Turkish military acknowledge mass graves of PKK militants in Bitlis

Erbil, Feb. 8 (AKnews) – The chiefs of staff of the Turkish army said on Tuesday that the human remains found near the southeastern city of Bitlis belong to outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants killed in clashes there in 1999. The clashes took place between Turkish troops and PKK militants in the Ghijit Cuyo, Ala Tobrak and Cohan farm areas on September 8, 9 and 17 in 1999. “The dead were buried in the Mottaki town in the same month after performing autopsies and obtaining the approval for the burial from the prosecution,” said the Turkish army’s Chief of Staff.     "Photos of the terrorists, autopsy reports, burial admission forms, investigation files and documents were presented to the Mottaki mayor," he continued. Arsene Sounmazler, the head of the Free Thought and Educational Rights Assembly in Tatephan told AKnews that the discovery of the mass graves had ignited the hatred of some while offering hope to others that their relatives could now be returned home and buried. “The mass graves found in the town reflect similar crimes to those committed by Serbs against the Bosnians,” he continued, adding that these are not the only graves – pointing to the existence of further mass graves in other parts of the city.   ”There are about 100 mass graves in the city and hundreds of them in Kurdish areas,” he said,  “Anti-terrorism forces in the Turkish army and elements of the National Intelligence Agency (MİT) have committed many crimes not only against the PKK, but also against the elders of those areas, burying them on different sites.” Sounmazler said there was a need to "to expose the perpetrators of these crimes and bring them to justice,” adding that “this would reduce the suffering of the families.” Excavation work began on January 12 in Mottaki town at the request of the parents of the missing persons. The remains of more than 20 people were found.   Approximately 17,500 people, mostly Kurds, were victims of the conflict that started between the Turkish forces and the PKK in the 1990s.   The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), the biggest Kurdish party in Turkey led by Salah al-Din Damirttash has called for the formation of a committee to investigate the circumstances behind the mass graves, shedding light on the crimes that it believes took place. Reported by Arkoln Toprak Rn/Ka/AKnews   Tuesday, February 8th 2011 5:44 PM

Source: Iran presses on Iraq to replace US weapons deal with French

Baghdad, Feb. 8 (AKnews) - An Iraqi MP said Tuesday that Iran is pressing on the Iraqi government to revoke a US F16 fighters purchase deal to replace it with another deal to buy French-made Mirage fighters. The accusation came after an Iraqi satellite TV channel, al-Sahrqiya, reported that the Iraqi government intended to cancel a deal to buy F-15 fighter jets from the United States. According to Iraq's Defense Ministry, Iraq has a weapons deal with the US to purchase 18 F-16 fighting aircrafts  which are expected to be delivered by the end of 2013 in a move to enhance the air force abilities of the new army. MP Iskandar Wattout, deputy head of the security committee in the Iraqi parliament, criticized Tuesday Iranian interventions in the Iraqi affairs saying threatening to launch an investigation with the Iraqi government if it so intended. "The news of the Iraqi government intentions to cancel the purchase deal to replace (the US F-16s) with French-made Mirage came after Iranian pressure." said Mr Wattout. "Iraq has signed agreements with neighboring countries, including Iran, not to interfere in the internal affairs (of Iraq) and respect the sovereignty of the country" The F-16 Fighting Falcon, the first of the US Air Force multi-role fighter aircraft, is the world's most prolific fighter with more than 2,000 in service within the US Air Force and 2,000 operational in 25 other countries. The F-16 and the F-15 Eagle were the world's first aircraft able to withstand higher g-forces than the pilots. The Fighting Falcon entered service in 1979. "The F-16 planes have high qualities if compared to the French Mirage" says Wattout, "and they will be purchased to defend Iraq, and Iran should have no concerns about it" AKnews tried to contact Mohammed al-Askeri, the spokesman for the Iraqi Defense Ministry, but he said he was ill. "I can not confirm or deny the story because of my absence from the ministry since a week due to illness" Reported by Wissam al-Jaff RN/RY/AKnews Tuesday, February 8th 2011 11:43 AM

Germany’s Development Minister in Erbil to boost ties

Erbil, Feb. 3 (AKnews) – Germany's Development Minister Dirk Niebel arrived in Erbil on an official visit on Thursday to boost bilateral economic relations between the two countries.   Following the December visit of Germany's Foreign Minister to Baghdad, Mr Niebel's three-day visit, accompanied by lawmakers and businessmen, underlines the German government's current focus on Iraq.   "Germany has a very serious focus in Iraq" said Mr Peter Mayr, the Managing director of MAN Automotive and a member of the German delegation.   Germany is focusing on three areas in Iraq; Erbil, Baghdad and Basra, where they have German Economy Offices (DWI). "… This is a very serious attempt on Germany's side to develop the existing potential between both countries".   The German minister's visit to Iraq "…Goes deeper into the interest of Iraq… in all aspects of development" Mr Mayr believes.   Germany currently exports about US $1bn worth of goods to Iraq.  But Iraq does not have much to offer in exports to Germany. Perhaps the only products Iraq can export are oil and gas.   Mr Mayr said there are ongoing talks between Germany and the Iraqi authorities for Iraqi oil and gas to be exported to Germany in the future.   Reported by Raber Y. Aziz   Thursday, February 3rd 2011 5:29 PM

Kuridstan's Oil exports to resume in coming days

Erbil, Feb. 3 (AKnews) – Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region are expected to "officially" resume in the coming days after grinding to a halt in 2009 over disputes between the regional government and Baghdad. The expected shipments follow an agreement between Iraqi government officials and the Kurdish Premier Barham Ahmed Salih in mid-January in Baghdad. Iraq's oil Minister Abdul Karim Luaibi is expected to visit Erbil in the coming days to participate in the official resumption of oil shipments. "After our visit to Baghdad, we met with the foreign companies operating in the oil fields of Kurdistan as well, now they are ready to resume oil exports and they have also carried out several test operations" Salih told AKnews. "We are now waiting for the Iraqi Minister of Oil to visit Erbil to jointly launch the resumption of oil exports" Shahristani said earlier that the shipments had resumed at 10,000 bpd. Once the exports fully resume, the Kurdish region will export 100,000 bpd. Kurdistan halted oil exports in October 2009 after the Iraqi government refused to pay the financial gains of the foreign companies. Some 42 foreign companies from 17 countries are currently involved in oil investment in Kurdistan. According to previous statements from the KRG Ministry of Natural Resources, the region has the capacity of exporting up to 200,000 bpd. "We have come to terms with the companies that their exploration and development costs will be given, but after the resumption of oil exports" Salih told AKnews. Reported by Hazhar Mohammed, edited by Raber Y. Aziz Thursday, February 3rd 2011 11:21 AM

Independence not yet an option for Kurdistan say observers

Erbil, Jan. 30 (AKnews) – A Sudan-like secession for the Kurdish region of Iraq is seen by many observers as an impossibility for the time being, while one voice in the opposition blames the Kurdish leadership for failing to make independence a reality in order to prepare ground for the question in the future.

In January Time Magazine placed the Kurdistan Region among the top 10 aspiring nations for independence in 2011 after Southern Sudan voted for secession this month.
 
The idea of a similar experience for the Iraqi Kurds sparks diverse views. The Arabs would rather think that the Kurds of Iraq do not want to secede from Iraq or else they would have been able to do that with US help.
 
Meanwhile, observers believe that the time neither is nor appropriate for the secession of the Kurds from Iraq.
 
Unlike the southern Sudanese people, the Kurds have their own government, parliament, president, armed forces, flag and even a draft constitution which they plan to put to a popular vote soon.
 
In both Sudan and Iraq many ethnic groups live and the two countries are both former British colonies. The Iraqi state was established by the British in 1926, Sudan by the Sudanese people with British consent in 1956.
 
There is the speculation that the US and west supported southern Sudan because they are mainly Christians and it may not support the Muslim Kurds in northern Iraq, but Kaiwan Azad Anwar, a history instructor in Sulaimaniyah University, thinks otherwise.
 
"It is true that there are Christians in southern Sudan, but it was actually the violence against those people by the Sudanese government that pushed the US and Europe to support them" said Anwar.
 
Anwar believes that there is no parallel between the Kurdistan Region and Sudan's Southern region because, despite lack of violence against the Kurds in northern Iraq, "Kurdistan has not called for secession so far, therefore, creating a similar atmosphere will drive Iraq towards turmoil and the regional countries will intervene in Iraq".
 
"It is not the time for the Kurds to ask for separation, though the internal conditions are suitable, it will end up at the loss of the Kurds if they decide to make such a demand"
 
A member of the Iraqi parliament Latif Mustafa, who is a member of the Kurdish opposition group Gorran, said it was not true to say that no one would support Kurdistan, the problem is we don't ask for separation, and as we don't, nobody would come to us to propose a referendum to secede from Iraq".
 
There is one very clear difference between Kurdistan and South Sudan, he says: "their leaders are loyal (to their people) and openly say it to the world, but our leaders not only don't demand secession but also are ashamed of talking about it".
 
"… They want to show that seceding from Iraq is the most evil crime" he says.
 
"In 1992, we asked for federalism and many people thought that it was a dangerous demand but it worked. Before the fall of the former Iraqi regime in 2003, there were calls to change our motto (from federalism) to independence and if it was to be made a political reality we would have been independent long ago" Mustafa said.
 
One big difference between the reality of the Kurdish region and southern Sudan is that the referendum in Sudan was part of an agreement in 2005 between the north and the south, which is not the case in Kurdistan. Quite the opposite, Iraqi Arab politicians vehemently oppose secession in Kurdistan.
 
When President of Kurdistan Region Massoud Barzani talked about self-determination in his party congress in November this year, it created a fuss among many Arab leaders. Some of them went so far as wondering whether the Kurds wanted federalism to prepare for independence from Iraq.
 
Farid Asasard, director of Kurdistan Strategic Studies Center (KSSC) says the constitution should grant the right of a referendum for secession to the Kurdish region. And the self-determination right has not been established in the current Iraqi constitution.
 
Another problem for the Kurds is that it is surrounded by countries like Iran, Turkey, and Syria that would not accept the separation of Kurdistan from Iraq, not only because they are against the division of Iraq, but because they have their own Kurdish regions which might want the same.
 
"After the withdrawal of the US forces from Iraq by the end of 2011, Kurdistan can proclaim independence if the situation in Iraq deteriorates," says Mohammed Bazyani, head of the Hoda Center for Strategic Research, "but the Peshmarga forces, the army, and security forces have to be united and the Kurdish political leadership provide an appropriate life for the people and pave the way for the purpose".

Dler Abdul Rahman, edited by Raber Younis Aziz