Information that Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and Interior Minister Beşir Atalay provided regarding the latest developments on the Kurdish initiative revealed that Turkey and the UN are in the midst of a serious crisis due to the Makhmour refugee camp. Providing important information to the deputies of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) at the Kızılcahamam meeting in Ankara, Davutoğlu said there are approximately 12,000 people living in the Makhmour refugee camp and that only half of them want to return to Turkey. Explaining that Turkey is experiencing serious problems with the UN, Davutoğlu said although UNCHR supports the return of the people, they also want Turkey to treat them according to the standards international law with respect to refugees. This has seriously angered Turkey.
Speaking to Today’s Zaman, a senior official who does not want to be identified said this is the biggest crisis Turkey has had with the UN so far. Saying Turkey has always seen the Makhmour refugee camp as supporting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist organization logistically and has always complained about it to the UN, the same official said now the UNCHR is asking Turkey to give refugee status to the camp’s Turkish citizens.
Noting that the UN has always failed to block the use of the refugee camp by the PKK terrorist organization, the official said Turkey’s response to the UN’s request was harsh. In a letter of response sent by Turkish authorities, it reads that the most of the people living there are Turkish citizens and the reason of their settlement and where they left from for Iraq is known. “It is impossible to place the return of people within the international refugee law framework,” the letter of response reads.
 Six PKK members from the Kandil Mountains and 28 refugees who had stayed in the Makhmour camp in northern Iraq surrendered to Turkish authorities in October and were greeted with festive celebrations by crowds at the Habur border gate, which drew harsh criticism. |
Having had several problems with the UN regarding the Makhmour refugee camp, Turkey has drafted its plan on the return of the refugees following the consultations with the American and Iraqi administrations. During AK Party’s Kızılcahamam meeting, Atalay said refugees will start returning to Turkey in groups of 300 to 400 and the government will establish a special entrance center at the Habur border gate. While Atalay said it is impossible to treat them as international refugees, he added that they will encourage the refugees to return to their previous residences. “However, we will not grant special additional rights to them,” Atalay said.
While stressing that the public will not see “welcome home celebrations” for members of the PKK who surrender to Turkish security forces and that the security forces will not tolerate such celebrations, Atalay said only family members will be allowed to meet the returnees. To return to Turkey, Atalay noted, refugees will first need to appeal to the Iraqi administration and then after Iraqi administration decides on who will return and the time of the return, the Turkish citizens at the Makhmour camp will be able to return to Turkey.
Turkey and the UN have constantly quarreled over the Makhmour camp. While the violent events were culminating in southeastern Turkey in 1996, nearly 20,000 Turkish citizens went to Iraq, influenced by the PKK, and established two separate residential camps in the Atrush region. Turkey bombed the camps until 1997, claiming that they were being used by the PKK. As a result, the UN built the Makhmour camp in 1998. However, it was discovered that this camp was also used by PKK militants. The UN attempted to disarm the camp; however, it failed miserably. After the American invasion of Iraq, the US also has tried to disarm the camp.
Before the construction of the Makhmour camp, nearly 3,000 people returned to Turkey. This is the reason why Turkey is angry with the UN. When the pre-Makhmour refugees were returning, the UNCHR was generally silent on the international rights of those refugees. The UN said the Atrush camp was not under the control of the UN but the Makhmour camp is functioning under the aegis of the UN and thus the refugees returning from the Makhmour camp should benefit from the all rights that international refugee law provides.
According to the people who have already returned from the Makhmour camp, if the Turkish government gives guarantees to the returnees, there will be no one left in the Makhmour camp. The government, however, does not want to provide special privileges for those returning from the camp. The government will ease the process for those who want to return to their prior homes. Those who were born at the Makhmour camp, and therefore do not have Turkish citizenship, will be granted Turkish citizenship and they will enjoy all rights that a Turkish citizen has.
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