unless he appointed Kurdish refugees in his department. The letter was signed by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party and Kurdish rival Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party. "If you refuse to act, you will meet Ibrahim's fate," the letter said, reminding Omar of the fate of his predecessor, also a Turkoman, who was assassinated. A businessman who arrived recently in Ankara said he had to pay $120,000 in return for safe passage to gunmen who had threatened him and his family. He said that other businessmen received similar threats. The businessman didn't name those who are forcing the Turkomans to leave, but pointed out that the Kurds are the only beneficiaries of such actions. During a recent parliamentary session, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said that his country couldn't ignore the interests of the Turkoman, although it wanted to maintain good ties with the Kurds. He pointed out that Ankara allowed nearly 500,000 Iraqi Kurds to flee to Turkey when Saddam Hussein quelled the Kurdish rebellion in 1991. By the same token, the foreign minister said, Turkey may have to do something to help the Turkomans. The Kurds don't like what they hear from Ankara. Mahmoud Osman, a parliamentarian from the Kurdistan Alliance, said that there was a "growing and strong" Turkish-Saudi axis that was escalating its "media campaign" against the Kurds and mounting intense pressure with regard to Kirkuk. Osman called on the Kurdish leadership to send delegations to Washington and London to explain the situation. Turhan Ketene, founder of the Turkoman Front, told Al-Ahram Weekly of the aid Turkey used to give the two major Kurdish parties in the past. Talabani once pleaded with Ketene to ask Turkey to send its army into northern Iraq. Barzani agreed. "Why didn't they see this as Turkish interference in Iraqi affairs back then?" Ketene said. When Turkey was bombing villages and sites in northern Iraq during its war against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Barzani came to Ketene's office and told him that he wished Turkey would occupy northern Iraq so that Iraqi Kurds may live in the same way Turkish Kurds did. Ketene said that the Turkish gave Talabani and Barzani diplomatic passports and $250,000 a month each. In addition, the two men made $800,000 a month from duties imposed on Kurdish goods entering Iraq through Zakho. Ketene is convinced, however, that Turkey won't take action unless events in Kirkuk threaten Iraq's future and unity. For the time being, Ketene said, Turkey is toeing the US and European line. Umit Bayath, representative of the Turkoman movement in Turkey, told the Weekly that Turkey was unlikely to act. He recalled that Turkish officials used to visit Iraq during the 1970s and speak about Turkoman rights. But when dozens of Turkomans were executed in 1980, including officers and academics, Turkey didn't say a word. Atila Kaya, deputy chairman of the Turkish National Movement Party, said that talk about Turkoman rights was for public consumption ahead of the Turkish elections. More than 40 Turkoman civilians were killed in bombings and assassinations in Kirkuk in the last two weeks, with many more injured. Damage to Turkoman property is running to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, Iraq has seen another bloody week, with 37 occupation troops killed, including 25 on one day. Losses among Iraqis were much higher than usual, with 450 civilians dead, including 70 students from Al-Mustansariya University who were hit by two car bombs. Over 80 were killed in a marketplace near the eastern gate of Baghdad. Baghdad's inhabitants are racing to buy foodstuffs ahead of the full implementation of the Bush-Maliki security plan. Prices have gone up after the Al-Shurja market was damaged by fire for the third time in one year. Meanwhile, following two months of boycott, the Moqtada Al-Sadr parliamentary bloc -- consisting of 30 members -- is once again attending parliamentary sessions. The Americans, however, appear determined to exclude Al-Sadr supporters from the political process. One of Al-Sadr's senior aides, Abdel-Hadi Al-Deraji, has been arrested in Baghdad. Additional US troops are arriving in Baghdad to implement Bush's new "way forward" plan. About 3,000 troops have arrived in Baghdad as Iraqi special troops braced themselves for action in the most violent districts of the capital.
