Turkomen Front Raises Questions over Kirkuk's Elections

Arshad al-Salihi, the Iraqi Turkomen Front representative in Syria and Lebanon, questioned the fairness of the elections. He described them as a big lie created by some Iraqi politicians who see nothing beyond the Green Zone. He maintained that several violations occurred in the Alton Kobri area between Erbil and Kirkuk. He accused Kurdish party members of moving to the area to take part in the elections despite the decision of the Iraqi government to ban travel between the provinces during the elections. He said some youths under 15 years of age voted in more than one polling centre and removed ink from their fingers with chemical solutions. (Voters dip their index fingers in ink after casting ballots to ensure they will not vote more than once.) Police witnessed the violations but did nothing, Salihi maintained.