Persecution of Iraqi Turkmen in Ba'athist Iraq

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The Persecution of Iraqi Turkmen in Ba'athist Iraq refers to the persecution of Iraqi Turkmen by the government Ba'athist Iraq, specifically under Saddam Hussein.

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Persecution of Iraqi Turkmen in Ba'athist Iraq
Iraqi Turkmen cemetery.jpg
Grave of Necdet Koçak, a Turkmen intellectual executed by the Iraqi government in 1980 in Baghdad, located in Kirkuk
LocationFlag of Iraq (1963-1991).svg Ba'athist Iraq
Date1968–2003 (mainly 1979–2003), effects continued until Iraqi Turkmen genocide
Target Iraqi Turkmen
Attack type
 Massacres, Deportations
DeathsHundreds of thousands
PerpetratorFlag of Iraq (1963-1991).svg Ba'athist Iraq (especially under Saddam Hussein)
Motive Anti-Turkish sentiment, Arabization

History

The 1957 Iraqi census was recognized as the last reliable census before the Arabization policies of the Ba'ath regime. [1] It recorded 567,000 Turkmen out of a total population of 6.3 million. [2] [3] [4] [5] This put them third, behind Arabs and Kurds. [6]

Later censuses, in 1967, 1977, 1987 and 1997, were all recognized as highly unreliable, due to suspicions of Arabization by the various regimes in Iraq. [7] The 1997 census claimed that there was 600,000 Iraqi Turkmen, [8] while the total Iraqi population was 22,017,983. [9] The 1997 census only allowed citizens to choose Arab or Kurdish. As selecting Kurdish also made them targets, many Iraqi Turkmen selected Arab. [7] Throughout Ba'athist rule, many Iraqi Turkmen would register as Arabs in order to avoid being targeted. [10] [11]

The Kingdom of Iraq, which had ruled since independence from the Ottomans, was overthrown by Abdul Karim Qasim and Abdul Salam Arif in the 14 July Revolution in 1958. Later, Abdul Salam Arif turned against Abdul Karim Qasim, who was overthrown by Arab nationalists in the Ramadan Revolution, after which Abdul Salam Arif came to power in 1963. Abdul Salam Arif died in 1966 and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Rahman Arif, who ruled until 1968 when he was overthrown during the 17 July Revolution by Ba'athists, beginning the period of Ba'athist Iraq. Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr came to power from 1968 until 1979. He was succeeded by Saddam Hussein. The government of Abdul Karim Qasim promoted Qasimism, an Iraqi nationalist ideology inclusive of all ethnicities. The Arif brothers were Arab nationalists, although the Turkmen enjoyed stability and generally had cultural freedoms, but still lacked rights. However, the Iraqi Turkmen saw the Ba'athist government, especially under Saddam Hussein, as the first Iraqi government to directly target the Turkmen. [12]

On January 24, 1970, the Ba'athist government recognized the rights of Iraqi Turkmen to teach their language at schools, the establishment of a Turkmen education directorate in the Ministry of Education, the creation of a legal Turkmen writers union, the establishment of the Directorate of Turkmen Culture, and the publishing of a weekly government newspaper and monthly government magazine in Turkmen. However, the Ba'athist government presented Iraqi Turkmen as a distinct ethnic group with no relations to the Turkmen of Central Asia or the Turks of Turkey. The Ba'athist government only tolerated the Turkmen language if it was written in Arabic. Hundreds of Turkmen schools opened in Iraq, although they were closed shortly after. The government began to withdraw many of the freedoms it gave to the Iraqi Turkmen, after which the Turkmen began a three day boycott campaign and held some protests in Kirkuk. The government arrested and severely tortured 50 Turkmen in Kirkuk. The government increased pressures on the Iraqi Turkmen. The Turkmen had no relation with the Iraqi state, were not granted loans, were not allowed to work in state offices, and the Turkmen graduates of universities were not appointed to Turkmen districts. In 1972, only 500 of the 10,000 employees in the Kirkuk oil company were Turkmen. In March 1970, the Iraqi–Kurdish Autonomy Agreement gave the Kurds status in the Iraqi constitution. The Iraqi constitution adopted on July 16, 1970, recognized only Arabs and Kurds as the components of the Iraqi nation. As part of the agreement, a plebiscite was needed to find out the boundaries of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region. The plebiscite was planned to be held on October 26, 1970, and required Iraqi Turkmen to pick between the Ba'athist government or the Kurdish government. As the Ba'athist government could not have prevented the Kurds from entering Kirkuk either way, the plebiscite was never held. [13] [14]

The Turkish Foreign Ministry regarded the Anti-Turkish actions of the Iraqi government as a political matter. Salih Mahdi Ammash, the Vice President of Iraq, visited Turkey on January 16, 1971, for one week, and discussed the situation of the Iraqi Turkmen in the official visit. However, the Ba'athist government intensified its efforts to change the ethnic structure of the Turkmen territories. Local authority of villages and local quarters in big cities was given to Arabs, even in villages where all residents were Turkmen. Arabs were rewarded to settle in Turkmen territories. The Turkmen names of the villages were changed to Arabic. The name of Kirkuk was officially changed to "Al-Tamim" in accordance with the order of Presidency number 41 of January, 20, 1976. Arab settlers in Kirkuk were compensated for their traveling costs, given financial support, and convenient loans for buildings. Turkmen were banned from selling their houses to other Turkmen, but were allowed to sell to Arabs. Arab men were awarded 10,000 IQD (then equal to 33,000 USD) to marry Turkmen women. Turkmen clerics were banned from giving sermons in the Turkmen language and were put under pressure by the government. Turkish President Fahri Korutürk visited Kirkuk on April 27, 1976 during his official visit to Iraq. The Turkmen held a ceremony for him, although once he left, many Turkmen who attended the ceremony were arrested. In 1976, new regulations enclosing especially the Turkmen territories were carried out through the administrative division of the country. Management of all Turkmen social, political, and cultural establishments were given to Arabs. The persecution of Turkmen intensified in 1979 when Saddam Hussein came to power, and was seen as the darkest time period in Iraqi Turkmen history. [15] [16]

Although Hassan al-Bakr was the president from 1968 to 1979, Saddam Hussein had been very active in the government and gave the ideas for many of the policies against the Turkmen. [17] After Saddam Hussein came to power in 1979, efforts intensified to pressure the Turkmen to assimilate, and many human rights violations on Turkmen civilians were observed. Turkmen needed government permission to sell property, Turkmen lands were nationalized, Turkmen who had Turkish names or spoke Turkish in state offices were insulted, Turkmen houses were confiscated by force, and Arab settlers increased. Shortly after coming to power, Saddam Hussein ordered the execution of around 70 of the highest Iraqi Turkmen community leaders on January 16, 1980. The most influential were Abdullah Abdurrahman, Riza Demirci, Necdet Koçak, and Adil Şerif. The date was remembered as Turkmen Martyrs' Day. After the executions, the Turkmen neither applied for any official positions nor participated in non-governmental organizations. Many Turkmen also began fleeing Iraq. Mahir Nakip claimed that the reason Saddam Hussein executed the Turkmen community leaders was to see the reaction of Turkey, and upon seeing no reaction, felt free to target Iraqi Turkmen throughout the entirety of his rule. On February 28, 1980, the Turkish Foreign Minister, when asked about the executions, claimed that the Turkish government had expressed the concerns of the Turkish public to the Iraqi government, but the Iraqi government ignored it. He claimed that the Turkmen were Iraqi citizens and that Turkey had no right to intervene in Iraqi affairs. [18] [19] [20] At a Baghdad press conference in 1980, when asked about the executions, Saddam Hussein stated that "these are Iraqi citizens, they committed a crime, they got their punishment. They say they are Turks, so let those people take their bones, do we ever ask what you did to the Arabs in Iskenderun?" [21] In 1976, Arabization policies by the state also intensified. [22] The Iraqi government first banned the Turkish language in 1972. Under Saddam Hussein, in the 1980s, further bans on the Turkish language were made and enforced. [23]

While Iraqi Turkmen were targets of several massacres, such as in 1924, 1946, and 1959, the Iraqi Ba'ath Party was responsible for the massacres on Iraqi Turkmen between 1979 until 2003. [16] Notable massacres included the 1980 executions, the 1991 Altun Kupri massacre, the 1996 Erbil massacre, and the massacres during the Anfal campaign, which had also targeted and killed Iraqi Turkmen despite primarily targeting Kurds. [24] Over 20 Turkmen villages and settlements were depopulated and destroyed by the Iraqi army during the Anfal campaign. [25]

During the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988, Iraqi Turkmen were heavily conscripted into the Iraqi army and sent to the front lines. Hundreds of thousands of Turkmen died in the 1980s from fighting in the Iran-Iraq war, political executions, and massacres. The Ba'athist government destroyed thousands of Turkmen houses under the pretext of needing land for military infrastructure. Before the Iran-Iraq war, the Iraqi government generally accused Turkmen of spying for Turkey before executing them, although during the war, it began accusing the Turkmen of spying for Iran. In November 1985, all Turkmen territories, especially Kirkuk, were put under an extensive search operation by the Iraqi army. Turkmen were assaulted, and Arab settlers looted with impunity. The Iraqi constitution adopted on July 7, 1990, only recognized Arabs and Kurds. [17] [26] From 1980 to 1988, Turkey did not accept the formation of any Turkmen organization. [27]

Iraqi Turkmen villages and towns were often destroyed to make space for Arab settlers. Although the Iraqi Turkmen were not always expelled, Arab neighborhoods were established in their settlements, and the demographic balance changed as the Arab migrations continued and the Arab presence expanded. Several presidential decrees and directives from state security and intelligence organizations had specifically focused on Iraqi Turkmen. On May 6, 1980, Iraqi Military Intelligence issued directive 1559, ordering the deportation of Iraqi Turkmen officials from Kirkuk. It instructed the Iraqi Army to "identify the places where Turkmen officials are working in governmental offices to deport them to other governorates in order to disperse them and prevent them from concentrating in this governorate". In addition, on 30 October 1981, the Revolution's Command Council issued decree 1391, with paragraph 13 noting that "this directive is specially aimed at Turkmen and Kurdish officials and workers who are living in Kirkuk". Iraqi Turkmen who remained in their traditional settlements continued to face Arabization policies. School names, neighborhoods, villages, streets, markets, and mosques with Turkic names were changed to Arabic names. Many Iraqi Turkmen villages were demolished without being rebuilt, especially during the 1990s. [11]

During the 1991 Iraqi uprisings, many Turkmen rose against the Iraqi government and joined Iran-backed Shia militias. Many Turkmen also joined the Kurdish rebels when they entered their settlements, as "it was only the fact that the regime in Baghdad was unquestionably worse that persuaded Turkmen to cooperate with the Kurdish national movement." [24] When the Iraqi government began settling Palestinians in Turkmen and Kurdish houses in Kirkuk, Jalal Talabani advised Kurds and Turkmen to put their differences aside and fight to retake their homes. [28]

After the 1991 Iraqi uprisings and the Kurdish victory, the USA established no-fly zones over Iraqi Kurdistan. The no-fly zones had split the Turkmen region, with half being under the no-fly zones under Kurdish authority, and the other half still under Iraqi authority. Turkmen organizations in Iraq were completely banned. Some Turkmen organizations were given asylum in the KRG, but faced restrictions and were sometimes even massacred by the Peshmerga. There was a large wave of Turkmen immigration outside of Iraq. The Turkish government was reluctant to confront the Iraqi government about the persecution of Iraqi Turkmen. [19] Turkey used a divide and conquer policy on the KDP and PUK, although after the Kurdish victory in the 1991 Iraqi uprisings, the United States closely intervened in consolidating Kurdish control of northern Iraq, establishing a no-fly zone and recognizing the autonomous government. After the failure of the Turkish divide and conquer policy, support for the Turkmen began as another method of countering Kurds. Umit Bayat, representative of the Turkmen movement in Turkey, and several other Turkmen officials, claimed that Turkey had long branded itself as the defender of Iraqi Turkmen, but did not confront Saddam Hussein. 21st century Turkish political commentators generally concluded that Turkish support for Iraqi Turkmen was to give the Turkish state a place in Iraqi Kurdish affairs after the Kurds gained official autonomy, which prevented Turkey to freely intervene in Iraqi Kurdistan, leading Turkey to use the safety of Turkmen and presence of PKK as causes for intervention. [29]

The Ba'athist government, while repressing Iraqi Turkmen, commonly accused Sunni Turkmen of collaborating with Turkey, and Shia Turkmen of collaborating with pro-Iran groups, and arrests of Turkmen civilians were extremely widespread. [30] The government of Turgut Özal adopted the Turkish–Islamic synthesis and completely ignored Shia Turkmen from their rhetoric. [31]

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the cultural repression of Iraqi Turkmen was lifted, and the Iraqi Turkmen played a significant role in the De-Ba'athification and development of Iraq after Saddam Hussein. [32] In 2003, most of the disputed territories of northern Iraq were captured by the Peshmerga, which began a revenge campaign against Arab settlers, ultimately reversing the Arabization of the Kurdish settlements and earning a brutal reputation to the point that Arab settlers would flee as soon as the Peshmerga entered any settlement. In the Shia Turkmen village of Bashir, the Arab settlers remained. The top imam of Bashir claimed that it was because the Turkmen had no armed group, and that the Peshmerga was only interested in Kurdish settlements. [33] The Arabs refused to leave without a court order, after which the Turkmen residents threatened that displaced Turkmen were planning a march back to Bashir in which every Arab that remained in the village would be killed. Before any clashes, the US hosted an agreement which only evicted the undocumented Arabs, though tensions persisted as the documented Arab settlers remained. [34] Sunni Arab vigilante groups eventually began shooting Turkmen returnees in Bashir and sparked clashes, while tensions in other regions were high between Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen. [35] Iraqi Turkmen, whether Sunni or Shia, viewed Sunni Arabs as oppressive and claimed that Sunni Arabs had not only persecuted Turkmen, but everyone else in Iraq who was not a Sunni Arab. [36]

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the ban on the Iraqi Turkmen Front was lifted, and many of its members were elected into the Iraqi government. [37] [38] [39] However, there were sectarian conflicts between Sunni and Shia Turkmen, tensions with Kurds due to the claim of Kirkuk, continued tensions with Arab settlers, and well as problems with the Iraqi government over its refusal to permit Iraqi Turkmen to form their own security force. [32] [40] [24] [34] After 2003, Ba'ath loyalist and Islamist armed groups continued targeting Turkmen. It was directly connected to the persecution of Turkmen by Saddam Hussein, and continued until 2013, after which the Iraqi Turkmen genocide by the Islamic State began and lasted until 2017. [41] During the Iraqi Turkmen genocide by the Islamic State, many of the Islamic State militants and leaders had been soldiers and officers in the Iraqi Army under Saddam Hussein. [42] [43] [44] [45]

Although there had been no Turkmen armed groups in Iraq, during the war on the Islamic State, the Popular Mobilization Forces set up Turkmen militias, mostly Shia. Shia Turkmen militias engaged in a revenge campaign against Sunni Arabs, in which Sunni Turkmen were also targeted, until the Iraqi government asserted control. [46] [47] Throughout the Turkmen regions and especially in Tal Afar, which came under the control of the PMF, tensions increased between the Sunni Turkmen who supported the pro-Turkey political parties, and the Shia Turkmen who supported the pro-Iran militias. The tensions were part of broader tensions between Iran and Turkey. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatened Turkish military involvement to protect Sunni Turkmen interests. [48]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Anderson, Liam D.; Stansfield, Gareth R. V. (2009), Crisis in Kirkuk: The Ethnopolitics of Conflict and Compromise, pp. 43, University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN   978-0-8122-4176-1
  2. ↑ Knights, Michael (2004), Operation Iraqi Freedom And The New Iraq: Insights And Forecasts, pp. 262, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, ISBN   0-944029-93-0
  3. ↑ Betts, Robert Brenton (2013), The Sunni-Shi'a Divide: Islam's Internal Divisions and Their Global Consequences, Potomac books, pp. 86, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN   978-1-61234-522-2
  4. ↑ Güçlü, Yücel (2007), Who Owns Kirkuk? The Turkoman Case (PDF), pp. 79, Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2007
  5. ↑ Anderson, Liam D.; Stansfield, Gareth R. V. (2009), Crisis in Kirkuk: The Ethnopolitics of Conflict and Compromise, pp. 58, University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN   978-0-8122-4176-1
  6. ↑ Gunter, Michael M. (2004), "The Kurds in Iraq"(PDF), Middle East Policy, 11 (1): 106–131, pp. 131, doi : 10.1111/j.1061-1924.2004.00145.x, archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2012
  7. 1 2 International Crisis Group (2008), Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds: Conflict or Cooperation?, pp. 16, International Crisis Group, archived from the original on 12 January 2011
  8. ↑ Phillips, David L. (2006), Losing Iraq: Inside the Postwar Reconstruction Fiasco, pp. 304, Basic Books, ISBN   0-465-05681-4
  9. ↑ Graham-Brown, Sarah (1999), Sanctioning Saddam: The Politics of Intervention in Iraq, pp. 161, I.B.Tauris, ISBN   1-86064-473-2
  10. ↑ International Crisis Group (2006), Iraq and the Kurds: The Brewing Battle Over Kirkuk (PDF), pp. 5, International Crisis Group
  11. 1 2 Anderson, Liam D.; Stansfield, Gareth R. V. (2009), Crisis in Kirkuk: The Ethnopolitics of Conflict and Compromise, pp. 64-66, University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN   978-0-8122-4176-1
  12. ↑ THE IRAQI TURKMEN (1921-2005), The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University, A. Gökhan KAYILI, August 2005, pp. 32-40
  13. ↑ Ortadoğu'da Türkmen Sorunu, Cuma Dadak, Haydar Çakmak, 2019, pp. 21-22, Ufuk University, Ankara
  14. ↑ THE IRAQI TURKMEN (1921-2005), The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University, A. Gökhan KAYILI, August 2005, pp. 34-39
  15. ↑ THE IRAQI TURKMEN (1921-2005), The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University, A. Gökhan KAYILI, August 2005, pp. 39-40
  16. 1 2 Stansfield, Gareth R. V. (2007), Iraq: People, History, Politics, Polity, pp. 72, ISBN   978-0-7456-3227-8
  17. 1 2 Ortadoğu'da Türkmen Sorunu, Cuma Dadak, Haydar Çakmak, 2019, pp. 24-25, Ufuk University, Ankara
  18. ↑ THE IRAQI TURKMEN (1921-2005), The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University, A. Gökhan KAYILI, August 2005, pp. 40-42
  19. 1 2 Ortadoğu'da Türkmen Sorunu, Cuma Dadak, Haydar Çakmak, 2019, pp. 25-28, Ufuk University, Ankara
  20. ↑ IRAK GÜNDEMİ, 1980’DEKİ IRAK’TA TÜRKMEN LİDERLERİN ASILMASI HADİSESİ VE TÜRKMENLERİN BUGÜNÜ, BİLGAY DUMAN, pp. 46, ORSAM, Şubat 2021 Cilt: 12 Sayı: 98
  21. ↑ The Political Situation of Iraqi Turkmen After The 1990 Period, Çağdaş Duman, pp. 14
  22. ↑ Anderson, Liam D.; Stansfield, Gareth R. V. (2009), Crisis in Kirkuk: The Ethnopolitics of Conflict and Compromise, pp. 62, University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN   978-0-8122-4176-1
  23. ↑ Simmons, Mary Kate (1997). Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization: Yearbook. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 88. ISBN   904110223X.
  24. 1 2 3 "Turkmen in Iraq". Minority Rights Group. October 16, 2023. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024.
  25. ↑ Jawhar, Sinan H., Iraq and the Turkmen of Kirkuk, p. 102-104.
  26. ↑ THE IRAQI TURKMEN (1921-2005), The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University, A. Gökhan KAYILI, August 2005, pp. 42-44
  27. ↑ Hussein Jaloub al-Sadi, Iraqi Minorities From Torment to Empowerment (documentary study), Dar Al-Huda, Maysan, 2014, pp. 50
  28. ↑ Middle East Contemporary Survey: Vol. XXIV 2000, 2003, pp. 266, Bruce Maddy-Weitzman, Syracuse University Press
  29. ↑ Post-Saddam Iraq: New Realities, Old Identities, Changing Patterns, Amnon Cohen, 2011, pp. 248-253, ISBN: 9781836241065
  30. ↑ Salim Matar, Controversial identities and conflicting affiliations in Iraq and the Middle East, Institute for Arab Studies and Publishing, Beirut, 2003, pp. 250-251
  31. ↑ Post-Saddam Iraq: New Realities, Old Identities, Changing Patterns, 2011, pp. 251
  32. 1 2 Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency: Ahmed S. Hashim, 2013, pp. 56, ISBN   9781135869311
  33. ↑ Iraq, Claims in Conflict: Reversing Ethnic Cleansing in Northern Iraq, Hania Mufti, Peter Bouckaert, 2004, pp. 62
  34. 1 2 Iraq, Claims in Conflict: Reversing Ethnic Cleansing in Northern Iraq, Hania Mufti, Peter Bouckaert, 2004, pp. 63
  35. ↑ A Critical Evaluation of “Territorial Separation” as a Method of Addressing Ethnic Conflicts: The Case of Kirkuk, Ako S. Jalal, 2022, pp. 85, ISBN   9781666910643
  36. ↑ Gareth Stansfield and Liam Anderson, Crisis in Kirkuk: The Ethnopolitics of Conflict and Compromise, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009, p. 89.
  37. ↑ Raber Tal’at Jawhar (13 February 2013). The Iraqi Turkmen Front. Presses de l’Ifpo. ISBN   9782351592618 . Retrieved February 26, 2012.
  38. ↑ Ignatius, David (13 February 2015). "In Iraq, Kirkuk remains a question mark". The Washington Post.
  39. ↑ Anderson, Liam D.; Stansfield, Gareth R. V. (2009), Crisis in Kirkuk: The Ethnopolitics of Conflict and Compromise, pp. 57, University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN   978-0-8122-4176-1
  40. ↑ Stansfield, Gareth R. V. (2007), Iraq: People, History, Politics, Polity, pp. 71, ISBN   978-0-7456-3227-8
  41. ↑ IRAK GÜNDEMİ, 1980’DEKİ IRAK’TA TÜRKMEN LİDERLERİN ASILMASI HADİSESİ VE TÜRKMENLERİN BUGÜNÜ, BİLGAY DUMAN, pp. 46, ORSAM, Şubat 2021 Cilt: 12 Sayı: 98
  42. ↑ "How Saddam's men help Islamic State rule". Reuters . Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  43. ↑ Bruno, Alessandro (31 August 2015). "The Ba'athist Roots of Islamic State". Geopolitical Monitor. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  44. ↑ "Saddam's Ex-Officer: We've Played Key Role In Helping Militants". NPR . Archived from the original on 16 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  45. ↑ Simmons, Mary Kate (1997). Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization: Yearbook. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 88. ISBN   904110223X.
  46. ↑ Iraq After ISIL: Sub-State Actors, Local Forces, and the Micro-Politics of Control, Erica Gaston, András Derzsi-Horváth, pp. 26, 53, March 2018
  47. ↑ THE SITUATION OF TURKMENS AND THE TURKMEN AREAS AFTER ISIS: ORSAM Report No: 203, August 2016, pp. 13, ISBN: 978-605-9157-08-7
  48. ↑ The Looming Problem of Tal Afar, Gareth Stansfield, Viewpoints No. 107, November 2016, pp. 1-4
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