Turkey condemns Turkmen Front office attack in Kirkuk

By Sena Guler

ANKARA (AA) - The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday condemned the Turkmen Front office attack in Iraq’s Kirkuk city late Monday.

Unidentified assailants, with RPGs and automatic rifles, attacked an office of the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) in Musalla neighborhood of Kirkuk city, which caused no casualties.

In a written statement, the ministry said: “We strongly condemn this heinous attack and note the fact that after the attack counterterrorism service and federal police units were rapidly deployed to the district and took necessary measures as a proper course of action.”

“It is consoling that there were no casualties during yesterday’s attack against the Turkmen,” it said and added that they had been subjected to systematic assaults in the recent period.

It also expected “perpetrators and instigators” of earlier assaults targeting Turkmen to be brought to justice as soon as possible, and added that Turkey would closely follow the matter.

“We reiterate our call upon the relevant authorities to take the necessary measures without delay to prevent the recurrence of these incidents that target the social peace in Kirkuk, and to ensure the safety of the Turkmen community, one of the main components of Iraq,” it said.

The statement also reiterated support for the Turkmen and said Turkey remains determined to protect their rights.

More than 20 Turkmen in Kirkuk, including several politicians and professors, have been killed in attacks in the past four months.

Earlier this year, leading ITF member Alaa Eddine al-Salihi was gunned down in Kirkuk’s Al-Askari neighborhood by unknown assailants.

The most recent murder was that of Ali Almas, a Turkmen intellectual and professor at Kirkuk University.

Iraqi Turkmen, also known as Iraqi Turks, are a Turkic-speaking minority whose total population is estimated at some three million.

The Turkmen Front occupies two out of 328 seats in the Iraqi parliament and nine out of 41 seats in the Kirkuk provincial council.

Since October, Iraqi forces have controlled the entire province of Kirkuk following the withdrawal of Peshmerga forces from the region.