Iraqi President Jalal Talabani during an Exclusive interview to RFE/RL on 5 October, answered varies range Questions, from preparation for Iraq’s October 15 referendum to situation of minorities in northern Iraq. For a Question of minority treatment by local Kurdish authorities [focus on Turkmen people] Talabani dismissed all kind of allegations that Kurdish authorities putting pressure on Turkmen people. During an interview which last in 10 minutes he said, there is no pressure on Turkmen people, they are enjoying all kind of rights including right of having Newspapers, Turkmen Language even the militia for themselves.

Talabani also said many of Turkmen parties are alliance of Kurdish groups, and they maintain good relationship with each other, the rights which Turkmen’s enjoying recently never been in Iraqi history. He denied the accusation against Kurdish local authorities in which they accused of encouraging Kurd people to resettle in Kirkuk to change ethnic balance in the city.

He said [this is the false accusation. This is not true at all. What is going on is that those deportees are going back to home, and it according to the decision of Iraqi opposition conference’s article 58. That deportee from Kirkuk, “Kurds and Turkmen” must go back and those who was brought “to Kirkuk” according to the ethnic cleansing policy of Saddam Hussien must go back]

However Ahmet Muratli the representative of Iraqi Turkmen front in Ankara reflects another side of the picture, during his Interview in a same day to RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service, he said [The comment of Talabani does not reflect reality. We are also not against Article 58, but until today -- by bringing people from northern Iraq, from Syria and from Iran and giving them false documents -- they (Kurdish authorities) are trying to increase the number of the Iraqi Kurdish population. When we meet with those newcomers, they admit that they are brought by force (to the region) in exchange for money in order to build a Kurdish majority in Kirkuk.”

The issue of ethnicity in Northern Iraq spark up, soon after falling Saddam Hussein’s regime in Kirkuk, some Turkish sources says, that as forces loyal to Saddam Hussein disappears from Kirkuk “in 2003” Kurdish peshmergas take over the control all over the Govt. property, including the office of population statistics. Where all records of population later been put on fire. This act, which declared as a part of looting by local authorities, Turkmen’s interpret it in different way. According Turkmen Journalist Kemal Kirkuklu “ this was part of Kurdish policy to delete all evidence regarding ethnic balance of the city, and it was part of Kurdish Leaders plan to bring thousands of Kurds to settle in Kirkuk, to be able to change ethnicity of the city”.

During his Interview to RFE/RL Talabani not only dismissed all such allegations, he also indicate there are lots of people yet to resettle in Kirkuk. He said [we can not send non-Kirkuk is to Kirkuk, believe me yet real Kirkukis are not back to their own places, because it’s not so easy to bring those families, who need houses, money. in any way there is no pressure to Turkmen’s] he said.

Ahmed Muratli of Iraqi Turkmen front, rejects these comment of Talabani, by saying, there are huge work been taking place by help of US armies to change the ethnic balance of Kirkuk, he gives example of recent election saying. [As we know, the election in Iraq was held in the shadow of the gun. There were lots of irregularities. If any Turkmen went to cast his vote, this cast vote never came out of the ballot boxes (to be counted). The world is slowly getting the real picture. To show the Turkmen as a minority less than they really are, they (Kurdish authorities) stole ballot boxes. They burned some stolen ballot boxes and they didn’t allow Turkmen people to get into the polling stations. The Kurds themselves also voted with false documents. Some people voted – the same person -- in Arbil, in Mosul and even in Kirkuk. Can you imagine that in a town like Dohuk the number of cast votes was more than the number of inhabitants? How can it be that 85 percent of the whole population was eligible to vote?”

However there was no such Question [as Muratli asks] been forwarded to Talabani, but he blamed some of Turkmen leaders, calling them extremist and accused them by exaggerating the number of people. He said some Turkmen groups says that they are three, four million, while they are less then one million]. Talabani also said that the recent election proved that they are “eds:- turkmen front” not popular, they could not get more than 90 thousand votes from what they claimed as four million Turkmen.

However Muratli of Iraqi Turkmen front, called the Talabani, to conduct census, in monitoring of UN to get clear picture of the Turkmen and Kurdish population in the area. He also said, he don’t believe that Kurds are making up to 25% of Iraqi population as they says, it’s only 17% of the population, this fact will also be clear if the census toke place in international standards] said Muratli

During this short but hot Interview Jalal Talabani, went on by giving reference of result of recent elections [now when they “Turkmen” saw that the big majority of the Kirkuk area is voting for the Kurdistan list, they “Turkmen” must go and make some kind of accusation. They must go and find “get” some kind of pretext in their hands to tell their master why Kirkuk is not with us because Kurds are sending people]

The word of “master” however was not clear, to whom Talabani was referring to, but he have seen truly angry on his last minutes of the Interview. But the Question of statues of Kirkuk still remained unclear. But if the comment of Jalal Talabani been take into account, in case of referendum the “majority” of Kirkuk population will say “yes” to the Federation, which will push Turkmen’s into one more step back from administration.

According Muratli “this will increase pressure on Turkmen people, as in his own words, Kurdish authorities already started to use the same methods against Turkmen, what once they were facing from Saddam Hussein. Muratli said the Turkmen Parties, to whom Talabani claims of being alliance are the shell parties of them. Like KDP “Kurdistan Democratic Party of Masoud Barzani” made 8 of such parties and The PUK “The patriotic Union of Kurdistan of Jalal Talabani” has 3 of them, which makes 11 of such shell Turkmen parties in total. And Kurd leaders claim that, those are representing Turkmen people. Muratli said, in reality those parties are just shell parties of Kurds, not Turkmen’s, it’s the same method Saddam used to play against his enemies.

"The Journal of Turkish Weekly"