Kirkuk Province Directorate Organization officer Mehmet Saman of the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF)
Three separate border checkpoints were set recently set up along the route between Peshmerga-controlled districts in northern Iraq and the central Baghdad administration. This development is set to increase expenses for trucks travelling from Turkey to Iraq.
The first checkpoint is located on the Erbil-Kirkuk road in Altun Kupri (Pirde) and lies on the north of the Kirkuk province; the second is located on Sulaymaniyah- Baghdad line; and the last one on the Kirkuk-Baghdad road in the Safra region.
Speaking exclusively to Yeni Şafak daily, Kirkuk Province Directorate Organization officer Mehmet Saman of the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) evaluated the newly-established border checkpoints in Iraq and said, “This attempt aims to undermine Turkey’s exports to Iraq and therefore the Ovaköy Border Gate must be opened without delay.”
The Ovaköy Border Gate is an alternative to the Ibrahim Khalil (Habur) border crossing located between Turkey and the Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
The Ovaköy line will start from the bottom of the Syrian border in the west of Habur, passing near Turkmen and Arab regions and will enable goods and services to be delivered directly to Baghdad.
The planned gate will directly link Turkey to Baghdad via a 570-kilometer (354-mile) highway.
The Iraqi parliament will choose the country’s next president on Oct. 2, Assembly Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi said Tuesday.The two main political parties in northern Iraq's Kurdish region are both competing to obtain the post, with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) nominating Barham Saleh and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) nominating Fuad Hussein.“The deadline for electing the next president of the republic has been set for Oct. 2," al-Halbousi told members of the assembly.Six Daesh terrorists killed by airstrike in Iraq's DiyalaOn Monday, Abbas Beyatli, deputy leader of Iraq’s Turkmen Nationalist Movement, also announced his intention to vie for the post.And on Sunday, Sirve Abdulvahid, an independent politician of Kurdish origin, likewise announced her candidacy, becoming Iraq’s first female politician to do so.Once elected by lawmakers, the new president will task the majority bloc in parliament with drawing up a new government.
Iraq parliament to elect president on Oct. 2: Speaker
Checkpoints will affect Turkey’s exports to Iraq
Stressing the primary aim of these attempts Saman said, “Those interim checkpoints that were set up outside of the border line are controversial attempts. These unofficial gates will increase costs and greatly harm trade dynamism. The Iraqi people will be the ones who lose. In addition, they want to damage Turkey’s export potential with this method. Each checkpoint and customs activity bring along new fiscal burdens. If they insist on those checkpoints, Turkey’s annual export which exceeds $10 billion will be harmed.”
Iraqi Turkmens are worried about a possible Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attack in Iraq’s oil-rich Kirkuk as terrorists have started to return to the city and harass civilians.Speaking exclusively to Yeni Şafak daily, Kirkuk Province Directorate Organization Officer Muhammet Saman of the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) expressed his concern over the latest deployment of terrorists to the region and said, “PKK terrorists have begun to settle in some districts of Kirkuk once again. We are worried about PKK conducting a massacre against civilians.”Terrorists rent houses near ITF buildingsSaman stressed that PKK terrorists were especially deployed near Turkmen regions where ITF Front buildings are located.“PKK terrorists have begun to settle in the city by renting houses near buildings of the ITF,” he said.He also underlined that PKK terrorists disguise themselves as Peshmerga members or security forces, who withdrew from the city about a year ago, to return to Kirkuk. They have also started harassing civilians in the region, according to reports.A military initiative launched by Baghdad following the illegitimate Sept. 25 independence referendum enabled the swift recapture of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk from the Peshmerga as well as several other parts of Iraq that were disputed between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).Stressing the importance of purging all the terrorists in the country, “We don’t want to see any terror organization that threatens Iraq and its neighbors,” he added. US seeks to deliver Kirkuk to Peshmerga in cooperation with PKK terrorists“We don’t want to re-live those days”Saman also stated that concerns had risen over Kurdish political parties asserting that Peshmerga forces had to return to Kirkuk for them to join the government being established in Baghdad.“Among the Peshmerga and security forces, there will also be PKK terror elements. We are worried that the PKK might conduct a massacre against Turkmens.”The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.Reiterating that Turkmen leaders were killed in the last 15 years, especially in Kirkuk and Tuzhurmatu, “We don’t want to re-live those days. We want security in Kirkuk to be provided by the central Baghdad government alone,” Saman concluded.Six Daesh terrorists killed by airstrike in Iraq's DiyalaFirst military op in Iraqi desert launchedIraq, Syria swarming with approximately 10,000 foreign agents
Turkmens concerned over PKK terrorists’ attempt to infiltrate Iraq’s Kirkuk
“A single gate between Iraq and Turkey is unacceptable”
“In fact, the crux of this conflict is that there is only one gate between Iraq and Turkey. These problems will be eliminated when the Ovaköy gate is inaugurated, and trade activity will exceed the present numbers with this alternative route,” he said.
“Iran has six separate border gates into Iraq. It is unacceptable that Turkey is bound to a single gate. These points established outside the border line will also cause serious problems regarding the territorial integrity of Iraq,” he concluded.
New testimonies shed light on the extent of rampant child abuse among the ranks of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist organization in northern Iraq. The testimonies, given by PKK terrorists who had surrendered to Turkish authorities, reveal scandalous details surrounding the terror group’s sexual abuse of young girls in the so-called “child battalion” in the Zap region of northern Iraq. The battalion, formed by the PKK, is made up of close to 30 children aged between nine and 14.According to the testimonies, a number of the girls in the group were raped, and those who fall pregnant are brought to the nearest hospital and made to undergo abortions despite the enormous risks to their lives.Two terrorists 'neutralized' in eastern TurkeyTurkish jets destroy PKK terror targets in N. Iraq Girls unable to cope with the trauma of what they experienced are said to regularly attempt suicide.Another terrorist, who defected from the PKK terrorist organization for these inhumane practices, admitted to witnessing sexual abuse of underage girls, some of whom would later commit suicide or be executed by the terror group. These types of horrific practices are said to have significantly increased the defection rate among the ranks of the PKK and contributed to so-called Qandil leaders losing their influence within the terror group.Northern Iraq’s Qandil Mountains have been a haven for PKK terrorists over the past few decades. Considered as the main base of the PKK, which control checkpoints and entrances to the mountains, the structuring in the area is used for cover and concealment by terrorists.The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.
Rape, child abuse, suicide widespread among ranks of PKK terrorists in N Iraq