Iraqi Turkmen

Third largest ethnic group in Iraq

Ethnic group

Iraqi Turkmen

Irak Türkmenleri

Flag of Turkmeneli

Total population
3 million (2013 Iraqi Ministry of Planning estimate)[1][2]
Estimated 4 million to 5 million (or 10%–13% of the Iraqi population in 2020–21)[3][4][5][6]
Regions with significant populations
Predominantly in the Turkmeneli region:
Governorates of Kirkuk, Erbil, Nineveh, Saladin and Diyala[7][8]
Languages
Turkmen dialect[9]
Additional: Mesopotamian Arabic, Kurdish,[7] Standard Turkish
Religion
99% Islam
(60-70% Sunni; 30-40% Shia)[10]
1% Christianity (Catholic)[11][12]
Related ethnic groups
Turkish people, Azerbaijanis, Syrian Turkmen, Palestinian Turkmen, Lebanese Turkmen, Turks of Western Thrace, other Turkic peoples and Sunni Iraqis

The Iraqi Turkmen (Turkish: Irak Türkmenleri, عراق تورکمنلری; Arabic: تركمان العراق), also referred to as Iraqi Turks,[13][14] (Turkish: Irak Türkleri, عراق توركلری; Arabic: أتراك العراق) are the third largest ethnic group in Iraq.[15][16] They make up to 10%–13% of the Iraqi population.[3][4][5][6] Iraqi Turkmens are descendants of Turkish settlers from the time of Ottoman Iraq, and are closely related to Syrian Turkmens and Azerbaijani people. Turkmen in Iraq do not closely identify with the traditionally-nomadic Turkmens of Central Asia and Iran.[17][18][19][1][2]

## Ethnonyms

[edit]

According to Iraqi Turkmen scholar Professor Suphi Saatçi, prior to the mid-20th century the Turkmens in Iraq were known simply as "Turks".[20] It was not until after the military coup of 14 July 1958, that the ruling military junta officially introduced the name "Turkman/Turkmen":[20]

> the political goal of the Iraqi government was to distinguish the Iraqi Turkmen from other Turks in Anatolia, just as the Greek government used the name "Muslim minority" for those Turks living within the borders of Greece.[20]

The state-imposed terms on the Turks of Iraq were not resisted, for the word "Turkmen" had historically been designated to the Oghuz Turks who had accepted Islam and migrated westwards from Central Asia to the Middle East,[20] and had continued to be used in the region. Thus, the Iraqi Turkmen (as well as the Syrian Turkmens and Anatolian Turkmens) do not identify themselves with the Turkmen people of Turkmenistan.[17] Rather, the term "Turkmen" in the Middle East is often used to designate Turkic-speakers, particularly in the Arab areas, or where Sunni Turks live in Shiite dominated areas.[17]

Despite the modern usage of the term "Turkmen", Professor David Kushner has pointed out that the term "Turks" continues to be used in referring to the "Outside Turks" of the former Ottoman Empire, including the Turks in Iraq,[14] which is in contrast to the terms used for other Turkic peoples who did not share this Ottoman history:

> Generally one may distinguish between the 'closer' communities [to Turkey] of Turks in Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, and Iraq, on the one hand, and the more 'distant' ones in Iran, the Soviet Union and China, on the other...even the term "Turks" is selectively used. It is habitually used in reference to the 'closer' Turkish communities while the others are commonly referred to by their own particular names (i.e., Azeris, Turkestanis, etc.)... More important perhaps than the legal factor has been the historical and cultural identity of the Turks in Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria and Iraq with the Turks of Turkey. Not only are these communities geographically adjacent to the Turks but they have all shared the Ottoman past, speak more or less the same language, and are predominantly Sunni.[18]

They are also referred to as Turkish-Iraqis,[21] the Turkish minority in Iraq,[14] and the Iraqi-Turkish minority.[22]

### In literature

[edit]

Professor Orit Bashkin has observed that within Iraqi Turkmen literature, poets have managed to "remain loyal to Iraq as a state" whilst they have also "concurrently upheld their Turkish distinctiveness":

> For Mustafa Gökkaya (b. 1910), this signified that his community was Muslim and that "my father is Turk, and the homeland [is] my mother". For Reşit Ali Dakuklu (b. 1918), being part of "the Turks of Iraq" signified maintaining brotherly relations with every nation, being united with Iraq, while speaking in Turkish. Universal and local, Iraqi and Turkish at the same time, the Turkoman poets were willing to serve their nation yet unwilling to neglect their culture and their Turkishness.[23]

## History

[edit]

Suleiman the Magnificent defeated the Safavids on 31 December 1534, gaining Baghdad and, later, southern Iraq. Throughout the Ottoman reign, the Ottomans encouraged Turkish migration along northern Iraq.[24]

### Origin

[edit]

The exact origin of the Iraqi Turkmen is uncertain, but several possible explanations and theories of settlement in the region indicate that they likely originally emerged in Iraq as garrisons established by multiple rulers in various time periods.[7][24][25][26]

The Iraqi Turkmen are believed to be the descendants of various waves of Turkic settlement in Mesopotamia beginning from the 7th century until the end of Ottoman rule (1919). The first wave of migration dates back to the 7th century, followed by migrations during the Seljuk Empire (1037–1194), the fleeing Oghuz during the Mongol destruction of the Khwarazmian dynasty (see Kara Koyunlu and Ag Qoyunlu), and the largest migration, during the Ottoman Empire (1535–1919). With the conquest of Iraq by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1534, followed by Sultan Murad IV's capture of Baghdad in 1638, a large influx of Turks—predominantly from Anatolia—settled down in Iraq. It is believed that many of today's Iraqi Turkmen are the descendants of the Ottoman soldiers, traders and civil servants who were brought into Iraq during the rule of the Ottoman Empire.[24][25][26][27]

### Migration under Arab rule

[edit]

The presence of Turkic peoples in what is today Iraq first began in the 7th century when approximately 2,000[28]–5,000[29][30] Oghuz Turks were recruited in the Muslim armies of Ubayd-Allah ibn Ziyad.[28] They arrived in 674 with the Umayyud conquest of Basra.[31] More Turkic troops settled during the 8th century, from Bukhara to Basra and also Baghdad.[31] During the subsequent Abbasid era, thousands more of Turkmen warriors were brought into Iraq; however, the number of Turkmen who had settled in Iraq were not significant, as a result, the first wave of Turkmen became assimilated into the local Arab population.[28]

### Seljuk migration

[edit]

The second wave of Turkmens to descend on Iraq were the Turks of the Great Seljuq Empire.[24] Large scale migration of the Turkmen in Iraq occurred in 1055 with the invasion of Sultan Tuğrul Bey, the second ruler of the Seljuk dynasty, who intended to repair the holy road to Mecca. For the next 150 years, the Seljuk Turks placed large Turkmen communities along the most valuable routes of northern Iraq, especially Tal Afar, Erbil, Kirkuk, and Mandali, which is now identified by the modern community as Turkmeneli.[32] Many of these settlers assumed positions of military and administrative responsibilities in the Seljuk Empire.[citation needed]

### Ottoman migration

[edit]

A large influx of Turks continued to settle in Iraq once Murad IV recaptured Baghdad in 1638.[30][25]

The third, and largest, wave of Turkmen migration to Iraq arose during the four centuries of Ottoman rule (1535–1919).[24][30] By the first half of the sixteenth century the Ottomans had begun their expansion into Iraq, waging wars against their arch rival, the Persian Safavids.[33] In 1534, under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, Mosul was sufficiently secure within the Ottoman Empire and became the chief province (eyalet) responsible for all other administrative districts in the region.[34] The Ottomans encouraged migration from Anatolia and the settlement of immigrant Turkmen along northern Iraq, religious scholars were also brought in to preach Hanafi (Sunni) Islam.[34] With loyal Turkmen inhabiting the area, the Ottomans were able to maintain a safe route through to the southern provinces of Mesopotamia.[24] Following the conquest, Kirkuk came firmly under Turkish control and was referred to as "Gökyurt",[35] it is this period in history whereby modern Iraqi Turkmen claim association with Anatolia and the Turkish state.[35]

The Mosul vilayet.

With the conquest of Iraq by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1534, followed by Sultan Murad IV's capture of Baghdad in 1638, a large influx of Turks settled down in the region.[30][25] After defeating the Safavids on 31 December 1534, Suleiman entered Baghdad and set about reconstructing the physical infrastructure in the province and ordered the construction of a dam in Karbala and major water projects in and around the city's countryside.[36] Once the new governor was appointed, the town was to be composed of 1,000 foot soldiers and another 1,000 cavalry.[37] However, war broke out after 89 years of peace and the city was besieged and finally conquered by Abbas the Great in 1624. The Persians ruled the city until 1638 when a massive Ottoman force, led by Sultan Murad IV, recaptured the city.[34] In 1639, the Treaty of Zuhab was signed that gave the Ottomans control over Iraq and ended the military conflict between the two empires.[38] Thus, more Turks arrived with the army of Sultan Murad IV in 1638 following the capture of Baghdad whilst others came even later with other notable Ottoman figures.[35][39]

### Post-Ottoman era

[edit]

The Misak-ı Millî ("national oath") sought to include the Mosul vilayet in the proposals for the new borders of a Turkish nation in 1920.

Following the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the Iraqi Turkmens wanted Turkey to annex the Mosul vilayet and for them to become part of an expanded state;[40] this is because, under the Ottoman monarchy, the Iraqi Turkmens enjoyed a relatively trouble-free existence as the administrative and business classes.[40] However, due to the demise of the Ottoman monarchy, the Iraqi Turkmen participated in elections for the Constituent Assembly; the purpose of these elections was to formalise the 1922 treaty with the British government and obtain support for the drafting of a constitution and the passing of the 1923 Electoral law.[41] The Iraqi Turkmens made their participation in the electoral process conditional on the preservation of the Turkish character of Kirkuk's administration and the recognition of Turkish as the official language of the liwa.[41] Although they were recognized as a constitutive entity of Iraq, alongside the Arabs and Kurds, in the constitution of 1925, the Iraqi Turkmen were later denied this status.[40]

Since the demise of the Ottoman Empire, the Iraqi Turkmen have found themselves increasingly mistreated under successive regimes, such as in the massacres of 1923, 1946, and 1959, and from 1980, when the Ba'th Party targeted the community.[40]

## Culture

[edit]

The Iraqi Turkmens are mostly Muslim and have close cultural and linguistic ties with the Anatolian region of Turkey.[42]

### Language

[edit]

Bilingual sign (Arabic and Turkish) of a Turkmen village. Bilingual sign (Arabic and Turkish) of a Turkmen village.

The Iraqi Turkmen[43][44] dialects fall under the Western Oghuz branch of Turkic languages and are often referred to as "Iraqi Turkmen Turkish"[45][46] "Iraqi Turkish",[47][48][49][50] and "Iraqi Turkic".[51][52] The dialects possess their own unique characteristics, but have also been influenced by the historical standards of Ottoman Turkish (which was the official language of administration and lingua franca in Iraq between 1534 and 1920[53]) and neighboring Azerbaijani Turkic.[54] In particular, standard (i.e. Istanbul) Turkish as a prestige language has exerted a profound influence on their dialects;[55] thus, the syntax in Iraqi Turkmen differs sharply from neighboring Irano-Turkic varieties.[55] Collectively, the Iraqi Turkmen dialects also show similarities with Cypriot Turkish and Balkan Turkish regarding modality.[56] The written language of the Iraqi Turkmen is based on Istanbul Turkish using the modern Turkish alphabet.[57]

The Turkish language was recognized as a minority language in Kirkuk and Kifri in 1930,[58] until the revolutionary government introduced the names "Turkman" and "Turkmanja" in 1959 with the aim of politically distancing the Turks of Iraq from Turkey.[20] Then, in 1972, the Iraqi government banned the Turkish language[59] and schools and media using Turkish were prohibited.[59] Further bans on the Turkish language were made in the 1980s when the Baath regime prohibited the Iraqi Turkmens from speaking Turkish in public.[59] It was not until 2005 that the Turkmen dialects were recognized under the Iraqi constitution; since then, the Iraqi Turkmens have opened numerous Turkish schools[60] and media exposure from Turkey has led to the standardisation of their dialects towards Standard Turkish and the preferable language for adolescents associating with the Turkish culture.[61]

Some Iraqi Turkmen claimed that their language had Sumerian influence, which was present in many of the names of villages, cities, and foods. By 2021, researchers had discovered over 350 Turkmen words which traced back to Sumerian. There was also speculation that Turkmen traditional clothes strongly resembled Sumerian clothes.[62]

Indeed, Iraqi Turkmens themselves (according to the 1957 census), as well as a range of linguistic sources, tend to view their language as a Turkish dialect (of Turkey),[63][64][65] which they call Irak Türkmen Türkçesi, Irak Türkçesi, or Irak Türkmencesi. Studies have long noted the similarities between Iraqi Turkmen and certain Southeastern Anatolian dialects around the region of Urfa and Diyarbakır,[66] or have described it as an "Anatolian"[64][67] or an "Eastern Anatolian dialect".[68] There are also linguists who have said that Iraqi Turkmen is closer to Azerbaijani,[69] placing the Kirkuk dialect as "more or less"[70] an "Azerbaijani Turkish" dialect.[46][71][72][73] Yet, the Kirkuk dialect also shows comparable features with Urfa,[74][65] and there are other regions in the Kirkuk Governorate, such as Altun Kupri, Taza Khurmatu, and Bashir, which are said to show unity with the Eastern Anatolian dialect of Urfa.[75] Indeed, the dialects spoken in Turkmen-dominated regions in other parts of the country – including Amirli, Kifri, Tal Afar and Tuz Khurmatu – are all said to be similar to the Turkish dialect of Urfa.[75] Hence, there are linguists who acknowledge similarities with Azerbaijani spoken in Iran but say that Iraqi Turkmen has "greater proximity to Turkish of Turkey".[47] According to Christiane Bulut, Iraqi Turkman is neither Azeri nor Anatolian Turkish but "a transitional dialect group, displaying linguistic features similar to both".[76]

Besides their traditional dialects, the Iraqi Turkmen diaspora also communicate in standard (Istanbul) Turkish,[77] whilst the younger generations in Iraq (below the age of 18 in 2019) speak Istanbul Turkish with ease.[78] In addition, diglossia in Iraq Turkmen dialects and Istanbul Turkish has become a widespread phenomenon.[57][79] Most Iraqi Turkmen can also speak Arabic and/or Kurdish.[80][53]

#### Dialects

[edit]

Due to the existence of different Turkish migration waves to Iraq for over 1,200 years, the Iraqi Turkmen varieties are by no means homogeneous;[80][54] dialects can vary according to regional features.[57] Several prestige languages in the region have been particularly influential: Ottoman Turkish from 1534 onwards and then Persian after the Capture of Baghdad (1624). Once the Ottoman empire retook Iraq in 1640 the Turkish varieties of Iraq continued to be influenced by Ottoman Turkish, as well as other languages in the region, such as Arabic and Kurdish.[80] Ottoman Turkish had a strong influence in Iraq until 1920, for it was not only the official language of administration but also the lingua franca.[53] Indeed, Turkish has remained a prestige language among Iraqi Turkmen, exerting a profound historical influence on their dialect. As a result, Iraqi Turkmen syntax differs sharply from Irano-Turkic.[55]

In general, the Iraqi Turkmen dialects of Tal Afar (approx 700,000 speakers),[81] Altun Kupri, Tuz Khurmatu, Taza Khurmatu, Kifri, Bashir and Amirli show unity with the Eastern Anatolian dialect of Urfa;[75][73] meanwhile, the dialects in Kirkuk, Erbil, Dohuk, Mandali and Khanaqin show similarities with Azerbaijani Tabrizi and Afshar Turkic dialects.[73] Yet, the Kirkuk dialect also shows comparable features with Urfa,[74][65] and 21.4% of Kirkuk province's population had self-declared their mother tongue as "Turkish" in the last census which asked about language.[82] In particular, a cultural orientation towards Turkey prevails among Iraqi Turkmen intellectuals and diglossia (Turkish of Turkey) is very frequent in educated circles, especially in Kirkuk.[53] In addition, the Erbil dialect shows similarities with Turkish dialects stretching from Kosovo to Rize, Erzurum and Malatya.[83]

The Iraqi Turkmen generally also have an active command in standard Turkish due to their cultural orientation towards the Republic of Turkey.[57] Turkish media outlets (especially satellite TV) has been influential; moreover, there are a number of private schools which teach in Turkish backed by Turkish institutions. Thus, diglossia in Iraq Turkmen and standard Turkish (of Turkey) has become a widespread phenomenon.[57][79]

In 2020, a request to grant ISO 639 code for Iraqi Turkmen was submitted to SIL,[84] but later rejected in 2024 as it doesn't meet the criteria for being a distinct language.[85]

#### Politicisation

[edit]

Professor Christiane Bulut has argued that publications from Azerbaijan often use expressions such as "Azerbaijani (dialects) of Iraq" or "South Azerbaijani" to describe Iraqi Turkmen dialects "with political implications"; however, in Turcological literature, closely related dialects in Turkey and Iraq are generally referred to as "eastern Anatolian" or "Iraq-Turkic/-Turkman" dialects, respectively.[44]

Furthermore, the terms "Turkmen/Turkman" are also considered to be historically political because in the early 20th century the minority were simply recognized as Turks who spoke the Turkish language, until after the military coup of 14 July 1958, when the ruling military junta introduced the names "Turkman/Turkmen" to distance the Turks of Iraq from those in Anatolia,[20] and then banned the Turkish language in 1972.[59]

#### Official status

[edit]

Under the British Mandate over Iraq, the Turkish language was recognized as an official language in Kirkuk and Kifri under Article 5 of the Language Act of 1930.[58] Article 6 of the Act permitted the language of education to be determined by the native language of the majority of students, whilst Article 2 and Article 4 gave Iraqi citizens the right to have court hearings and decisions verbally translated into Arabic, Kurdish, or Turkish in all cases.[58]

Upon Iraq's entry into the League of Nations in 1932, the League demanded that Iraq recognize its ethnic and religious minorities.[58] Consequently, the Turkish language, alongside Kurdish, was to be recognized as an official language under the Iraqi constitution of 1932: "in the liwa of Kirkuk, where a considerable part of the population is of Turkmen race, the official language, side by side with Arabic, shall be either Kurdish or Turkish".[86] According to Article 1, no law, order, or act of government was allowed to contradict the terms of the 1932 constitution, nor could it be changed in the future.[87]

However, in 1959 the military junta introduced the names "Turkman" and "Turkmanja".[51] More recently, Article 4 of the 2005 Iraqi Constitution recognizes "Turkomen" as an official minority language in the "administrative units in which they constitute density of population" (alongside Syriac).[88]

#### Adoption of the Turkish alphabet

[edit]

In 1997 the Iraqi Turkmen Congress adopted a Declaration of Principles, Article Three states that "the official written language of the Turkmen is Istanbul Turkish, and its alphabet is the new Latin alphabet."[57] By 2005 the Turkish language replaced traditional Turkmeni, which had used the Arabic script, in Iraqi schools.[60]

### Education in Turkish

[edit]

Bilingual sign (Arabic and Turkish) of an Iraqi Turkmen boys intermediate school. Bilingual sign (Arabic and Turkish) of an Iraqi Turkmen girls intermediate school.

Iraq's first two Turkmen schools were opened on 17 November 1993, one in Erbil and the other in Kifri.[89]

In 2010 the Turkmen Federation of Scouts (Türkmen Izcilik Federasyonu) was founded, based in Kirkuk.[90]

In 2005 Iraqi Turkmen community leaders decided that the Turkish language would replace the use of traditional Turkmeni in Iraqi schools;[60] Turkmeni had used the Arabic script whereas Turkish uses the Latin script (see Turkish alphabet).[60] Kelsey Shanks has argued that "the move to Turkish can be seen as a means to strengthen the collective "we" identity by continuing to distinguish it from the other ethnic groups. ... The use of Turkish was presented as a natural progression from the Turkmen; any suggestion that the oral languages were different was immediately rejected."[91]

Parental literacy rates in Turkish are low, as most are more familiar with the Arabic script (due to the Ba'athist regime). Therefore, the Turkmen Directorate of Education in Kirkuk has started Turkish language lessons for the wider society. Furthermore, the Turkmen officer for the Ministry of Education in Nineveh has requested from the "United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq" the instigation of Turkish language classes for parents.[92]

### Media in Turkish

[edit]

The current prevalence of satellite television and media exposure from Turkey may have led to the standardisation of Turkmeni towards Turkish, and the preferable language for adolescents associating with the Turkish culture.[61]

In 2004 the Türkmeneli TV channel was launched in Kirkuk, Iraq. It broadcasts programmes in the Turkish and Arabic languages.[93] As of 2012, Türkmeneli TV has studios in Kirkuk and Baghdad in Iraq, and in the Çankaya neighbourhood in Ankara, Turkey.[93] Türkmeneli TV has signed agreements with several Turkish channels, such as TRT, TGRT and ATV, as well as with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus's main broadcaster BRT, to share programmes and documentaries.[93]

### Religion

[edit]

The Iraqi Turkmen are predominantly Muslims. The Sunni Turkmen form the majority (about 60–70%), but there is also a significant number of Turkmen practicing the Shia branch of Islam (about 30% to 40%).[94][10] Nonetheless, the Turkmen are mainly secular, having internalized the secularist interpretation of state–religion affairs practiced in the Republic of Turkey since its foundation in 1923.[10] However, there were also instances of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia Turkmen.[95] Turkmen largely live in urban areas, dealing with trade and commerce, and usually tend to acquire higher education. The power of religious and tribal factors inherent in the Arab and Kurdish cultures does not significantly affect the Turkmens.[96] Although the Iraqi Turkmen also had tribes, their traditions and customs significantly differed from those of Arab tribes. Turkmen women also had a higher standing in the family, and polygamy was very rare among Iraqi Turkmen men.[97]

A small minority of the Iraqi Turkmens are Catholics,[98][99][100][101] and their number was estimated at about 30,000 in 2015.[102][103] In 2017, Iraqi Turkmen Catholics constituted around 1% of the Iraqi Turkmen community.[12] Iraqi Turkmen Catholics were distinct from Citadel Christians. Iraqi Turkmen Catholics were Latin Catholic and lived in all areas of Turkmeneli, including Kirkuk. The Citadel Christians were Chaldean Catholic and lived only in Kirkuk. Furthermore, Citadel Christians were ethnically Assyrian whereas the Iraqi Turkmen Catholics were ethnically Turkic. Citadel Christians, numbering only "a few thousand" in 2017, were significantly fewer than Iraqi Turkmen Catholics.[104] The Turkmen Bible Partnership translated the New Testament into the Iraqi Turkmen dialect and printed and distributed 2,000 copies of it in 2021.[105] The presence of Christian Turkmen in Iraq dated back to the Seljuk and Ilkhanid periods, when Turkmen tribes settled in Mesopotamia and some members of the tribes either retained or adopted local Christian beliefs. Certain Turkmen Christian families in Iraq preserved religious identities distinct from both Muslim Turkmen and Aramaic-speaking Christians.[106] Max van Berchem’s survey of linguistic minorities in Ottoman Iraq included mention of “Christian Turks” in Mosul and Kirkuk.[107] In 1989, Peter Andrews wrote that some Iraqi Turkmen Christians in Altun Kupri were forcefully converted to Islam or emigrated under pressure.[108] Some Turkmen Christians were massacres by the Assyrian Levies and later the Ba'athists.[109] The Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) largely defined Turkmen identity in Sunni terms, often excluding Shia and Christian Turkmen.[110]

Historically, there was a community of Iraqi Turkmen adhering to extreme Shia beliefs similar to the Qizilbash. They were isolated from the other Iraqi Turkmen Shias and were highly secretive about their beliefs. They eventually converted to mainstream Shia Islam in the 1920s. The Ibrahimiyya was among those sects.[111]

## Demographics

[edit]

### Population

[edit]

#### Official statistics

[edit]

See also: Demographics of Iraq

The Iraqi Turkmens are the third largest ethnic group in Iraq.[112][113] According to 2013 data from the Iraqi Ministry of Planning the Iraqi Turkmens have a population of about 3 million out of the total population of about 34.7 million (approximately 9% of the country's population).[2]

#### Past censuses and controversies

[edit]

An Iraqi Turkmen in Kirkuk.

According to Mesut Yeğen, documents from the British Foreign Office claim that the Turkmens made a majority in the city of Erbil in 1919[114][115] The 1957 Iraqi census (which is recognized as the last reliable census, as later censuses were reflections of the Arabization policies of the Ba'ath regime[116]) recorded 567,000 Turks out of a total population of 6.3 million, forming 9% of the total Iraqi population.[117][118][119][120] This put them third, behind Arabs and Kurds.[121] However, due to the undemocratic environment, their number has always been underestimated and has long been a point of controversy. For example, in the 1957 census, the Iraqi government first claimed that there was 136,800 Turks in Iraq. However, the revised figure of 567,000 was issued after the 1958 revolution when the Iraqi government admitted that the Iraqi Turkmen population was actually more than 400% from the previous year's total.[122] Scott Taylor has described the political nature of the results thusly:

> According to the 1957 census conducted by King Faisal II – a monarch supported by the British – there were only 136,800 Turkmen in all of Iraq. Bearing in mind that since the British had wrested control of Mesopotamia from the Turks after the First World War, a deliberate campaign had been undertaken to eradicate or diminish all remnants of Ottoman influence. Therefore it should not be surprising that after Abdul Karim Kassem launched his successful revolution in 1958 – killing 23-year-old King Faisal II, expelling the British and declaring Iraq a republic – that a different set of numbers was published. According to the second census of 1958, the Turkmen registry stood at 567,000 – an increase of more than 400 per cent from the previous year's total.[123]

Subsequent censuses, in 1967, 1977, 1987 and 1997, are all considered highly unreliable, due to suspicions of manipulation by the various regimes in Iraq.[124] The 1997 census states that there was 600,000[26][125] Iraqi Turkmen out of a total population of 22,017,983,[126] forming 2.72% of the total Iraqi population; however, this census only allowed its citizens to indicate belonging to one of two ethnicities, Arab or Kurd, this meant that many Iraqi Turkmen identified themselves as Arabs (the Kurds not being a desirable ethnic group in Saddam Hussein's Iraq), thereby skewing the true number of Iraqi Turkmen.[124]

#### Other estimates

[edit]

In 2004 Scott Taylor suggested that the Iraqi Turkmen population accounted for 2,080,000 of Iraq's 25 million inhabitants (forming 8.32% of the population)[123] whilst Patrick Clawson has stated that the Iraqi Turkmen make up about 9% of the total population.[113] Furthermore, international organizations such as the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization has stated that the Iraqi Turkmen community is 3 million or 9–13% of the Iraqi population.[127][128] Iraqi Turkmen claim that their total population is over 3 million.[129][130]

### Areas of settlement

[edit]

Main article: Turkmeneli

A map of Turkmeneli (Turkish: Türkmeneli) on a monument in Altun Kupri (Turkish: Altınköprü). An Iraqi Turkmen youth holding a Turkmeneli scarf.

The Iraqi Turkmen primarily inhabit northern Iraq, in a region they refer to as "Turkmeneli" which stretches from the northwest to the east at the middle of Iraq. Iraqi Turkmen consider their capital city to be Kirkuk.[112][129] Liam Anderson and Gareth Stansfield describe the Turkmeneli region as follows:

> ...what Turkmens refer to as Turkmeneli – a vast swath of territory running from Iraq's border with Turkey and Syria and diagonally down the country to the border with Iran. Turkmen sources note that Turcomania – an Anglicized version of "Turkmeneli" – appears on a map of the region published by William Guthrie in 1785, but there is no clear reference to Turkmeneli until the end of the twentieth century.[131]

The Iraqi Turkmen generally consider several major cities, and small districts associated with these cities, as part of Turkmeneli.[10] The major cities claimed to be a part of their homeland include: Altun Kupri, Badra, Bakuba, Diala, Erbil, Khanaqin, Kifri, Kirkuk, Kizilribat, Mendeli, Mosul, Salahaldeen, Sancar, Tal Afar, and Tuz Khurmatu.[10] Thus, the Turkmeneli region lies between the Arab areas of settlement to the south and Kurdish areas to the north.[10]

According to the 1957 census the Iraqi Turkmen formed the majority of inhabitants in the city of Kirkuk, with 40% declaring their mother tongue as "Turkish".[129][132] The second-largest Iraqi Turkmen city is Tel Afar where they make up 95% of the inhabitants.[133] The once mainly Turkoman cities of the Diyala Province such as Kifri have been heavily Kurdified and Arabized.[128]

An Iraqi Turkmen woman in Istanbul, Turkey.

Some Iraqi Turkmen also live outside the Turkmeneli region. For example, there is a significant community living in Iraq's capital city of Baghdad, especially in the neighbourhoods of Adhamiyah and Ragheba Khatun.[10][134]

The Turkmen population in Erbil is estimated to be around 300,000. They mainly reside in the neighbourhoods of Taci, Mareke and Three Tak in Erbil's city centre, around the citadel. Until 2006, they were living in the Tophane, Tekke and Saray neighborhoods of the Citadel, which contained almost 700 houses. In 2006, the citadel was emptied, and the Turkmen in the citadel were relocated to other neighbourhoods. Some Turkmen also participate in the political institutions of the KRG, including the Parliament.[135] Erbil's citadel also contains the Turkmen Culture House.

### Diaspora

[edit]

An Iraqi Turkmen protest in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Iraqi Turkmen children waving Turkmen flags

Most Iraqi Turkmens migrate to Turkey, followed by Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. There are also Iraqi Turkmen communities living in Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand,[citation needed] Greece, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.[136][137][138][139]

According to Professor Suphi Saatçi, in 2010 approximately 1,000 Iraqi Turkmen were living in Canada, 2,000 in Denmark, and 4,000 in the Netherlands.[140] Since the European migrant crisis (2014–19) the number of Iraqi Turkmen has continued to increase in Europe.

There are many established Iraqi Turkmen diaspora communities, such as the Canadian Iraqi Turkmen Culture Association, based in Canada.[141]

The Turkoman community in Chicago dates from the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf War. They have tended to settle in the northern neighborhoods of the city and in the suburbs, and many have taken jobs as factory workers or cabdrivers. Owing to their small size, they attend the mosques of other communities. They maintain a distinct cultural identity and close ties with brethren outside of Chicago.[142]

## Persecution

[edit]

Iraqi Turkmen man in traditional clothes bearing a Turkmen flag.

The position of the Iraqi Turkmen has changed from being administrative and business classes of the Ottoman Empire to an increasingly discriminated against minority.[40] Since the demise of the Ottoman Empire, the Iraqi Turkmen have been victims of several massacres, such as the 1959 Kirkuk massacre. Furthermore, under the Ba'th party, discrimination against the Iraqi Turkmen increased, with several leaders being executed in 1979[40] as well as the Iraqi Turkmen community being victims of Arabization policies by the state, and Kurdification by Kurds seeking to push them forcibly out of their homeland.[143] Moreover, the government of Turgut Özal only gave attention to Sunni Turkmen and ignored the Shias.[144] Thus, they have suffered from various degrees of suppression and assimilation that ranged from political persecution and exile to terror and ethnic cleansing. Despite being recognized in the 1925 constitution as a constitutive entity, the Iraqi Turkmen were later denied this status; hence, cultural rights were gradually taken away and activists were sent to exile.[40]

### Massacres

[edit]

#### 1924 Kirkuk massacre

[edit]

Main article: 1924 Kirkuk massacre

Iraqi Turkmen cemetery.

In 1924, the Iraqi Turkmens were seen as a disloyal remnant of the Ottoman Empire, with a natural tie to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's new Turkish nationalist ideology emerging in the Republic of Turkey.[145] The Iraqi Turkmen living in the region of Kirkuk were perceived as posing a threat to the stability of Iraq, particularly as they did not support the ascendancy of King Faisal I to the Iraqi throne.[145] On 4 May, these tensions boiled over into violence when soldiers from the Iraq Levies —a levied force raised by the British government after the First World War and consisting primarily of Assyrians — clashed with Turkmen in a Kirkuk market square after a dispute between an Assyrian soldier and a Turkmen shopkeeper. In the ensuing fracas, 200 Turkmen were killed by Assyrian soldiers.[145]

#### 1946 Gavurbağı massacre

[edit]

Main article: Gavurbağı massacre

Around 20 Iraqi Turkmen civilians were killed by Iraqi policemen including women and children on 12 July 1946 in Gavurbağı, Kirkuk.[146][147]

#### 1959 Kirkuk massacre

[edit]

Main article: 1959 Kirkuk massacre

The Kirkuk massacre of 1959 came about due to the Iraqi government allowing the Iraqi Communist Party, which in Kirkuk was largely Kurdish, to target the Iraqi Turkmen.[40][148] With the appointment of Maarouf Barzinji, a Kurd, as the mayor of Kirkuk in July 1959, tensions rose following 14 July revolution celebrations, with animosity in the city polarizing rapidly between the Kurds and Iraqi Turkmen. On 14 July 1959, skirmishes broke out between the Iraqi Turkmen and Kurds, leaving some 20 Iraqi Turkmen dead.[149] Furthermore, on 15 July 1959, Kurdish soldiers of the Fourth Brigade of the Iraqi army mortared Iraqi Turkmen residential areas, destroying 120 houses.[149][150] Order was restored on 17 July by military units from Baghdad. The Iraqi government referred to the incident as a "massacre"[151] and stated that between 31 and 79 Iraqi Turkmen were killed and some 130 injured.[149]

#### 1991 Altun Kupri massacre

[edit]

Main article: 1991 Altun Kupri massacre

Local resident wearing traditional Turkmen clothes in Altun Kupri.

Over 135 Turkmen civilians were killed on 28 March 1991 during the Gulf War by Iraqi forces, in the Turkmen town of Altun Kupri.[152][153]

### Arabization

[edit]

See also: Persecution of Iraqi Turkmen in Ba'athist Iraq

The government of Saddam Hussein had heavily restricted the cultural rights of Iraqi Turkmen and adopted a policy of assimilation. Due to government relocation programs, thousands of Iraqi Turkmen were relocated from their traditional homelands in northern Iraq and replaced by Arabs, in an effort to Arabize the region.[154] Furthermore, Iraqi Turkmen villages and towns were destroyed to make way for Arab migrants, who were promised free land and financial incentives. For example, the Ba'th regime recognised that the city of Kirkuk was historically an Iraqi Arab city and remained firmly in its cultural orientation.[148]

### Turkmen–Kurdish tension and Kurdification

[edit]

Iraqi Turkmen protesting in Amsterdam, the banner reads: 'Kirkuk is an Iraqi city with Turkmen characteristics'. Iraqi Turkmen woman holding a placard written in Turkish: Kerkük'ü hiçbir güç Kürtleştiremez ("No power can Kurdify Kirkuk").

The Kurds claimed de facto sovereignty over land that Iraqi Turkmen regard as theirs. For the Iraqi Turkmen, their identity is deeply inculcated as the rightful inheritors of the region as a legacy of the Ottoman Empire.[155] Thus, it is claimed that the Kurdistan Region and Iraqi government has constituted a threat to the survival of the Iraqi Turkmen through strategies aimed at eradicating or assimilating them.[155] The formation of the Kurdistan Region in 1991 created high animosity between the Kurds and Iraqi Turkmen, resulting in some Iraqi Turkmen being victims of Kurdification, according to Liam Anderson. The largest concentration of Iraqi Turkmen tended to be in the de facto capital of Erbil, a city which they had assumed prominent administrative and economic positions. Thus, they increasingly came into dispute and often conflict with the ruling powers of the city, which after 1996 was the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Massoud Barzani.[156]

According to Anderson and Stansfield, in the 1990s, tension between the Kurds and Iraqi Turkmen inflamed as the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) were institutionalized as the political hegemons of the region and, from the perspective of the Iraqi Turkmen, sought to marginalize them from the positions of authority and to subsume their culture with an all-pervading Kurdistani identity. With the support of Ankara, a new political front of Turkmen parties, the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF), was formed on 24 April 1995.[156] The relationship between the Iraqi Turkmen Front and the KDP was tense and deteriorated as the decade went on. Iraqi Turkmen associated with the Iraqi Turkmen Front complained about harassment by Kurdish security forces.[156] In March 2000, the Human Rights Watch reported that the KDP's security attacked the offices of the ITF in Erbil, killing two guards, following a lengthy period of disputes between the two parties.[156] In 2002, the KDP created an Iraqi Turkmen political organization, the Turkmen National Association, that supported the further institutionalization of the Kurdistan Region. This was viewed by pro-ITF Iraqi Turkmen as a deliberate attempt to "buy off" Iraqi Turkmen opposition and break their bonds with Ankara.[157] Promoted by the KDP as the "true voice" of the Iraqi Turkmen, the Turkmen National Association has a pro-Kurdistani stance and has effectively weakened the ITF as the sole representative voice of the Iraqi Turkmen.[157] Beginning in 2003, there were riots between Kurds and Turkmen in Kirkuk, a city that Turkmen view as historically theirs.[158] According to United Nations reports, the KRG and Peshmerga were "illegaily policing Kirkurk, abducting Turkmen and Arabs and subjecting them to torture".[158]

### Sectarian violence

[edit]

Between 2003 and 2006, 1,350 Turkmens in Tal A'far died mainly from sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shias, as well as war. Thousands of houses were damaged or demolished, resulting in 4,685 displaced families.[158]

### Genocide under IS

[edit]

Main article: Iraqi Turkmen genocide

### Expulsion of Iraqis in Kirkuk (2016)

[edit]

Main article: Expulsion of Iraqis in Kirkuk (2016)

## Politics

[edit]

An Iraqi Turkmen rally.

Between ten and twelve Turkmen individuals were elected to the transitional National Assembly of Iraq in January 2005, including five on the United Iraqi Alliance list, three from the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF), and either two or four from the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan.[159][160]

In the December 2005 elections, between five and seven Turkmen candidates were elected to the Council of Representatives. This included one candidate from the ITF (its leader Saadeddin Arkej), two or four from the United Iraqi Alliance, one from the Iraqi Accord Front and one from the Kurdistani Alliance.[160][161]

Iraqi Turkmen have also emerged as a key political force in the controversy over the future status of northern Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. The government of Turkey has helped fund such political organizations as the Iraqi Turkmen Front, which opposes Iraqi federalism and in particular the proposed annexation of Kirkuk to the Kurdistan Regional Government.[162]

Tensions between the two groups over Kirkuk, however, have slowly died out and on 30 January 2006, the President of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, said that the "Kurds are working on a plan to give Iraqi Turkmens autonomy in areas where they are a majority in the new constitution they're drafting for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq."[163] However, it never happened and the policies of Kurdification by KDP and PUK after 2003 (with non-Kurds being pressed to move) have prompted serious inter-ethnic problems.[164]

## Notable people

[edit]

* Farah Zeynep Abdullah, Turkish actress[165]
* Abbas al-Bayati, politician[166]
* Mohammed Mahdi al-Bayati, Iraqi politician
* Yasin al-Hashimi, former Prime Minister of Iraq (1924–25 and 1935–36)[167]
* Khairi Al-Hindawi, poet
* Maruf al Rusafi, poet
* Arshad al-Salihi, politician
* Mohammed Abdullah al-Shahwani, Iraqi general
* Saadeddin Arkej, politician
* Selim Bayraktar, Turkish actor[168]
* Ahmet bin Carlak, considered the first environmentalist in Turkey and called the "Tarzan of Manisa"
* Kamil Chadirji, Iraqi politician[169]
* Rifat Chadirji, Iraqi architect[169]
* David Chokachi, American actor[170][171][172]
* Hijri Dede, poet
* İhsan Doğramacı, founder of Bilkent University and Hacettepe University[173]
* Fuzûlî, 16th century poet, writer and thinker
* Gökböri, leading emir and general
* Amine Gülşe, Swedish model; crowned Miss Turkey (2014) and actress[174]
* Muhammad Sadiq Hassan, Iraqi poet
* İsmet Hürmüzlü, Turkish actor[175]
* Jasim Mohammed Jaafar, Minister for Youth & Sports[166]
* Jijak, mother of the caliph al-Muktafi
* Gökhan Kırdar, Turkish musician[176]
* Sayyida Zumurrud Khatun, was the mother of Abbasid caliph al-Nasir
* Lütfi Kırdar, Turkish politician[177]
* Nemir Kirdar, billionaire businessman[178]
* Fathi Safwat Kirdar, Iraqi painter and sculptor
* Rena Kirdar, author and socialite
* Üner Kırdar, Turkish diplomat and senior United Nations official[177]
* Hiyam Köprülü [tr], Minister of State in Iraq (2020–present)
* Hidir Lutfi, poet
* Yasemin Mansoor [de], winner of Miss Germany (1996)[179]
* Reha Muhtar, Turkish television personality[180]
* Talib Mushtaq, poet and diplomat[181]
* Zahra mother of Al-Mustansir I
* Salih Neftçi, Turkish economist[182]
* Rashad Mandan Omar, Minister of Science and Technology (2003)[183]
* Maridah bint Shabib, wife of Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid and mother of eighth Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim
* Fahmi Said, army officer[184]
* Amel Senan, actress
* Mehmet Türkmehmet, football player
* Eser West [ar], American actor
* Imad al-Din Zengi, ruler of the Zengid dynasty
* Gökhan Kırdar, musician

## See also

[edit]

* Turkmeneli
* Turkish minorities in the former Ottoman Empire
* Turks in the Arab world
* Syrian Turkmen
* Turks in Lebanon
* Demographics of Iraq
* Minorities in Iraq
* Human rights in post-invasion Iraq
* Iraqi Turkmen Front
* 2009 Taza bombing
* 16th Turkmen Brigade
* Iraq–Turkey relations

## References

[edit]

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2. ^ a b c Bassem, Wassim (2016). "Iraq's Turkmens call for independent province". Al-Monitor. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. "Iraqi Turkmens, who are citizens of Iraq with Turkmen origins, have been calling for their own independent province in the Tal Afar district west of Mosul, located in the center of the Ninevah province...Turkmens are a mix of Sunnis and Shiites and are the third-largest ethnicity in Iraq after Arabs and Kurds, numbering around 3 million out of the total population of about 34.7 million, according to 2013 data from the Iraqi Ministry of Planning."
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109. ^ Dahlman, Carl, and Gearóid Ó Tuathail. “Broken Bosnia: The Localized Geopolitics of Displacement and Return in Two Bosnian Places.” Geopolitics, vol. 10, no. 2, 2005, pp. 611–644, 650
110. ^ Yildiz, Kerim. The Turkomans of Iraq: A Forgotten Minority. London: Kurdish Human Rights Project, 2004. pp. 51–52.
111. ^ Turkic Peoples Of The World, Margaret Bainbridge, 2013, pp. 174
112. ^ a b Al-Hurmezi, Ahmed (9 December 2010), The Human Rights Situation of the Turkmen Community in Iraq, Middle East Online, archived from the original on 18 October 2017, retrieved 31 October 2011
113. ^ a b Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. "Iraqi Turkmen: The Human Rights Situation and Crisis in Kerkuk" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
114. ^ Yeğen, Mesut (2012). İngiliz Belgelerinde Kürdistan. Ankara: Dipnot Yayınları. p. 124.
115. ^ FO 371/4193, 27 November 1919
116. ^ Anderson & Stansfield 2009, p. 43
117. ^ Knights 2004, p. 262: "The 1957 Iraqi census — the last in which the Turkmens were permitted to register — counted 567,000 Turkmens"
118. ^ Güçlü 2007, p. 79: "The last reliable census in Iraqi – and the only one in which participants could declare their mother tongue – was in 1957. It found that Turkomans were the third largest ethnicity in Iraq, after Arabs and Kurds. The Turkomans numbered 567,000 out of a total population of 6,300,000."
119. ^ Betts 2013, p. 86
120. ^ Anderson & Stansfield 2009, p. 58
121. ^ Gunter 2004, p. 131
122. ^ Taylor 2004, p. 79
123. ^ a b Taylor 2004, p. 28
124. ^ a b International Crisis Group 2008, p. 16
125. ^ Phillips 2006, p. 304: "Behind the Arabs and the Kurds, Turkmen are the third-largest ethnic group in Iraq. The ITF claim Turkmen represent 12 percent of Iraq's population. In response, the Kurds point to the 1997 census which showed that there were only 600,000 Turkmen."
126. ^ Graham-Brown 1999, p. 161
127. ^ Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. "Iraqi Turkmen". Retrieved 5 December 2010.
128. ^ a b Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. "The Turkmen of Iraq: Underestimated, Marginalized and exposed to assimilation Terminology". Retrieved 4 December 2010.
129. ^ a b c Taylor 2004, p. 32.
130. ^ Kibaroğlu, Mustafa; Kibaroğlu, Ayșegül; Halman, Talât Sait (2009). Global security watch Turkey: A reference handbook. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 165.
131. ^ Anderson & Stansfield 2009, p. 56.
132. ^ O'Leary 2009, p. 152.
133. ^ Hashim 2005, p. 370.
134. ^ "Report" (PDF). turkmen.nl. 30 July 2004. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
135. ^ Bilgay Duman (August 2016). The Situation of Turkmens and The Turkmen Areas After ISIS (Report). Ortadoğu Araştırmaları Merkezi (ORSAM). Also available via Academia.edu
136. ^ "Iraklı Türkmenler Kerkük için yürüdü" [Iraqi Turkmens marched for Kirkuk] (in Turkish). Hürriyet. 2008.
137. ^ Wanche, Sophia I. (2004). "An Assessment of the Iraqi Community in Greece" (PDF). United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. p. 3.
138. ^ Sirkeci 2005, p. 20.
139. ^ International Organization for Migration (2007), Iraq Mapping Exercise (PDF), International Organization for Migration, p. 5, archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2011
140. ^ Duman, Bilgay (2010). Türkiye'ye Yönelik Türkmen Göçü ve Türkiye'deki Türkmen Varlığı [Turkmen Migration to Turkey and Turkmen Presence in Turkey] (in Turkish). Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies. p. 11\. ISBN 978-605-5330-64-4. "Kerkük Vakfı Genel Sekreteri Prof. Dr. Suphi Saatçi'nin verdiği rakamlara göre, yaklaşık olarak Kanada'da 1000, Danimarka'da 2000, Hollanda'da ise 4000'e yakın Türkmen'in yaşadığı ve Türkiye üzerinden bu ülkelere göç ettiği bilinmektedir." [Kirkuk Foundation Secretary General Prof. Dr. According to the figures given by Suphi Saatçi, it is known that approximately 1000 Turkmen live in Canada, 2000 in Denmark, and close to 4000 in the Netherlands and immigrated to these countries via Turkey.]
141. ^ "Canadian Iraqi Turkmen Culture Association (CITCAL)". Canadian Iraqi Turkmen Culture Association (CITCAL). Retrieved 26 October 2021.
142. ^ "Iraqis". www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
143. ^ Anderson & Stansfield 2009, p. 62.
144. ^ Post-Saddam Iraq: New Realities, Old Identities, Changing Patterns, 2011, pp. 251
145. ^ a b c Anderson & Stansfield 2009, p. 63.
146. ^ Bardakçı, Murat. "Kerkük katliamlarını 'Irak'a ayıp olur' diye eskiden sansür ederdik" [We used to censor the Kirkuk massacres because it would be a disgrace to Iraq.]. www.hurriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 29 November 2020.
147. ^ "Gâvurbağı Katliamı (12 Temmuz 1946) – Türkmen Basın Ajansı" [Gavurbagi Massacre (12 July 1946) – Turkmen Press Agency]. www.tbajansi.com (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
148. ^ a b Anderson & Stansfield 2009, p. 64.
149. ^ a b c Anderson & Stansfield 2009, p. 34.
150. ^ Ghanim 2011, p. 380.
151. ^ Entessar 2010, p. 79.
152. ^ "Altunköprü the ancient name of Türkmen Township" (PDF).
153. ^ "Al-Haddad offers condolences to Turkmen people on anniversary of Kirkuk, Altun Kupri, Tuzhurmatu and Taza massacres – Iraqi Parliament Council". Retrieved 19 May 2023.
154. ^ Jenkins 2008, p. 15.
155. ^ a b Anderson & Stansfield 2009, p. 67.
156. ^ a b c d Anderson & Stansfield 2009, p. 68.
157. ^ a b Anderson & Stansfield 2009, p. 69.
158. ^ a b c Isakhan, Benjamin, ed. (1 August 2015). The Legacy of Iraq. Edinburgh University Press. doi:10.3366/edinburgh/9780748696161.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-7486-9616-1.
159. ^ Interesting Outcomes in Iraqi Election Archived 2005-11-03 at the Wayback Machine, Zaman Daily Newspaper
160. ^ a b The New Iraq, The Middle East and Turkey: A Turkish View Archived 2009-03-05 at the Wayback Machine, Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, 2006-04-01, accessed on 2007-09-06
161. ^ Turkmen Win Only One Seat in Kerkuk Archived 2008-06-19 at the Wayback Machine, Iraqi Turkmen Front
162. ^ Kurds Accused Of Rigging Kirkuk Vote Archived 2006-08-21 at the Wayback Machine, Al Jazeera
163. ^ Cevik, Ilnur (30 January 2006). "Talabani: Autonomy for Turkmen in Kurdistan". Kurdistan Weekly. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2006.
164. ^ Stansfield 2007, p. 71.
165. ^ Milliyet (16 August 2013). "Engin Akyürek'in yeni sinema filmi, "Bir Eylül Meselesi"" [Engin Akyürek's new feature film, "A September Matter".] (in Turkish). Retrieved 16 June 2014. "Farah Zeynep Abdullah, Iraklı Türkmen kökenli baba ve bir Türk annenin kızıdır" [Farah Zeynep Abdullah is the daughter of an Iraqi Turkmen father and a Turkish mother.]
166. ^ a b Today's Zaman (16 August 2010). "Davutoğlu meets Iraq's Turkmen politicians, urges unity". Retrieved 16 June 2014.
167. ^ Nakash 2011, p. 87.
168. ^ Batuman, Elift (17 February 2014). "Letter From Istanbul: Ottomania A his TV show reimagines Turkey's imperial past". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 14 May 2020.
169. ^ a b Magazine, Wallpaper* (21 April 2020). "In memoriam: Rifat Chadirji (1926–2020)". Wallpaper*.
170. ^ Wilcox, Emily (2008). "Plymouth TV star says 'yes' to studio". The Daily Register. Retrieved 9 December 2020. "Chokachi is not from Japan. He has Turkish and Finnish ancestry and grew up in Plymouth, where his dad is a renowned surgeon. David attended Tabor Academy, where he played lacrosse and football, then Bates College in Maine, where he earned a bachelor's in political science. But he still hadn't found his calling; he said he was like so many young people unsure of their path in life."
also in: Wilcox, Emily (2008), Plymouth TV star says 'yes' to studio, The State Journal-Register, retrieved 9 December 2020, "Chokachi is not from Japan. He has Turkish and Finnish ancestry and grew up in Plymouth, where his dad is a renowned surgeon."
171. ^ Hollywood'da Türk izleri!, Milliyet, 2011, retrieved 20 November 2020, "Türkiye doğumlu Iraklı bir baba ve Finlandiyalı bir anneden dünyaya gelen Chokachi, Marion, Massachusetts'te Tabor Acedemy'de eğitim aldı. Bates College'de siyaset bilimi bölümünden mezun oldu."
172. ^ David Chokachi Surfs His Way to The Miracle Mile, Variety, 2007, retrieved 9 December 2020, "Mister Chokachi... is of Turkish and Finnish extract."
173. ^ Bilkent News, Elift (26 February 2010). "Bilkent Mourns the Loss of its founder, Prof. Ihsan Dogramaci" (PDF). Retrieved 16 June 2014.
174. ^ Hurriyet (17 October 2016). "Kerküklü Türkmen oyuncu Amine Gülşe Arapçayı biraz biliyorum".
175. ^ Sabah (20 January 2013). "İsmet Hürmüzlü'yü kaybettik". Retrieved 16 June 2014.
176. ^ Milliyet (22 February 2012). ""Yerine Sevemem" ölümsüz aşk hikayeleri projesi!". Retrieved 16 June 2014.
177. ^ a b Kirdar 2012, p. 4
178. ^ Kirdar 2012, p. 3
179. ^ Barth, Alexander (2018), Schönheit im Wandel der Zeit (Image 45 of 67), Neue Ruhr Zeitung, archived from the original on 27 June 2021, retrieved 27 March 2021, "Yasemin Mansoor (Jahrgang 1979) ist Miss Germany 1996. Die damals 16-Jährige brach brach den Rekord als jüngste gewinnerin des schönheitswettbewerbs. Später arbeitete die Tochter irakisch-türkischer Immigranten als Fotomodell und produzierte Popmusik mit der Mädchenband "4 Unique..."
180. ^ Milliyet. "Türkmenler, Irak'ta eğitim düzeyleriyle öne çıkıyor..." Retrieved 16 June 2014.
181. ^ Wien 2014, p. 10
182. ^ Milliyet. "Salih Neftçi". Retrieved 16 June 2014.
183. ^ BBC (2004). "Interim Iraqi government". Retrieved 16 June 2014.
184. ^ Al-Marashisa, Ibrahim; Salama, Sammy (2008), Iraq's Armed Forces: An Analytical History, Routledge, p. 52, ISBN 978-1-134-14564-5, "Fahmi Said was from Sulaymaniyya, his father an Arab from the Anbak tribe situated near the Tigris and his mother was of Turkish origin."

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Al-Hirmizi, Ershad (2003), The Turkmen And Iraqi Homeland (PDF), Kerkuk Vakfi
* Al-Shawi, Ibrahim (2006), A Glimpse of Iraq, Lulu, ISBN 1-4116-9518-6
* Anderson, Liam D.; Stansfield, Gareth R. V. (2009), Crisis in Kirkuk: The Ethnopolitics of Conflict and Compromise, University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 978-0-8122-4176-1
* Barker, Geoff (2012), Iraq, Britannica, ISBN 978-1-61535-637-9
* Bayatlı, Hidayet Kemal (1996), İrak Türkmen Türkçesi, Atatürk Kültür, Dil ve Tarih Yüksek Kurumu, p. 329, ISBN 9789751608338
* Betts, Robert Brenton (2013), The Sunni-Shi'a Divide: Islam's Internal Divisions and Their Global Consequences, Potomac books, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 978-1-61234-522-2
* Boeschoten, Hendrik (1998), "Speakers of Turkic Languages", in Johanson, Lars; Csató, Éva Ágnes (eds.), The Turkic Languages, Routledge
* Bulut, Christiane (2000), "Optative constructions in Iraqi Turkmen", in Göksel, Aslı; Kerslake, Celia (eds.), Studies on Turkish and Turkic Languages, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 3-447-04293-1
* Entessar, Nader (2010), Kurdish Politics in the Middle East, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 978-0-7391-4039-0
* Fattah, Hala; Caso, Frank (2009), "Turkish Tribal Migrations and the Early Ottoman State", A Brief History of Iraq, Infobase Publishing, ISBN 978-0-8160-5767-2
* Ghanim, David (2011), Iraq's Dysfunctional Democracy, ABC-CLIO, ISBN 978-0-313-39801-8
* Gunter, Michael M. (2004), "The Kurds in Iraq" (PDF), Middle East Policy, 11 (1): 106–131, doi:10.1111/j.1061-1924.2004.00145.x, archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2012
* Graham-Brown, Sarah (1999), Sanctioning Saddam: The Politics of Intervention in Iraq, I.B.Tauris, ISBN 1-86064-473-2
* Güçlü, Yücel (2007), Who Owns Kirkuk? The Turkoman Case (PDF), Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2007
* Hashim, Ahmed (2005), Insurgency and counter-insurgency in Iraq, Cornell University Press, ISBN 0-8014-4452-7
* International Crisis Group (2006), Iraq and the Kurds: The Brewing Battle Over Kirkuk (PDF), International Crisis Group
* International Crisis Group (2008), Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds: Conflict or Cooperation?, International Crisis Group, archived from the original on 12 January 2011
* Jawhar, Raber Tal'at (2010), "The Iraqi Turkmen Front", in Catusse, Myriam; Karam, Karam (eds.), Returning to Political Parties?, Co-éditions, The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, pp. 313–328, ISBN 9782351592618
* Jenkins, Gareth (2008), Turkey and Northern Iraq: An Overview (PDF), The Jamestown Foundation, archived from the original (PDF) on 12 January 2012, retrieved 10 December 2011
* Johanson, Lars (2001), Discoveries on the Turkic Linguistic Map (PDF), Stockholm: Svenska Forskningsinstitutet i Istanbul
* Johanson, Lars (2009), "Turkmen", in Brown, Keith; Sarah, Ogilvie (eds.), Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World, Elsevier, ISBN 978-0-08-087774-7.
* Kibaroğlu, Mustafa; Kibaroğlu, Ayșegül; Halman, Talât Sait (2009), Global security watch Turkey: A reference handbook, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-313-34560-9
* Kirdar, Nemir (2012), In Pursuit of Fulfilment: Principle Passion Resolve, Hachette, ISBN 978-0-297-86951-1
* Knights, Michael (2004), Operation Iraqi Freedom And The New Iraq: Insights And Forecasts, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, ISBN 0-944029-93-0
* Lukitz, Liora (1995), Iraq: The Search for National Identity, Routledge, ISBN 0-7146-4550-8
* Lukitz, Liora (2006), A quest in the Middle East: Gertrude Bell and the making of modern Iraq, I.B.Tauris, ISBN 1-85043-415-8
* Nakash, Yitzhak (2011), Reaching for Power: The Shi'a in the Modern Arab World, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-1-4008-4146-2
* Oğuzlu, Tarik H. (2004), "Endangered community:The Turkoman identity in Iraq" (PDF), Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 24 (2), Routledge: 313, doi:10.1080/1360200042000296681, hdl:11693/49129, S2CID 56385519
* O'Leary, Brendan (2009), How to get out of Iraq with integrity, University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 978-0-8122-4201-0
* Park, Bill (2005), Turkey's policy towards northern Iraq: problems and perspectives, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-415-38297-1
* Phillips, David L. (2006), Losing Iraq: Inside the Postwar Reconstruction Fiasco, Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-05681-4
* Rubin, Barry (17 March 2015), The Middle East: A Guide to Politics, Economics, Society and Culture, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-317-45578-3
* Ryan, J. Atticus; Mullen, Christopher A. (1998), Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization: Yearbook 1997, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, ISBN 90-411-1022-4
* Sadik, Giray (2009), American Image in Turkey: U.S. Foreign Policy Dimensions, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 978-0-7391-3380-4
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* Stansfield, Gareth R. V. (2007), Iraq: People, History, Politics, Polity, ISBN 978-0-7456-3227-8
* Talabany, Nouri (2007), "Who Owns Kirkuk? The Kurdish Case", Middle East Quarterly, Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2007
* Taylor, Scott (2004), Among the Others: Encounters with the Forgotten Turkmen of Iraq, Esprit de Corps Books, ISBN 1-895896-26-6
* Triana, María (2017), Managing Diversity in Organizations: A Global Perspective, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 978-1-317-42368-3
* Wien, Peter (2014), Iraqi Arab Nationalism: Authoritarian, Totalitarian and Pro-Fascist Inclinations, 1932–1941, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-134-20479-3.

## External links

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* Media related to Iraqi Turkmen at Wikimedia Commons

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Peoples|

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Turkic peoples
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Turkic minorities in
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* Altaians
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* Chulyms
* Chuvash
* Dolgans
* Karachays
* Khakas
* Koibal
* Kumandins
* Kumyks
* Nogais
* Shors
* Soyots
* Tatars
* Astrakhan Tatars
* Kryashens
* Mishar Tatars
* Nağaybäk
* Volga Tatars
* Siberian Tatars
* Siberian Bukharans
* Teleuts
* Tofalars
* Tuvans
* Tozhu Tuvans
* Yakuts

Turkic minorities in
Mongolia|

* Khotons
* Mongolian Kazakhs
* Dukha

Turkic minorities in
Afghanistan|

* Afghan Turkmens
* Afshar
* Aimaqs
* Timuri
* Ansarlu
* Karategin Uzbeks
* Afghan Kyrgyz

Turkic minorities in
Europe
(exc. Russia)|

* Crimean Karaites
* Bulgarian Crimean Tatars
* Finnish Tatars
* Gagauz
* Lipka Tatars
* Tatars of Romania

Extinct Turkic groups|

* Alat
* Az
* Basmyl
* Barsils
* Berendei
* Bulaqs
* Bulgars
* Chigils
* Black Klobuks
* Cumans
* Dingling
* Duolu
* Dughlats
* Esegel
* Göktürks
* Kangly
* Karluks
* Keraites
* Khazars
* Kimek
* Kipchaks
* Sir-Kıvchak
* Kurykans
* Kutrigurs
* Merkit
* Naimans
* Nushibi
* Oghuz Turks
* Turkomans
* Pechenegs
* Onogurs
* Sabirs
* Saragurs
* Shatuo
* Tiele
* Türgesh
* Tuhsi
* Torks
* Toquz Oghuz
* Uriankhai
* Utigurs
* Xueyantuo
* Yenisei Kyrgyz
* Yueban
* Yagma
* Yabaku

Others|

* Abdals
* Hazaras
* Mughals

Diasporas|

* Azerbaijani diaspora
* Crimean Tatar diaspora
* Turkish diaspora
* Turkish Cypriot diaspora
* Kazakh diaspora

1 Central Asian (i.e. Turkmeni, Afghani and Iranian) Turkmens, distinct from Levantine (i.e. Iraqi and Syrian) Turkmen/Turkoman minorities, who mostly adhere to an Ottoman-Turkish heritage and identity. 2 In traditional areas of Turkish settlement (i.e. former Ottoman territories).
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