COUP ATTEMPT ON TURKISH PRESENCE THROUGH CENSUS IN KERKUK
Kirkuk, a very important city in terms of Turkish history and culture, still maintains its value for the Turkish Nation today with the Turkmen population it hosts. Every development that takes place in Kirkuk is of great concern to the Turkish State.
In return, global powers in the region are devising many games to neutralize the Turkish presence in oil-rich Kirkuk through their pawns such as the terrorist organization PKK. The latest of these games was the census held on November 20-21.
Census in Kirkuk
The Iraqi State conducted a general census that included Kirkuk after 37 years. The census, which was planned to be held every 10 years in the country, could not be held after 2003, when the US invaded Iraq. The census, which is expected to affect many issues such as the budget, development projects, parliament and provincial council seats, lasted two days.
The Demographic Structure in the Region is Being Rapidly Changed
The most important problem for the subcontractor groups trying to change the demographic structure of Kirkuk with the support of the USA is the existing Turkish and Arab population in the region. After 2003, more than 600 thousand Kurds were forcibly migrated to Kirkuk.
The population of Kirkuk, which was approximately 800 thousand before the US occupation, has exceeded 1.5 million today.
As if this were not enough, many local sources in the region state that 260 thousand people were brought from outside the city and registered in the Kirkuk population register before the general census in order to disrupt the demographic structure of Kirkuk. The same sources state that they have determined that many families from the cities of Erbil and Sulaymaniyah were brought to Kirkuk.
Sources in the region state that in the days before the census, 50 to 100 people a day were systematically brought to Kirkuk from the Mahmur camp, where members of the PKK terrorist organization were located. It has also been recorded that people of different races and sects were brought to Kirkuk from Syria and Iran.
The irregularities in the region were also made concrete by the observations made in the houses during the census. While the census teams encountered 94 men and 3 women in one house, it was determined that 88 women and 6 men were living under the same roof in another house. These developments pose a direct threat to Kirkuk’s Turkish identity and will to live freely.
Of course, the main purpose of these activities is to disrupt the demographic structure of Kirkuk, to shake the historical Turkish presence in Kirkuk and to pave the way for a referendum.
All censuses conducted after 1957 and statistical studies on the demographic structure of Iraq show that the Turkmen population in Iraq is over 2 million in all cases and at all rates. According to the population studies conducted in Iraq in 2001, the Turkmen population constituted 14%-16% of the Iraqi population. When these figures are compared to the present day, it becomes clear that the Turkish population is easily over 2 million.
Kirkuk is an Important Part of Turkish History
The Turks, who settled in Iraq en masse and made the region their homeland mainly in the 9th-11th centuries, live in the central, northern and northwestern regions of Iraq today.
The Turkish language is spoken in Mosul, Erbil, Kirkuk, Saladin, Diyala and even in a few neighborhoods in Baghdad where the Turks live. The Turks, who have preserved their own culture, traditions and customs to this day, are an inseparable part of the Turkish world.
Kirkuk has an indispensable importance for the Turkish State with its historical heritage, the Turkish population it hosts and its oil reserves with a capacity of 8.7 billion barrels.
The Turkish State should be careful and persistent in ensuring the security of the Turkmen and the stability in the regions where the Turkmen population lives. In other words, Türkiye should be the protector of Kirkuk and the Turkmens living in Kirkuk.
Ataturk University History Department, Associate Professor Dr.Savaş Eğilmez
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