ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A senior Turkmen official has said that their main demand from the Kurdistan leadership is to exclude disputed areas from the upcoming referendum on independence, especially in areas he called Turkmen.
“Particularly our demand is to exclude the Turkmen areas from the referendum circle, because the Turkmen areas are the exclusive geography of the Turkmen, though they are disputed areas,” said Arshad Salihi, head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front.
He said that any referendum should take into account the Iraqi constitution and laws, adding that the Iraqi constitution does not have any article that addresses the holding of a referendum.
If Baghdad and Erbil do not agree to give the Turkmen their rights, he said, they may be forced to declare “our own entity.”
Some areas within the so-called disputed territories claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad are exclusively Turkmen, he added.
Yet, he said, Turkmen hope “that steps will be taken with wisdom and talks and negotiations will be held on different issues.”
In an interview with Rudaw’s daily program Rudawi Amro on Saturday night, Salihi laid out his party’s stance with regard to the Kurdistan referendum to be held on September 25.
He said that the planned vote will include areas that are beyond Kurdistan’s geography and claimed that some Turkmen parties sitting on the referendum council do not represent the will of the Turkmen people.
Mistrust between Kurds and Turkmen is a serious concern for his community, said Salihi, and holding a referendum in disputed areas will raise more “doubts.”
“We have 13 to 14 years of experience with the Kurdistan Regional Government, and I say that unfortunately they did not do something so that we can trust them. We do not trust them now. Particularly there is a lot of mistrust in Kirkuk, Tuz Khurmatu, and Diyala because of the stance and the practices of the Kurds in these areas,” Salihi said, naming areas with diverse populations.
He referred to clashes in 1959 that happened between some Kurds who were part of the Iraqi army at the time and Turkmen that resulted in the deaths of tens of Turkmen. The Turkmen call it a massacre and he said they are fearful that similar incidents may happen again.
He also expressed concern over the possibility of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) being brought into Turkmen areas.
Why should the Turkmen take part in a referendum when they do not know what course will result from the vote, he asked. It is hard to understand the view of the Kurdistan Region when even the Kurdish parties are not united, he noted.
Salihi said that Kurds have the right to hold a referendum if they stay within the Kurdistan Region borders.
“We, the Turkmen Front, wish that the Kurdish people gain all their rights, because they deserve it and they have experienced a lot of displacement and suffering, from killings, to annihilation, various pressures, genocide, Anfal and chemical attacks,” he said.
But only within "their own geography," he stipulated.
Asked who they would choose if the Turkmen were given the choice between the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, Salihi said it is not an easy decision to make and would depend on who guarantees their rights.
“Those options depend on the gains you achieve, and which party guarantees your future and fate. Also what Iraq are we talking about? A disintegrated Iraq or an Iraq divided by two? It is not clear what happens to the future of the area, especially with ISIS still present and active in our area. After ISIS, what project will be applied?”
The concerns of Syria, Iran, and Turkey further complicate the matter, he said.
Asked what they want from the Kurdistan Region, Salihi said they want to be partners.
“What we want we do not ask for it from Kurds, because we have to be partners in everything. If they have real intentions, let’s agree on everything from Mandali to Zakho,” he noted, naming cities located in the most northern and southern reaches of Kurdistani territory.
Salihi said the Turkmen feel marginalized within Iraq, ignored by Baghdad and mistrustful of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
“God forbid, if in the case of the disintegration and division of Iraq, then we will also be forced to decide on our fate and engage in a struggle for the geography of the Turkmen and we too declare our own entity.”
He listed a number of rights the Kurds enjoy in Iraq, including a 17 percent budget share, several ministerial positions, official language recognition, and a regional government, and yet they want to hold a referendum on independence.
“Now I ask, would you please tell me what other rights are there to achieve?”
If the Kurds have the right to pursue a referendum on independence, then the Turkmen too can fight for their own rights, he said.
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