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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Political Parties Stir Unrest in Kirkuk |
| 2004-11-13 |
| In a corner of Kirkuk's Turkoman Domeez Quarter, a piece of graffiti in bold black paint backs an Arab Shiite militia group against the leaders of the two main Kurdish political parties: No to Jalal, no to Massoud, the Mahdi Army will Return. Hisham Hazim lounges near the town's main market, playing with his prayer beads. He may not have painted on the graffiti, but he agrees with every word, "As Iraqi Arabs, we used to be the dominant force in Kirkuk and we could do what we wanted. But since Jalal [Talabani] and Massoud [Barzani] came, we've been marginalised and now the Kurds are dominant and want to drive us out. But as long as the Mahdi Army exists, no one can touch us." The slogans painted on walls in the Kurd and Arab parts of the city may have different names and factions but the messages of intolerance are the same. In the Kurdish quarter, the walls are a mix of pro-US slogans and claims that Kirkuk belongs to Kurdistan. Graffiti in the Arab areas, meanwhile, curses the Americans and the Kurds. In the predominantly Turkoman neighbourhood of Tis'een, there are occasional slogans proclaiming, "Long live Arabs and Turkomens"— mention of the Kurds is noticeably absent. Kurdish, Turkoman and Arab inhabitants of Kirkuk had managed to live together in some degree of harmony for years, but, according to residents, April marked a turning point in the city's inter-ethnic relations. "The Kurdish peshmerga forces arrived and basically occupied the city," said Muhammed Ara Oghli, a member of the executive council of the Turkoman National Movement. "Then the situation began to deteriorate. The two main Kurdish parties, the KDP [Kurdistan Democratic Party] and the PUK [Patriotic Union of Kurdistan] encouraged the pershmurga to loot our institutions and take their resources to the Kurdish towns of Erbil and Suleimaniyah." The Kurds deny these allegations. "The US wouldn't allow Peshmurga into Kirkuk at the end of the war, so any looting that took place then has nothing to do with them. Let's face it, there are always instances of looting and unrest wherever there is instability or a political vacuum," said Kamil Salayee, the PUK's representative at the Kikuk Information Centre. "When the peshmerga arrived, they were actually protecting buildings..." |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #1 This is from an outfit called the Institute of War and Peace Reporting whose mission is to train journalists to the standards of Western media (don't laugh!). If you read the whole article, the bias is obvious - things were better under Saddam. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-11-13 3:36:11 PM |