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First They Tried to Kill Dr. Barham Salih -- Now They Want to Kill His Name Shilan Jabari. June 3, 2002 The Islamic Republic of Iran “The Regime of Fear and Terror" Sadi Abdi. June 1, 2002 |
The Status of Kirkuk City
by:Najmadin Karim Kurdistan Observer June 3, 2002 Even in Kurdistan ' All Politics is Local ' Kurdish leaders are finding out the painful truism of the famous adageof the lateSpeaker Tip O'Neil that all politics is local. The recent brouhaha about Dr. Barham Salih's remarks concerning the city of Kirkuk (Saddam cleansing of Kurds continues, May 24,2002, The Daily Telegraph, by Amberin Zaman), unfortunately, detracts attention from the reporter's central theme of the horrendous Baathist campaign of Arabization and ethnic cleansing in the ancient Kurdistan city of Kirkuk and other areas of Iraqi Kurdistan still under the control of Saddam. In my view, most of the critics have used the occasion to vilify the regional prime minister unfairly and used it to launch ad hominem attacks on him.The rush of judgment on what Dr. Salih allegedly told the reporter on his views on Kirkuk does a disservice to the Kurdish national movement and to the honorable and patriotic role played by my friend Barham Salih for so long. Since 1991, when Barham was designated as the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan envoy in Washington, and subsequent to his appointment as regional prime minister, I have personally observed his unwavering and total dedication to the cause of legitimate Kurdish quest for identity and freedom. On numerous occasions, I have personally witnessed and participated, together with him and representatives of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, in his unstinting efforts to present the Kurdish case in Washington, whether in consultations with the Department of State, the Congress or in articulating the issues to the media and think tanks. As to his views on the vital issue of Kirkuk, I have no doubt about his commitment to the principle of Kurdishness of the city, and his constant efforts to defend the victims of Iraq’s racist policies, regardless of political environment and media speculations. Gen. Barzani Said It Best I have had the honor and privilege of being the personal physician of the late Kurdish leader General Mustafa Barzani. He personally related to me, in 1975,an important historical anecdote about Kirkuk. In face-to-face conversations with Saddam Hussein , during the negotiations prior to the 1970 Peace Agreement, General Barzani, in the presence of Dr. Mahmood Osman, his principal political aide at that time, stated in no uncertain terms the views of the Kurdistan people as follows: Kirkuk is a Kurdish city. It will remain so even if there are only two Kurds remaining there. Kirkuk shall always be part of Kurdistan. It is evident that overwhelming historical and geographical documentation corroborates the fact that Kirkuk is Kurdish, in the same way as Istanbul is Turkish; Baghdad is Arab and Berlin German. The presence of a diverse community of Turcomen, Assyrians and Arabs does not negate this fact. My plea for all patriots of Kurdistan is to focus on the evil schemes of the Tyrant-on-the Tigris in pursuit of his genocidal policies against Kurdistan, and in particular in the city of Kirkuk. Najmadin Karim, President Washington Kurdish Institute Washington, D.C. E-mail: wki@kurd.com
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