22 Facts About Iraqi Turkmen

Whilst Turkic migration to Iraq began in the 7th century, followed by 1055's Seljuk conquest, today most Turkmen are descendants of Ottoman soldiers, traders and civil servants who were brought into Iraq from Anatolia during Ottoman rule.

State-imposed terms on the Turks of Iraq were not resisted, for the word "Iraqi Turkmen" had historically been designated to the Oghuz Turks who had accepted Islam and migrated westwards from Central Asia to the Middle East, and had continued to be used in the region.

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.

Since the demise of the Ottoman Empire, the Iraqi Turkmen have found themselves increasingly discriminated against from the policies of successive regimes, such as the Kirkuk Massacre of 1923,1947,1959 and in 1979 when the Ba'th Party discriminated against the community.

Collectively, the Iraqi Turkmen dialects show similarities with Cypriot Turkish and Balkan Turkish regarding modality.

Related searches

The written language of the Iraqi Turkmen is based on Istanbul Turkish using the modern Turkish alphabet.

Indeed, the dialects spoken in Iraqi 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.

Iraqi Turkmen generally have an active command in standard Turkish due to their cultural orientation towards the Republic of Turkey.

The Sunni Iraqi Turkmen form the majority, but there is a significant number of Iraqi Turkmen practicing the Shia branch of Islam.

Nonetheless, the Iraqi Turkmen are mainly secular, having internalized the secularist interpretation of state–religion affairs practiced in the Republic of Turkey since its foundation in 1923.

Iraqi Turkmen generally consider several major cities, and small districts associated with these cities, as part of Turkmeneli.

Position of the Iraqi Turkmen has changed from being administrative and business classes of the Ottoman Empire to an increasingly discriminated against minority.

Since the demise of the Ottoman Empire, the Iraqi Turkmen have been victims of several massacres, such as the Kirkuk Massacre of 1959.

Furthermore, under the Ba'th party, discrimination against the Iraqi Turkmen increased, with several leaders being executed in 1979 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.

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.

Around 20 Iraqi Turkmen civilians were killed by Iraqi policemen including women and children on 12 July 1946 in Gavurbagi, Kirkuk.

Several presidential decrees and directives from state security and intelligence organizations indicate that the Iraqi Turkmen were a particular focus of attention during the assimilation process during the Ba'th regime.

Those Iraqi Turkmen who remained in cities such as Kirkuk were subject to continued assimilation policies; school names, neighbourhoods, villages, streets, markets and even mosques with names of Turkic origin were changed to names that emanated from the Ba'th Party or from Arab heroes.

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 the 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.

Iraqi Turkmen associated with the Iraqi Turkmen Front complained about harassment by Kurdish security forces.

Iraqi Turkmen have emerged as a key political force in the controversy over the future status of northern Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.