Tal’afar From Occupation to Present

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On 28 May 2008 a meeting titled “Tal’afar from Occupation to Present” was carried out by ORSAM in Ankara. The Dean of the Faculty of Administrative Sciences, Prof. Dr. Türel Yılmaz from Ahi Evran University, The President of Türkmeneli Cultural Center Dr. Mustafa Ziya and ORSAM Advisor Serhat Erkmen participated as speakers.

 Dr. Mustafa Ziya mentioned that a big strategic game has been put forth on Tal’afar with the American operations in 2004 and emphasized that this county is tried to be included into “ Disputed Areas” and thus to be included into Kurdish region.

 Ziya who said that the atmosphere of chaos that is tried to be created in Tal’afar could not reach its aim, mentioned that the efforts of Kurdish administration to open a route over Mosul or Tal’afar and to include Sincar into their borders are continuing. Ziya expressed that at the present the US official treat Kirkuk and Mosul as the biggest problems in Iraq and in any time a Kurdish-Arab conflict can arise.

 Dr.  Mustafa Ziya, pointed that unless Kurdish groups can’t prevent Tal’afar to be a province, they can wish to undertake the administration of the province by including some of the Kurdish regions into the province and making Turkmens minority.

 Ziya, who mentioned that it will be the Kurdish administration that would benefit the most if Tal’afar lapses into internal problems, said that by this way, the county is tried to be showed as “Disputed Area” and to be annexed. Ziya said that the natural gas pipelines will pass through the same region and besides, Kurdish administration wants to passivize the Mosul region by dividing. Ziya mentioned that to contribute to the normalization of Tal’afar, the civic community organizations should be directed to the county and the unemployment problem should be solved.

 Dr. Erkmen who prepared the report titled “The Key Point of Iraq: Tal’afar” and provided information about the report, mentioned that Tal’afar has a natural strategic importance being at the border triangle of Syria, Iraq and Turkey and this special position is strengthened by its most intensive Turkmen population in Iraq.

 Erkmen reminded that at the end of Tal’afar’s strategic position, ambitions of the Kurdish groups to master it and resistance of the Turkmens against this end, in 2004-2005 2800 lives were lost and 6000 were injured in Tal’afar in American operations and mentioned that the county is under pressure since the establishment of Iraq and tried to be left behind.

 Erkmen who draws attention to that Turkey can reach both to Arabs and Turkmens directly due to its coordinates, underlined the importance of opening of Ovacık Gate from this perspective. Erkmen mentioned that Tal’afar that witnesses trouble in its physical contact with Mosul due to security problems, undergoes to an administrative organization that rules itself and this experience may be an important one in passage to province status.

 Erkmen expressed that Tal’afar’s population of 400 thousand is composed of almost wholly by Turkmens and emphasized that in other parts of Iraq there is not another ethnic or sectarian group that is so intensive in population by itself like this. 

 Erkmen mentioned that conflictual situation triggers the migration and increase economic and social troubles and recently some of the population began to turn back to their homes.

 Erkmen highlighted the fact that Tal’afar identity is successful at keeping communal tissue alive in Tal’afar and sectarian and ethnic identities come after this upper identity and reminded that Arabization policy left deep traces in the county. Erkmen mentioned that sectarian division problem arose during American operations in 2004-2005 however it is a problem which can be resolved because the population has a deep common history and ration, thus many developments have been witnessed regarding the issue. Erkmen said that there is the need for Tal’afar to be a province in order to evaluate Tal’afar’s strategic position for Iraq’s unity and stability at best and added that this would benefit whole Iraqis.

 Prof. Dr. Türel Yılmaz mentioned that Tal’afar is as important as Kirkuk and thus it is exposed to a punishment policy since the era of the British and during Iraqi administrations. Yılmaz who said that Turkmens’ adaption of Arab identity during Saddam Hussein’s Arabization policy was not a solution and this situation ended with a natural assimilation process. Prof. Dr. Yılmaz told that with the promotion of irrigation facilities for Tal’afar’s convenient areas for planting the fate of the county can change and this can benefit whole Iraq. Yılmaz emphasized that Iran and Syria is effective as much as the US in sectarian division problem in Tal’afar and added that Tal’afar identity would not make this game to happen in normal conditions. She further expressed that Iran is the country who benefited the most from the the US invasion of Iraq and it does not ignore Tal’afar in order to reach its strategic aims in Iraq. Yılmaz who told that there is the need to work for the people who migrated from Tal’afar to turn back their homes, said that Turkey’s economic and social aids and opening of Ovacık border gate would strengthen Tal’afar. Yılmaz who emphasized the importance of Tal’afar’s status to be a province, mentioned that the pressure of Kurdish administration must be curtailed in some way.

 “The Key Point of Iraq: Tal’afar” Report Published by ORSAM in Turkish