Prof. Nouri Talabany
Arabization of the Kirkuk Region, 141 pp., Uppsala, 2001, ISBN 91-972498-2-3
Table of Contents
Foreword by Lord Avebury.
Preface.
I - A synopsis of the history and geography of the Kirkuk Region.
II - The Non-Kurdish ethnic population in the Kirkuk Region: The Turkmans.
1. Origins.
2. Population Estimates.
3. Relations between Kurds and Turkmans.
4. Politicaal Orientations of the Turkmans.
IlI - Earliest Attempts at Arabization.
A - The period of the monarchy.
The role of the oil company in changing the ethnic character of the city of Kirkuk.
The building of the Hawija Irrigation Project to settle Arab tribes in the Kirkuk Region.
B - The period from 1958 to 1968.
Measures towards Arabization taken by the February 1963 coup organizers in the Kirkuk Governorate.
C - The period from 1968 to the present.
Measures taken by the Iraq regime inside the city of Kirkuk.
Measures taken by the regime to Arabize the entire Kirkuk Governorate.
1. City District of Kirkuk.
2. Dubz District (Arabized to Al-Debiss).
3. Hawija District.
4. Chamchamal District.
5. Duz-Khurmatu District.
6. Kifri District.
7. Kala'r District..
IV The result of Arabization and destruction of the Kirkuk Region.
Appendices.
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PREFACE
THE KIRKUK REGION, rich in petroleum deposits and vast farm lands, has been one of the principal obstacles to finding a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question in Iraq.
Geographically, the region straddles the strategic trade routes between Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey and beyond. However, it was the discovery of vast quantities of petroleum deposits in the region that led Great Britain, in 1926, to append Kirkuk and the former Ottoman Wilayet of Mosul (of which the Kirkuk region was a part) to the newly-created state of Iraq. This new state, created in 1921, was under the Mandate of Great Britain. Ever since, and particularly after 1963, there have been continuous attempts by the central government of Iraq to Arabize the strategic region of Kirkuk.
To understand better the reasons for this policy, let us, first, briefly consider the geopolitics, history and demography of the Kirkuk region, and then analyse the situation both before and after these attempts.
About Me
- Prof Nouri Talabany
- Born in the city of Kirkuk and completed elementary, intermediate and secondary education there. Received BSc in Law from the University of Baghdad. Received Ph.D. in Law from the Sorbonne, France. Taught at the universities of Basra, Baghdad, Sulaimani and Salahadin in Arbil from 1968 until December, 1982, when he was compulsorily retired for political reasons. His first articles, in Kurdish, were published in "Hiwa", a Kurdish magazine, while he was a student at the University of Baghdad in the late fifties.