ORSAM POLICY BRIEF 180 JULY 2021 SITUATION OF THE TURKMENS IN THE 62ND ANNIVERSARY OF THE KIRKUK MASSACRE Adil Zineelabdin INTRODUCTION around Kirkuk and operated against the Brit- ish army, resulting in the implementation of any massacres were committed an exclusion policy targeting the Turkmens against the Turkmens, the third larg- M by the British. est segment of the society in the Kingdom of Iraq that was established in On 14 July 1959, the massacre of Kirkuk 1921 by the British. In order to fight against took place, which targeted the Turkmen the British occupation during the period of presence in Kirkuk and its vicinity, and con- kingdom, anti-British groups were formed stituted one of the biggest tragedies for the Situation of the Turkmens in the 62nd Anniversary of the Kirkuk Massacre Iraqi Turkmens. Before the Assoc. Prof. Necdet Koçak, massacre against the Turk- Colonel Abdullah Abdurrah- mens in Kirkuk in 1959, the man, Dr. Rıza Demirci and Adil British forces had been mas- Şerif. Later in the same year, sacring the Turkmens of Tel approximately 70 Turkmen in- Afar, who ignited the Iraqi re- tellectuals shared the same volt of 1920. The first attempt fate. In the following years, at massacre in Kirkuk against during the Baath regime, more the Turkmens who resisted the than 100 Turkmens were killed British occupation forces took and their leaders were hanged place on 4 May 1924. There during the massacre of Al- were efforts to portray the tun Kupri in 1991, which is the event, where 56 Muslims and second biggest trauma for the The date of 14 several Christians lost their Turkmen people. While hun- July 1959 marks lives while 110 people were dreds of executions and as- the Massacre of injured, as a Christian-Muslim sassinations were committed Kirkuk, in which the conflict.1 The situation further against the Turkmen society Turkmen presence deteriorated in 1946 when in different regions during the in and around workers, who were working Baath regime, the Turkmens Kirkuk was targeted under harsh conditions in oil have been faced with serious and which is one companies in Kirkuk, started a human rights violations after the biggest traumas strike that resulted in most of 2003 by terrorist organizations experienced by the them to be arrested. Around such as al-Qaeda, ISIS, PKK Iraqi Turkmens. 20 people, mostly Turkmens, as well as by different armed However, the lost their lives when the secu- groups. killings of the rity forces opened fire.2 Turkmens did not The 1959 Kirkuk Massa- end with the 1959 The date of 14 July 1959 cre, which holds a critical im- massacre. marks the Massacre of Kirkuk, portance in the memory of in which the Turkmen pres- the Turkmen society, is also ence in and around Kirkuk was considered a turning point for targeted and which is one the Iraq. The 1959 Kirkuk Massa- biggest traumas experienced cre stands out as an import- by the Iraqi Turkmens. Howev- ant development that led to er, the killings of the Turkmens the overthrow of the socialists, did not end with the 1959 mas- who increased their influence sacre. On 16 January 1980, in Iraq with the November the Saddam Hussein regime coup. As a matter of fact, after hanged the Turkmen leaders the Kirkuk Massacre, the Iraqi 1 Azizi Kadir Samancı, Tarih el-Siyasi li-Turkman el-Irak, Darul Saki, Beyrut 1999, pp. 124 2 Mahir Nakip, Kerkük ve Haviyatuha el-Kavmiye, (Çev: Habib Hürmüzlü), Kerkük Vakfı, 2008, pp. 123. 2 policy brief 180 Adil Zineelabdin Turkmens commemorate the victims of the 14 July Massacre. public started to turn against the socialists; 1. THE SITUATION OF TURKMENS and the massacre, which was welcomed by DURING THE PERIOD OF the nationalists, marked the beginning of the KINGDOM end for socialist influence in the country. De- Turkmens, who had the right to choose spite the strong reaction to the massacre, no to settle in Turkey according to the Articles step seems to have been taken in the poli- 30-36 of the Treaty of Lausanne of 24 July tics against the victimization and exclusion 1923, did not abandon their homeland and of Turkmens in Iraq, which has undergone chose to stay in Iraq.3 Like other communi- rapid and radical changes since 1959. ties in Iraq, the Turkmens fought against the British for the establishment of a national One could argue that the seeds of hostil- government in Iraq, alongside other resis- ity between ethnic and religious groups liv- tance movements in the north and south ing in Kirkuk were sown with the Kirkuk mas- of the country. After the British gained full sacre. This article thus presents suggestions control over Iraq in 1918, the resistance of and ideas lest similar events take place be- the Turkmens against the British occupation tween the Turkmens and other groups living continued. During the Iraqi rebellion that in Kirkuk and other regions. started in 1920, the Turkmens showed signif- 3 Şakir Sabir el-Zabıt, Mucez Tarih el-Turkman Fil Irak, Marif Basımı, 2007 Bağdat, p. 68. www.orsam.org.tr 3 Situation of the Turkmens in the 62nd Anniversary of the Kirkuk Massacre icant resistance against the British in Kirkuk, right to education in their own language. Tal Afar, Tuz Khourmatu and the surrounding However, despite these binding legal provi- villages of Bayat, Khaneqin and Mandali. The sions, the Turkmen language was taught as “Kaçakaç” incidents that started in Tal Afar a foreign language in Kirkuk for a few hours are one of the important factors that trig- a week from 1931 to 1937, when the courses gered the 1920 Iraqi Revolt.4 were completely cancelled.6 Turkmens in Iraq stood against the im- As the educational and cultural rights of position of the kingdom regime on the peo- the Turkmens were snatched away by the ple by the British. Due to their anti-British state, the teachers in the Turkmen regions stance, they were prohibited from publish- were sent to other regions in Iraq. In addi- ing newspapers in Turkmen (Turkish) lan- tion, the attacks by the Levi forces against guage, despite the freedom of expression Turkmens in the Kirkuk Citadel in 1924, and guaranteed by the 1925 Iraqi Qanun al-Asasi the 1946 Gavurbağı incidents reveal the op- (the first constitution of modern Iraq).5 In ad- pression against the Turkmens by the Brit- dition, Turkmens were not allowed to partic- ish-backed governments. Turkmens, who ipate in political parties and were deprived were excluded from politics, were kept as of their political rights. Despite the Article 16 workers and lower-class employees in oil of the Qanun al-Asasi, which provided that companies in Kirkuk. The systematic exclu- all ethnic groups can open schools in order sion policies of the British against the Turk- to receive education in their own language, mens excluded them from decision mech- schools providing education in Turkmen anisms. were banned. The Turkmen officers in the Iraqi Army After 1931, courses in Turkmen in Arbil during the monarchy period were also known and other Turkmen regions outside Kirkuk to be against the occupation at that time. For were cancelled. This decision of the Iraqi example, Ömer Ali Bayraktar played an im- government was in violation of the provi- portant role in the 1948 Israeli-Arab war and sions of the Local Languages Law No. 74 inflicted great defeats on the Israeli forces by of 1931, according to which the language of acting against the instructions of the British education in primary schools in Duhok and to Nuri Said. The representation of Turkmens Sheikhan districts in Mosul province, Ar- in the Iraqi government was limited during bil and Makhmur districts in Arbil province, the monarchy period. In the government and Kirkuk and Qifri districts in Kirkuk prov- established in 1925 under the presidency of ince shall be in the mother language of the Abdurrahman Nakip, Izzet Pasha, who was majority of the students. Iraqi Prime Minister of Turkmen origin, temporarily served as Nuri Said stated to the League of Nations in the Minister of Education, then as the Min- 1932 that the ethnic groups in Iraq had the ister of Health and the Minister of Labor and 4 Cafer Telaferlı, Mucaz Tarih Telafer, 2012, p. 79. 5 Habib Hürmüzlü, Meczeret Kerkuk Temmuz 1959, Fuzuli Basım ve Yayım Evi, Kerkük 2020, p. 17. 6 Habib Hürmüzlü, Tarih el-Talim fil Irak ve Abaduha el-Kanuniye”, ORSAM, (E.T. 04.06.2021), https://www.orsam.org.tr/ar/history- and-legal-dimension-of-turkish-education-in-iraq/ 4 policy brief 180 Adil Zineelabdin Transport, before submitting Qasim, increased their activ- his resignation in the following ities in the Turkmen regions, period.7 The representation of particularly in Kirkuk. Even in the Turkmens in the Iraqi gov- the first months of the 1958 ernment was weak, and many revolution, tensions increased Turkmen leaders and intellec- and small-scale clashes took tuals were exiled. place between the Turkmens and socialist radical Kurdish 2. IMPORTANT EVENTS groups, which were appeased BEFORE THE 1959 before further escalation.8 KIRKUK MASSACRE In 1958, a rift emerged be- Turkmens, who were ex- tween Abd al-Karim Qasim cluded by the British during and the military junta that the monarchy period, pinned overthrew the kingdom. A dis- hope on the reforms to be agreement arose between Socialist Kurdish brought by the republic estab- Prime Minister Abd al-Karim groups, accusing lished by Qasim in 1958. How- Qasim, and Abd al-Selam Arif, the Turkmens of ever, this hope proved to be who wanted to join the Unit- working for Turkey short-lived as the 1958 Con- ed Arab Republic.