61 years on, Iraq's Kirkuk remembers Turkmen massacre

KIRKUK, IRAQ - JULY 13: A ceremony was held in Iraq’s northern city of Kirkuk on July 13, 2020 to commemorate the 1959 massacre of hundreds of Turkmen by members of the Kurdish Communist Party. Representatives of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, local officials, and witnesses of the massacre attended the commemoration ceremony held at the Martyrs' Cemetery in the city center. Ali Berberoglu, Secretary-General of Turkmeneli Student and Youth Union said the presence of the Turkmen community in Iraq was wanted to be erased from the region with massacres. “Although the Turkmen nation in Iraq remained in all kinds of deprivation and oppression in the 100-year period, it has continued its existence,” Berberoglu said. He also said the Turkmen people were subjected to massacres by various administrations and ethnic groups, noting that “The massacre in Kirkuk on July 14, 1959, is one of them and not the last one.” “We, as Turkmen youth, have vowed to walk always in the footsteps of our martyrs in the Turkmen case,” Berberoglu added. Hasim Salihi, head of Iraqi Turkmen Political Prisoners and Families of Martyries Association said “Although 61 years have passed, those who saw it, our brothers and fathers remember the day (July 14, 1959) as if the Turkmen nation was massacred yesterday.” The date between the 14th and 16th of July is recognized as the week of Martyrs of Iraqi Turkmens. A systematical massacre had realized against Turkmens who were preparing for the first anniversary celebration of the proclamation of the republic at Kirkuk in Iraq on the 14th of July 1959. During 3 days of this tragic event, the houses and workplaces of many Turkmens had been attacked, the people who had “accused” by supposing “Turkism” had rallied and executed by firing squad, even the leading Turkmen leaders of that period. (Footage by Muhammet Kasim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)