Recount Iraq poll, says Turkey

[Barrett808]

Turkey has urged Iraqi electoral officials and the UN to examine what it claims are skewed Iraqi elections results.

Turkish officials said on Sunday that they were particularly concerned about vote tallies in the oil-rich and ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk.

Turkey has long complained that Kurdish groups were illegally moving Kurds into Kirkuk, a strategic northern city, in an effort to tip the city's population balance in their favour.

Officials did not make direct reference to the Kurds on Sunday, but the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that voter turnout in some regions was low and charged that there were "imbalanced results" in several regions, including Kirkuk.

"It has emerged that certain elements have tried to influence the voting and have made unfair gains from this," the statement said, in an apparent reference to the Kurds.

(more)

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F6BEA03E-3EBE-46BE-BB23-5C8AFA680F6D.htm

[Liberal Veteran]

1. Boy, our good friend Turkey really hates the Kurds.

I've known that for some time, but what is the history behind that hatred?

[bdc9]

3. Good Kurds, Bad Kurds

I don't remember the history behind the hate, but I do remember seeing a documentary that came out in 2000 called "Good Kurds, Bad Kurds: No Friends But the Mountains". I'm not sure how one sided it is (I remember one Turkish lady getting really pissed about it during the screening) but it might be worth a viewing...

[MeasureTwice]

6. Kurds inhabit a sizable chunk of turkey

that borders on Iraq. The government of Turkey is determined that the Kurds in northern Iraq do not form their own country, because they would cause the Turkish Kurds to try to break off their part of Turkey and join it. Of course it's more complicated than that, but the president of the Turkish subsidiary of Microsoft was once arrested when an edition of encarta(the multimedia encyclopedia) was published with the word 'Kurdistan' written across the area of the turkey-Iraq border. They take it pretty seriously.

[Igel]

8. The usual. The Kurds don't want to submit to a

Turko-centric way of doing things. They've been where they are (give or take ... mostly give) for at least 2300 years, probably longer, but how much longer is a point of contention. The Turks ... 1000 years or less. And the Turks are proud of being Turkish.

Kurds used to be more widespread, but they've been driven up into the hills in more than a few places. Some folks claim that they're actually descendants of previous peoples in the area who picked up an Iranian language. It's worth pointing out that the Syrian "Arabs" are genetically almost indistinguishable from the Greek-speaking Byzantines in Syria in 300 AD; ethnic affinity is a squirrelly matter, and it doesn't take a very large numbers of conquerors to cause a shift in ethnicity.

[naturalselection]

2. Let the bullshit begin.

Keep recounting until you get it "right".

[On Par]

4. The Kurds Must Have Read the "Diebold" Manual....

...on how to manipulate elections.

OP... What goes around, comes around.

[yebrent]

5. Makes sense

The Kurdish population (10-20%) got 25% of the vote.

The Shi'ite United Iraqi Alliance (60%) got 48% of the vote.

I know some Shi-ite could have diluted their vote for other groups, but all indications before yesterday were that the United Iraqi Alliance would easily get 50% of the vote. With all the delays in counting, I would not be surprised if there was some tampering to lower the Shi'ite totals and raise the Kurdish ones. Things are still bad for Bush, but with the Shi'ite getting less than 50%, its not as bad as it could be. That tells me that the US had their hand in these results.

[Barrett808]

7. Juan Cole reports that the Shia did get a majority

Shiites Take Absolute Majority in Parliament
Iran Scores Victory in the Iraqi Elections

Lebanese Broadcasting Co.'s satellite television news is reporting that the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), comprising Shiite religious parties, has won an absolute majority (141 seats) after adjustments were made in accordance with electoral procedure. Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the list leader, expressed his pleasure at this 51 percent outcome for his coalition. The UIA still needs a 2/3s majority, and therefore a coalition partner or partners, to form a government (which involves electing a president and two vice-presidents, who will appoint a prime minister). But it can now win votes on procedure and legislation without needing any other partner.

Robin Wright of the Washington Post points out that an electoral victory of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq and the Dawa Party, both of them close to Tehran, is not what Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the Neoconservatives had been going for with this Iraq adventure. The United Iraqi Alliance is led by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a Shiite cleric who lived over 2 decades in exile in Iran. I point out that the likely coalition partner of the United Iraqi Alliance is the Kurdistan Alliance, led by Jalal Talabani, who is himself very close to Tehran. So there are likely to be warm Baghdad-Tehran relations.

Likewise, it is worth pointing out that the new Shiite government in Baghdad will support the Lebanese Shiites, including Hezbollah.

One of the Neoconservatives' goals had been the installation of a pro-Israel government in Baghdad. But at Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution rallies and Friday prayers services, crowds have been known to chant "Death to Israel!"

http://www.juancole.com/2005/02/shiites-take-absolute-majority-in.html

[TahitiNut]

9. I think the Kurds should have their whey.

:evilgrin: Cottagecheesistan?