Turkomen force formed to protect Turkomen in Kikuk

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: An Iraqi Turkomen armed force has been formed to protect Turkomen citizens of northern Iraq’s Kirkuk Province, a member of the Executive Committee of the Iraqi Turkomen Front, Ali Mahdi, reported on Wednesday.   “It is the duty of the State to protect its citizens, but the Turkoman citizen had suffered from abduction and killing over the past 8 years, especially the past few months; so, we have played our role, in coordination with Kirkuk’s Governor and the American Forces in Kirkuk to form a Turkoman Force of 100-150 members, to protect the Turkomen and to help the police force in the Province,” Mahdi told IraqiNews.com news agency.   “We are not an armed militia force and are not against the State of Iraq or its security bodies,” Mahdi stressed, pointing out to “the existence of a problem in the body of the Kirkuk Police Directorate and its non-ability to protect the citizen.”   “We have demanded the Council of Ministers to protect our people several times, but without any result; so, we are forced to form the said Force to protect ourselves, hoping to extend the Force to cover other areas, such as Tel-Afar, Tuz-Khurmatu, Amerly and Kifry.   Mahdi said that: “no support existed by any party for us, internally and externally,” reminding that President, Jalal Talabani, had told the Turkomen: “You have the right to protect yourselves.”   As regards to the personality, chosen to lead the said Force, he pointed out that “Retired Colonel Yaouz Omar Adel, the Representative of the Turkoman Front in the Anti-Terrorism Force of Kirkuk’s Police Directorate, recently formed by the security bodies in Kirkuk, was the right man to lead the Force.”   The formation of the said Force is taking place after talks carried out by Kirkuk’s Governor, Najmiddin Omar Karim early this week with an Interior Ministry delegation, in the aftermath of incidents witnessed by Kirkuk over the past few weeks, pinpointed against doctors, academicians and intellectuals, last of which had been the assassination of Turkoman Dr. Yuldrom Abbass, the Specialist in Nerve Surgery by an unknown armed group.   The oil-rich city of Kirkuk is 280 km to the northeast of Baghdad.   SKH (TF)/SR 494