Turkish Refugees in Iraq State 10 Conditions for their Return

A delegation from the recently closed pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) met Turkish refugees living in the Mahmur refugee camp in Iraq. The delegation was formed of DTP MPs, administration representatives and DTP mayors.

The delegation was joined by MPs Sevahir Bayındır, İbrahim Binici and Özdal Üçer, DTP Central Executive Committee Member Hatice Çoban, Şırnak Mayor Ramazan Uysal and Uludere Mayor Şükran Sincar.

The Turkish refugees announced their intention to return to Turkey and informed the delegation about the conditions of their return. According to Günlük newspaper, the refugees voiced 10 basic requirements as follows:

Öcalan and the road map: An end to the solitary confinement for imprisoned Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party and disclosure of the "road map" Öcalan prepared for a solution of the Kurdish question.

Military operations: An end to military operations and clashes.

Peaceful Solution: Paving the way to a peaceful, democratic and political solution of the Kurdish question.

Negotiation: A process of negotiation and dialogue based on the Kurds' willpower for a solution.

Constitutional Guarantee of the Kurdish identity: A free, equal and united life in Turkey with the constitutional guarantee of the Kurdish identity.

Freedom of the Kurdish language: Using the Kurdish language, learning and developing it as a mother tongue; experiencing historical values, culture and geography in the mother tongue.

Kurdish education: Giving Kurdish names to children, educating them and bringing them up in Kurdish.

Culture: free experience, development and protection of the history, culture, art and literature of the Kurdish people.

Removal of guards: Live safely and with sufficient opportunities in villages and towns away from the pressure of village guards, the police and special operations. The guard system should be abolished.

Collective settlements: Creation of collective settlements that provide their own security. The return should be supervised by the United Nations.

Mahmur refugee camp

Mahmur camp is run by the United Nations and provides shelter for refugees that were forced to migrate to Northern Iraq in the early 1990s when clashes arouse in the South-East and villages were evacuated. Those refugees are living in 8 separate camps.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) established the Mahmur camp between Erbil and Musul in 1992 for the people who were forced to migrate. The UNHCR recognized their status as refugees. In 2007, the camp was inhabited by 11,900 people, almost half of them were children (49 percent).

Negotiations had been conducted since 1994 between the UN, Iraq and Turkey in order to return the refugees safely to Turkey. By the end of 1994, a significant agreement was reached in principle. However, the agreement could not be applied because some problems concerning legal, economic and social security of those people who were to return could not be solved. After this, Iraq's leadership changed with the invasion of the USA and the issue remained in abeyance. (TK/VK)