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Parliamentary question - E-009903/2015Parliamentary question
E-009903/2015

Deteriorating situation of the Turkmen community in Iraq

Question for written answer E-009903-15
to the Commission
Rule 130
Ilhan Kyuchyuk (ALDE)

Since 29 July 2012, Turkmens are officially recognised by the Iraqi parliament as one of the three main groups of the Iraqi population. Despite this, they are extremely exposed to attacks from terrorists in Iraq. The invasion of ISIS forced more than a million Turkmens from their homeland. Iraqi Turkmens are the victims of ethnic cleansing and their human rights are being violated. They have no security and their economic situation is deteriorating. At least 350 000 Iraqi Turkmen refugees were facing starvation due to the ISIS attacks and the government’s failure to financially support them. In February 2015, another 450 Turkmen civilians including Turkmen and Yazidi girls were kidnapped by ISIS. Iraqi Turkmens do not receive any security support, neither from the Central nor from the Kurdish Government, despite the community’s demand to be allowed to establish its own security forces or at least to have a role in existing ones in order to protect itself.

1. What representation has the EU made to the Government of Iraq about the security challenges that the Iraqi Turkmen community faces in the region?

2. What concrete measures is the EU going to take in order to support the Iraqi Government and to tackle the problem of the 350 000 Turkmens who are in danger of starvation and who have become asylum-seekers due to the ongoing conflict in Iraq?