Political circles in Kirkuk said the Turkish Ambassador’s comments are damaging the peoples’ common life in Kirkuk and pointed out that only the peoples who live in Kirkuk have the right to decide on the city.
Reactions continue to pour in against Turkish Ambassador to Baghdad Fatih Yildiz’s comments of “Kirkuk is ancestral land for us, and Turkey is ancestral land for people here in the same way”. Political circles in Kirkuk spoke to the RojNews about Turkey’s plans over the city.
PUK Kirkuk Politbureau Member Rewend Mela Mehmud said Turkey is crushed under the financial crisis: “They are dreaming of covering all their losses in the international arena with the plans they made for Kirkuk. But with the elections held previously, it has been proven that Kirkuk is Kurdistani territory.”
“When they came to Kirkuk, we greeted them as guests. We didn’t do that so they would consider Kirkuk part of Turkey’s lands and come settle here,” said Rewend and added that nobody accepts such a statement.
Rewend said Turkey doesn’t believe in a common life: “Because in Turkey, Arabs, Kurds, Circassians and other peoples are constantly oppressed. The only thing they believe in is to oppress other peoples.”
Goran Movement Official Mehemed Guldereyi spoke about the matter and said the Turkish Ambassador’s comments are a direct intervention with the domestic affairs of Kirkuk: “This is a great threat against the common life of structures in Kirkuk. These are plans to settle Turkmens here and to invade Bashure Kurdistan, and Kirkuk in particular.”
Mihemed said the Arab and Turkmen parties and Kurdish residents in Kirkuk should put forth their protests against these comments: “These comments don’t serve the common life of structures in Kirkuk. On the contrary, they serve invasions and attacks and aim to create discord among structures here.”
Democracy and Justice Coalition Kirkuk Official Raper Arif said they consider these comments to be unimportant ones made in passing: “Kirkuk’s Kurdistani status and thus the solution to issues in Kirkuk can’t be down to one man’s messages. This historic place can resolve its issues only through the decisions the local peoples make. The right thing to do is for the structures in Kirkuk to lead a common life."
