DOCSLIB.ORG

Is the United States Losing Turkey?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Is the United States Losing Turkey? WHITE PAPER HUDSON Spring 2007 INSTITUTE IS THE UNITED STATES LOSING TURKEY? RAJAN MENON Monroe J. Rathbone Professor of Inter national Relations, Lehigh University Adjunct Fellow, Hudson Institute S. ENDERS WIMBUSH Director, Center for Future Security Strategies, Hudson Institute Is The United States Losing Turkey? RAJAN MENON Monroe J. Rathbone Professor of International Relations, Lehigh University, Adjunct Fellow, Hudson Institute S. ENDERS WIMBUSH Director, Center for Future Security Strategies, Hudson Institute Executive Summary is facing up to this reality, let alone taking serious remedial measures, nor even making concerted efforts n February 5th and 6th, 2007, the Hudson to understand the new political currents within each Institute, with support from the Smith other’s societies. O Richardson Foundation, convened a small If this neglect continues, the price paid by both sides workshop of noted specialists on Turkey, Europe, and will be steep. It is becoming increasingly clear that international security to assess the state of America’s Washington and Ankara see the world and define their alliance with Turkey and, more specifically, to ascer- interests in divergent ways. If allowed to continue, this tain whether the United States risks “losing” Turkey trend could well undo the alliance. The good news is as a long-time and critical ally. The workshop was that there is still time to act, providing senior leaders part of a project directed by Rajan Men on, professor on both sides move with dispatch. It is urgent that they of international relations at Lehigh University and do so, for despite the end of the Cold War, which adjunct fellow at Hudson Institute. S. Enders Wim- provided a clear rationale for their alliance for four bush, director of the Center for Future Security decades, Ankara and Washington still need each other, Strategies at the Hudson Institute, served as chairman perhaps more so because they now face multiple and of the workshop. This report, while it draws on the unfamiliar threats, not least those posed by terrorism. discussions that occurred during the workshop, is an The most important source of discord between independent analysis written by Messrs. Menon and Turkey and the United States is the war in Iraq. Wimbush. The memoranda prepared by the experts in Ankara fears that Iraq will break up as a result of the advance of the workshop and the list of participants war and that a separate Kurdish state will arise, creat- appear in the appendix to this document. ing even greater disorder and stoking separatist senti- The alliance between the United States and Turkey, ment in Turkey’s southeast, and increasing paramili- which has endured since the 1947 Truman Doctrine tary and terrorist attacks by the Kurdish separatist and has contributed to the security of both countries, organization, the PKK. Washington, for its part, feels is now in serious trouble. What is worse, neither side betrayed by the Turkish parliament’s rejection of its HUDSON INSTITUTE 1 Spring 2007 HUDSON INSTITUTE 2 Spring 2007 request to open a second front from Turkey’s territo- • Establish high-level joint working groups that are ry against Saddam Hussein’s army in the run-up to the tasked with proposing concrete measures to safeguard 2003 war. But more fundamentally, the Bush admin- the alliance and to ensure its relevance for the post- istration is preoccupied by the wars in Iraq and Cold War world. Afghanistan and seems to have relegated Turkey to the back burner—or so it appears to many Turks. • Make Turkey a central partner in fashioning a polit- The widespread belief among Turks that the United ical settlement in Iraq and engage in regular consulta- States undertook the Iraq war without regard to the tions and joint planning to this end. consequences for Turkey’s security and that Wash - ington now seeks to punish it for the Turkish parlia- • Work with both the Kurdistan Regional Govern - ment’s vote has created enormous resentment toward ment (KRG) in northern Iraq and the Turkish leader- the United States. This sentiment is reflected across ship to prevent the dispute over the oil-rich city of the political spectrum. It is evident among elites, in- Kirkuk in northern Iraq (contested by the Kurds and cluding the leadership of the Turkish military, by the Turkmen, who are supported by Turkey) from arguably the country’s most influential institution, but precipitating open warfare and possible Turkish inter- also pervades society more generally. Opinion polls vention, which could further dent America’s alliance show that Turks, who once viewed the United States with Turkey. as an ally and friend, increasingly see it not just as unfriendly, but as a direct threat to their national secu- • Fashion a “grand bargain” between the KRG and rity. As a result, influential Turks, government officials Turkey that includes specific and enforceable provi- and foreign policy experts alike, are discussing a stra - sions to assure the KRG that Turkey will not invade tegic reassessment. This reorientation would involve Iraqi Kurdistan to forestall the possibility of an inde- building deep ties with new partners, among them pendent Kurdish state and to guarantee Turkey that Russia, China, Iran, and Syria, and would, moreover, the KRG will not permit the PKK to use northern Iraq abandon the longstanding premise that the United as a base of operations. States remains the indispensable ally. It would be mistaken for the United States to dis- —Rajan Menon and S. Enders Wimbush, miss these discussions as bluster. Turkey remains a 25 March 2007 crucial ally in the struggle against terrorism; it is a sec- ular and democratic Muslim country; it sits atop an arc extending from Israel to Central Asia, a zone of actual or potential upheaval and war; it abuts water- THE PROJECT ways critical to the flow of commerce, particularly oil; its territory is a corridor for the strategically impor- n February 5th and 6th, 2007, the Hudson tant Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline; and its cooperation is Insti tute, with support from the Smith Rich - key to a durable settlement in Iraq and to an effective O ardson Foundation, convened a small work- policy to counter the challenges posed by a resurgent shop of noted specialists on Turkey, Europe, and inter- (and potentially nuclear-armed) Iran. national security to assess the state of America’s alli - Washington must take urgent steps to protect the ance with Turkey and, more specifically, to ascertain US-Turkish alliance from further harm: whether the United States risks ‘losing’ Turkey as a long-time and critical ally. The workshop was part of • Recognize that its alliance with Turkey could be in a project directed by Rajan Menon, professor of inter- jeopardy. national relations at Lehigh University and fellow at the New America Foundation. S. Enders Wimbush, HUDSON INSTITUTE 3 Spring 2007 director of the Center for Future Security Strategies The Islamic party that now governs Turkey favors a at the Hudson Institute, served as chairman of the strong relationship with the United States and had workshop. sought (albeit without success) to convince the In advance of the meeting, the participants were Turkish parliament to authorize the opening of a sec- requested to prepare brief memoranda covering the ond American military front against Saddam Hus - issues that they regard as pivotal to the future of the sein’s army from Turkish soil in March 2003, and is Ankara-Washington alliance. (The list of participants demonstrably committed to gaining membership in and their memoranda are in the appendix.) They the European Union (EU). Still, the domestic sources were asked to address the following points during the of Turkish politics are different now, and this makes workshop itself: for a Turkey that is less familiar, and hence more com- plicated for Americans to understand. • The principal threats to a robust and mutually ben- Whether it is the Kemalists or the Islamists, howev- eficial US-Turkish relationship. er, the possibility that Turkey could reassess its long- standing strategy, which has been anchored in the alli - • Alternative pathways for US-Turkish relations, inclu - ance with the United States, is quite real given that the ding those involving a breakdown of the partnership. bilateral relationship now faces a crisis. Indeed, some of Turkey’s foreign policy choices—which are being • The most important areas of ongoing convergence discussed forthrightly in influential Turkish circles— that continue to provide a solid basis to strengthen the involve reducing its reliance on the United States, or alliance despite the rough waters it is now charting. even turning away from Washington, and deepening ties with America’s competitors. This could precipitate • Policies that could rescue the relationship from its what one of the workshop participants, Ronald Asmus, current troubled state so that it can be revived and dubbed “a strategic rupture.” Accompanying Turkish made relevant to the challenges of the twenty-first discussions about a new strategic orientation has been century. the growth a deep anti-Western, and specifically anti- American, mood—one that now shapes the thinking There was a strong consensus among the participants of Turks, regardless of political persuasion, and that that the US-Turkish alliance is at a crossroads and has sunk deep roots among the Kemalists (civilian and that, unless the problems plaguing it are given imme- military), America’s traditional interlocutors. diate attention and corrective measures are taken, a These threats to the alliance seem to go unnoticed strategic partnership that has endured for a generation by American leaders (both Democrats and Repub - could dissolve, with Turkey rethinking its foreign and licans) or are noted but regarded as little more than a national security strategy in ways that involve new rough patch that does not threaten the fundamentals priorities and partners.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Turkey and Iraq: the Perils (And Prospects) of Proximity
    UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE www.usip.org SPECIAL REPORT 1200 17th Street NW • Washington, DC 20036 • 202.457.1700 • fax 202.429.6063 ABOUT THE REPORT I RAQ AND I TS N EIGHBORS Iraq’s neighbors are playing a major role—both positive and negative—in the stabilization and reconstruction of “the new Iraq.” As part of the Institute’s “Iraq and Henri J. Barkey Its Neighbors” project, a group of leading specialists on the geopolitics of the region and on the domestic politics of the individual countries is assessing the interests and influence of the countries surrounding Iraq. In addition, these specialists are examining how Turkey and Iraq the situation in Iraq is impacting U.S. bilateral relations with these countries. Henri Barkey’s report on Turkey is the first in a series of USIP special reports on “Iraq The Perils (and Prospects) of Proximity and Its Neighbors” to be published over the next few months. Next in the series will be a study on Iran by Geoffrey Kemp of the Nixon Center. The “Iraq and Its Neighbors” project is directed by Scott Lasensky of the Institute’s Research and Studies Program. For an overview of the topic, see Phebe Marr and Scott Lasensky, “An Opening at Sharm el-Sheikh,” Beirut Daily Star, November 20, 2004. Henri J. Barkey is the Bernard L. and Bertha F. Cohen Professor of international relations at Lehigh University. He served as a member of the U.S. State Department Policy Planning Staff (1998–2000), working primarily on issues related to the Middle East, the eastern Mediterranean, and intelligence matters.
    [Show full text]
  • Turkmen of Iraq
    Turkmen of Iraq By Mofak Salman Kerkuklu 1 Mofak Salman Kerkuklu Turkmen of Iraq Dublin –Ireland- 2007 2 The Author Mofak Salman Kerkuklu graduated in England with a BSc Honours in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Oxford Brookes University and completed MSc’s in both Medical Electronic and Physics at London University and a MSc in Computing Science and Information Technology at South Bank University. He is also a qualified Charter Engineer from the Institution of Engineers of Ireland. Mr. Mofak Salman is an author of a book “ Brief History of Iraqi Turkmen”. He is the Turkmeneli Party representative for both Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. He has written a large number of articles that were published in various newspapers. 3 Purpose and Scope This book was written with two clear objectives. Firstly, to make an assessment of the current position of Turkmen in Iraq, and secondly, to draw the world’s attention to the situation of the Turkmen. This book would not have been written without the support of Turkmen all over the world. I wish to reveal to the world the political situation and suffering of the Iraqi Turkmen under the Iraqi regime, and to expose Iraqi Kurdish bandits and reveal their premeditated plan to change the demography of the Turkmen-populated area. I would like to dedicate this book to every Turkmen who has been detained in Iraqi prisons; to Turkmen who died under torture in Iraqi prisons; to all Turkmen whose sons and daughters were executed by the Iraqi regime; to all Turkmen who fought and died without seeing a free Turkmen homeland; and to the Turkmen City of Kerkuk, which is a bastion of cultural and political life for the Turkmen resisting the Kurdish occupation.
    [Show full text]
  • Kurdistan Rising? Considerations for Kurds, Their Neighbors, and the Region
    KURDISTAN RISING? CONSIDERATIONS FOR KURDS, THEIR NEIGHBORS, AND THE REGION Michael Rubin AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE Kurdistan Rising? Considerations for Kurds, Their Neighbors, and the Region Michael Rubin June 2016 American Enterprise Institute © 2016 by the American Enterprise Institute. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced in any man- ner whatsoever without permission in writing from the American Enterprise Institute except in the case of brief quotations embodied in news articles, critical articles, or reviews. The views expressed in the publications of the American Enterprise Institute are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff, advisory panels, officers, or trustees of AEI. American Enterprise Institute 1150 17th St. NW Washington, DC 20036 www.aei.org. Cover image: Grand Millennium Sualimani Hotel in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan, by Diyar Muhammed, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons. Contents Executive Summary 1 1. Who Are the Kurds? 5 2. Is This Kurdistan’s Moment? 19 3. What Do the Kurds Want? 27 4. What Form of Government Will Kurdistan Embrace? 56 5. Would Kurdistan Have a Viable Economy? 64 6. Would Kurdistan Be a State of Law? 91 7. What Services Would Kurdistan Provide Its Citizens? 101 8. Could Kurdistan Defend Itself Militarily and Diplomatically? 107 9. Does the United States Have a Coherent Kurdistan Policy? 119 Notes 125 Acknowledgments 137 About the Author 139 iii Executive Summary wo decades ago, most US officials would have been hard-pressed Tto place Kurdistan on a map, let alone consider Kurds as allies. Today, Kurds have largely won over Washington.
    [Show full text]
  • Minority Rights in Iraq and Prospects for the Iraqi Turkmen Within Iraq Stefan Wolff [email protected] | | @Stefwolff
    Minority rights in Iraq and prospects for the Iraqi Turkmen within Iraq Stefan Wolff [email protected] | www.stefanwolff.com | @stefwolff Introduction Turkmen are the third-largest population group in Iraq with between 600,000 and 2 million members who have a strong sense of their distinct identity and have preserved their native language. They live concentrated in the north of Iraq in the Kurdistan Region and in the so-called disputed territories. The largest concentration of Turkmen live in the city and province of Kirkuk. Approximately 60% of Iraqi Turkmen are Sunni Muslims. Turkmens’ suffering under Saddam Hussein has been officially recognised in the Preamble of the Iraqi Constitution of 2005. Yet even in the new Iraq, Turkmen continue to be affected by ethnic and sectarian violence and discrimination. The legal framework of minority rights in Iraq The relevant legal framework for the rights of Turkmen (and other communities) in Iraq consists of applicable international standards, the Iraqi Constitution of 2005, and the Kurdistan Regional Constitution of 2009. So far, no comprehensive minority rights or anti-discrimination law has been passed, and provisions in existing legislation (such as the Criminal Code or the labour Code) allow for potential discrimination. Applicable international legal standards Iraq is a signatory to various relevant international documents, including (in chronological order): the ILO Convention 111 concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation (1958), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights (1966), and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965).
    [Show full text]
  • The Iraqi Turkmen (1921-2005)
    THE IRAQI TURKMEN (1921-2005) The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University by A. Gökhan KAYILI In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS BILKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA August 2005 I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in International Relations. Asst. Prof. Nur Bilge Criss Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in International Relations. Asst. Prof. Türel Yılmaz Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in International Relations. Asst. Prof. Hasan Ünal Examining Committee Member Approval of the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Erdal Erel Director ABSTRACT THE IRAQI TURKMEN (1921-2005) Kayılı, A.Gökhan M.I.R, Department of International Relations Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Dr. Nur Bilge Criss August 2005 This thesis evaluates the situation of the Iraqi Turkmen between 1921-2005 in terms of the important developments in Iraq. The Iraqi Turkmen could not organize politically due to the oppressive Iraqi regimes in the period between 1921-1991. They started to carry out political activities openly after the Gulf War II in Northern Iraq. The Turkmen who are the third largest ethnic population in Iraq, pursue the policy of keeping the integrity of Iraqi territory, enjoying the same equal rights as the other ethnic groups and being a founding member in the constitution.
    [Show full text]
  • The Current Situation of the Indigenous Turkmen of Iraq Thank You Mr
    UNITED NATIONS Mr. Mofak Salman 12, Sub-Commission on the Promotion and village Close Kilbreck, Stamullen Co-Meath, Protection of Human Rights Ireland Tel: GO 353 1 Working Group on Indigenous Populations 841 6676 Twenty-fourth session' 31 July to 4 August 2006 Email: msalman(a)eircom.net Agenda item (4a) The current situation of the Indigenous Turkmen of Iraq Thank you Mr. Chairperson Honorable delegates, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Mofak Salman, I am honoured today to have been granted this opportunity to partake in the twenty-fourth session. Protection of Human Rights and Working Group on Indigenous Populations. My objective is to draw your attention to the current situation of the indigenous Turkmen in Iraq. Although their history traces them to one of the oldest people of the modern Iraq, they have been and continue to be systematically deprived of their basic human rights and ethnic survival in the region. Over the centuries, Turkmen played a constructive role in Iraq defending the country against foreign invaders and contributing to the civilization of the society. Turkmen lived in harmony with all ethnic groups around them but since Iraqi independence from the British Mandate in 1932, the government of Iraq has failed to implement a democratic and pluralistic constitution and government, one that endorses, protects and secures the right of the Turkmen nation. Since 1932, the Turkmen began to experience a different situation. They were removed from the administration, pushed into isolation and ignored. Then, their fundamental human rights in culture and education were violated by the closure of their schools.
    [Show full text]
  • The Linguistic Situation Among the Iraqi Turkmen of Kirkuk: a Sociolinguistic Study
    i The Linguistic Situation among the Iraqi Turkmen of Kirkuk: A Sociolinguistic Study الوضع اللغوي بين التركمان العراقيين في كركوك دراسة لغوية اجتماعية Prepared by: Sara Mohammad Sana Dhyaa Supervised by: Dr. Abd Al-Rahmanm Abu Hilal A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master's Degree of Arts in English Language and Literature Department of English Language and Literature Faculty of Arts and Sciences Middle East University June, 2020 ii Authorization iii Thesis Committee Decision iv Acknowledgments I present my thankfulness to mighty Allah for helping and giving me the chance to finish this thesis.and I present my thankfulness to my supervisor. I would never have been able to finish my thesis without the encouragement of family and friends. I would also like to thank my committee members for sharing their precious time and knowledge with me. I would also like to thank my mother,Father and brother for their love and encouragement . Finally, I would like to express special thanks to my best friend, Maryam Qadan, for standing by my side all the way. v Dedication I dedicate this work to the precious people who are always with me To my Father, Mother, Brother, My sister in low. And to my Best friends, Maryam Qadan, Rania Qadan, Heba Qadan, Razan and Renad Habashna. vi Table of Contents Title .................................................................................................................................... i Authorization ...................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization in Cooperation With
    Alternative Report submitted to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination for the consideration of the 15th to 21st Reports of the Republic of Iraq during the 85th session (11-29 August 2014) Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization in cooperation with Iraqi Turkmen Front July 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction to the report II. Introduction to the Assyrians, Turkmen and Kurds III. Compliance with ICERD: Article 1.1 – Definition of Racial Discrimination Article 2.1 – Elimination of Racial Discrimination Article 5(b) – The Right to Security of Person Article 5(c) – Political Rights Article 5(d) (vii) The Right to Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion Article 5(e) (i) (v) – Economic, Social and Cultural Rights IV. Recommendations Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization International Secretariat Laan van Meerdervoort 70 2517AN The Hague The Netherlands www.unpo.org 1 I. INTRODUCTION TO THE REPORT This alternative report is submitted by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) in collaboration with the Iraqi Turkmen Front on the occasion of the 85th session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (hereinafter the Committee) during which the 15th to 21st periodic report of the Republic of Iraq will be considered. This alternative report has been structured to comment upon the articles of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (hereinafter ICERD) thematically. It will be followed by recommendations to be made to the Iraqi delegation at the 85th session in the final chapter of the report. This alternative report will focus on the situation of Assyrians, Turkmen and Kurds in Iraq and the government’s compliance to and implementation of the provisions in the ICERD as it affects these particular groups.
    [Show full text]
  • Brief Historyof Turkmen City of Tuz Khormatu
    The Turkmen City of Tuz Khormatu ﺗﺄرﻳﺦ ﻣﺪﻳﻨﺔ ﻃﻮز ﺧﻮرﻣﺎﺗﻮ اﻟﺘﺮآﻤﺎﻧﻴﺔ Mofak Salman Kerkuklu Ireland, Dublin 2008 Contents Contents 2 The author 5 Purpose and scope 6 Chapter One: Introduction 7 1.1 The Turkmen in Iraq 7 1.2 Geographical location of Tuz Khormatu 8 1.3 Agricultural products 15 1.4 Religion of the Turkmen 18 Chapter Two 21 2.1 The Jews of Tuz Khormatu 21 2.2 Jewish social life 22 2.3 Migration of the Jews 23 2.4 Jewish religious festivals 24 Chapter Three 25 3.1 The language of the Turkmen 25 3.2 Education 26 3.3 Population of the Turkmen in Tuz Khormatu 27 3.4 The Turkmen tribes in Tuz Khormatu 28 3.4.1 Khatlan tribe 28 3.4.2 Bender tribe 29 3.4.3 Chayir tribe 29 3.4.4 Kara Ulus tribe 29 3.4.5 Wali Ali ‘DAlalwa’ clan 29 3.4.6 Asaffi clan 30 3.4.7 Musawi clan 30 3.4.8 Deffa clan 30 3.4.9 Sarayli tribe 30 3.4.10 Al_Wandiwi clan 30 Chapter Four: The political and religious movement in Tuz Khormatu 32 4.1 The Bektes Underground Movement 32 4.2 The political movement during the monarchy 32 4.3 The Turkmen Shi’aa movement 33 4.4 The Turkmen National Movement 33 4.5 Hizb Aldawa Al_Islami (Al_Dawa Party) 33 4.6 The Kurdish movement in Tuz Khormatu 34 4.7 Social Ba’ath Party 34 Chapter Five: Culture and literature 35 5.1 Akram Tuzlu 35 5.2 Salahadin Naci Hamid Wali (Salahadin Nacioglu) 37 5.3 Hassan Wali Ali Demerci (1924–1995) 40 5.4 Mr Mohammed Mehdi Bayat (1950) 40 5.6 Eryan Wali Ali Demerci 41 5.7 Ramzi Naji Chaoish 41 5.8 Mohammed Koja 42 5.9 Ak Su Doygun Nuri Ahmed (Ak Su) 43 5.10 Cevdat Zaynal Abdin Amin (Qazioglu) (1968) 43
    [Show full text]
  • Turkey's Nationalist Course: Implications for the U.S.-Turkish Strategic Partnership and the U.S. Army
    TURKEY’S NATIONALIST COURSE Implications for the U.S.-Turkish Strategic Partnership and the U.S. Army Stephen J. Flanagan, F. Stephen Larrabee, Anika Binnendijk, Katherine Costello, Shira Efron, James Hoobler, Magdalena Kirchner, Jeffrey Martini, Alireza Nader, Peter A. Wilson C O R P O R A T I O N For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR2589 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-1-9774-0141-0 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2020 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Cover: Rouhani, Putin, and Erdogan: Tolga Bozoglu/AP. Erdogan Stoltenberg: AP. Istanbul: Kivanc Turkalp/Getty Images/iStockphoto. Cover design by Rick Penn-Kraus Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.
    [Show full text]
  • IRAQ: the Situation of Ethnic and Religious Minorities Briefing Paper
    IRAQ: The Situation of Ethnic and Religious Minorities Briefing paper D-IQ Meeting, European Parliament 20 June 2013 Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization Brussels Iraq: T IRAQ: The Situation of Ethnic and Religious Minorities Iraq’s ethnic and religious composition One of the most distinctive aspects characterising the population of Iraq is its unique religious and ethnic diversity. Based on the World Bank’s statistics, Iraq’s population reaches approximately 33 million people, and is composed of a number of ethnic and religious minorities. This includes Christians, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, and Yezidi’s, among the range of minority groups in Iraq. According to Minority Rights Group International, approximately 96 per cent of the country is Muslim. The overwhelming majority is divided into a large Shi'a Arab majority, a Sunni Arab minority, and an ethnic Kurdish minority that is also overwhelmingly Sunni. An estimated 10 per cent of the population is composed of ethnic Shabaks, Turkmens, Faili Kurds, Palestinians, Roma, Christians, Sabian-Mandaeans, Yezidis and Baha'i’s, with the majority being both Shi'a and Sunni adherents. The legal framework for protection of minorities in Iraq The Iraqi Constitution recognises that ‘Iraq is a country of multiple nationalities, religions, and sects’ with two official languages: Arabic and Kurdish. It also makes provision for the protection of linguistic rights for the Turkmen and Syriac languages. Moreover, the Constitution enshrines the principle of non-discrimination and the equality of all Iraq’s, and guarantees the administrative, political, cultural and educational rights of all the nationalities in Iraq. While these are robust provisions, in reality Iraqi minorities do not enjoy even the most basic human rights, as guaranteed by the Constitution.
    [Show full text]
  • Turkmens, the Soft Underbelly of the War in Northern Iraq | the Washington Institute
    MENU Policy Analysis / PolicyWatch 735 Turkmens, the Soft Underbelly of the War in Northern Iraq by Soner Cagaptay Mar 27, 2003 ABOUT THE AUTHORS Soner Cagaptay Soner Cagaptay is the Beyer Family fellow and director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute. Brief Analysis ith the northern front in Iraq being officially launched today, coalition forces may soon move toward the W city of Kirkuk, which they began bombing on March 21. Kirkuk, claimed by Kurds as the prospective capital of a Kurdish region in postwar Iraq, is the bastion of the Turkmens, a Turkish-speaking community that shares close historical, social, and cultural ties with the Anatolian Turks in neighboring Turkey. Their fortunes will be closely scrutinized in Turkey during and after Operation Iraqi Freedom. If Turks feel that the Turkmen community is being discriminated against or threatened, they could force Ankara to take action, perhaps undermining what remains of U.S.-Turkish cooperation in Iraq. Background No reliable contemporary data are available on the size of the Turkmen population. The 1957 Iraqi census -- the last in which the Turkmens were permitted to register -- counted 567,000 Turkmens (9 percent of the population) among Iraq's population of 6,300,000. The census also counted 819,000 Kurds (13 percent of the population). The Turkmens' ratio in the Iraqi population may have dropped since then. The Turkmens are more urban and middle-class than Iraq's other Muslim communities, so they are likely to have experienced slower population growth. Moreover, the Ba'ath regime's forced Arabization policies -- including a ban on non-Arabic education, broadcast, and associations as well as expulsion of non-Arabs from the major cities of northern Iraq -- seem to have had some impact on the Turkmens.
    [Show full text]