 Flag of Iraqi Turks. | |
 Turkish-inhabited areas. | |
| Language | Turkish[1] |
|---|---|
| Location | Northern Iraq[1] |
| Capital | Kirkuk |
| Population | 3 million (est. only includes the Iraqi Turks)[1] |
Turkmeneli (Turkish: Türkmeneli) (literally meaning the "land of the Turkmens"[2]) is a roughly defined geo-cultural region of the Iraqi Turkmen in Iraq.[1]
Turkmeneli includes within its boundaries Kirkuk, Tel Afar, Erbil, Madali, Mosul, and Tuz Khormato.[3][2]
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Coordinates: 35°12′02″N 43°57′54″E / 35.200555555556°N 43.965°E
The Iraqi Turkmen (also spelled Turcomans, Turkomen, and Iraqi Turkman) (Turkish: Irak Türkmenleri/Irak Türkleri) are an ethnic group who mainly reside in northern Iraq.[18] Estimates of their numbers vary dramatically, (in accordance with Iraq's assimilation policies no realistic and independent census results have been revealed regarding the Iraqi Turkmen population) from 500,000 by most western sources[19][20][21] to 4,500,000 by other sources.[22][19][23][24][25][26] The Iraqi Turkmen form a distinct group within the Oghuz Turk classification, which includes the Seljuk Turks, Ottoman Turks, modern Turkish people, Azeris, and the Turkmens of Central Asia.[27][28] The language spoken by the Iraqi Turkmens is South Azeri, not the Turkmen language spoken in Turkmenistan.[29][Need quotation to verify]
[edit] EtymologyThe name Turkmen (Turkish: Türkmenler) can be divided into two words, "Turk" and "men". The word "Turk" is used as a synonym to the word "Turkic" and the word "men" means "I". Accordingly, the word "Turkmen" translates to "I am a Turkish man" or "We are Turkish brave men".[30] [edit] HistoryThe Iraqi Turkmen first came to Iraq in the seventh century, as soldiers recruited in the Muslim army. Approximately 1,000 Turkic soldiers were brought to Iraq by Ubayd-Allah ibn Ziyad, who was a governor of Iraq. However, it was the wider migration of the Oghuz Turks towards Anatolia which took place at the end of the ninth century that established a substantial Iraqi Turkmen presence.[31] Successive waves of immigration continued under the rule of the Seljuk Turks who assumed positions of military and administrative responsibilities in the empire. Furthermore, with the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, the conquest of Iraq by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1535, followed by Murad IV’s capture of Baghdad in 1638, resulted in another influx of Turks settling in Iraq.[32] [edit] Seljuk eraSee also: Seljuk Empire Large scale migration of the Turks in Iraq was with the invasion of Toğrül who was the second ruler of the Seljuk dynasty. The Seljuks placed large Turkmen communities along the most valuable routes of Iraq, especially Tel Afar, Arbil, Kirkuk, and Mandali, which is now identified by the modern community as Turkmeneli.[33] [edit] Ottoman eraSee also: Ottoman Empire Following the conquest of Iraq by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1535, Kirkuk came firmly under Ottoman Turkish control and was referred to as "Gökyurt". The Ottoman rule led to further migration occurring mainly into northern Iraq. It is this period in history whereby modern Iraqi Turkmen claim association with Anatolia and the Turkish state.[34] 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.[34] region of Turkmeneli.]] The Iraqi Turkmen are considered to be the third largest ethnic group in Iraq. However, due to the undemocratic environment, their number has always been underestimated. It was fixed at 2% of the total Iraqi population during the negotiations of the Mosul issue in the establishment of the Iraqi State after the World War I.[35] However, according to the last Iraqi census which was conducted in 1957, the Turkmens numbered 567,000 out of a population of 6.3 million; thus, they formed 9% of the total Iraqi population.[1][2] The population of the community within the entire Iraqi society has long been a point of controversy. The figure mostly referred to by Kurdish groups and Western scholars is approximately 500,000. However, Iraqi Turks claim to have a population of over 3 million.[36][12] The community stretches from Talafar in the Northwest to Badra and al-Aziziyya in the al-Kut province in mid eastern Iraq.[35] However, their strongest presence is in Northern Iraq, near Kirkuk, Mosul and Arbil.[13] The 1957 census determined that the Turks made up close to 40% of the population in Kirkuk.[36][37] Thus, they made up the majority of the population. For this reason, Kirkuk is regarded by Turkmen as the heart of the community.[36] Accroding to the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, at least 180,000 Turkmen live in the city of Kirkuk.[35] However, the Diyala Province and Kifri which were once mainly Turkoman cities have been heavily Kurdified and Arabified.[35] [edit] DiasporaMost Iraqi Turkmen migrate to Turkey followed by Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. Smaller communities have been formed in Canada, the United States and Australia.[38] [edit] CultureIraqi Turkmen are most known for folk songs, especially the "qoyrats", long songs with nearly twenty different melodious voices forming rich literary texts are typical Turkmen musical works, and make up an important part of Turkish music. The songs often are protest-like, expressing sorrow and resentment over injustice. Hoyrats are a form of uzun hava built on quatrains which often contain allusions and plays on words. They are sung throughout Eastern Anatolia, Southeast Anatolia and Turkmeneli. The level of education of the Turkmen people living in Iraq was high (except for the last 10 years of the Saddam regime). They had a liberal mentality and they supported peace. They were humanists; they respected laws and were progressive, yet they were falsely accused of working for another state and have been exposed to ethnic cleansing. [edit] LanguageIraqi Turkmen speak a Turkic language that is one of the official languages of the Kirkuk region.[39] It is closest to the languages spoken in Azerbaijan.[2][40] Historically, some Iraqi Turkmen of the intelligentsia adopted the formal Ottoman Language as their written language during their rule by the Ottoman Empire.[40] Iraqi Turkmens use standard Turkish -official language of Turkey in writing. [edit] ReligionThe majority of the Iraqi Turkmen community adhere to Islam.[41] The Muslims are divided into two sectors: Sunni and Shiite. Furthermore, the Sunni segment is divided in Hanafi and Shāfi‘ī. The Sunni and Shitte Turks share the same culture and intermarriage is very common.[41] [edit] Assimilation Campaigns Iraqi Turkmen suffered from various degrees of suppression and assimilation that ranged from political persecution and exile to terror, massacres and ethnic cleansing. During the British and monarchy era, despite 1925 constitution and 1932 League of Nations declaration, cultural rights were gradually taken away, activists were sent to exile. [edit] ArabizationThe Iraqi Turkmen community have been affected greatly by Arabization policies, particularly because of the Ba'ath regime.[42] Arabization has been a process which has been inherently tied to the need to ensure that the oil fields of Kirkuk were firmly under the control of the central government. According to the Iraqi census taken in 1957, Iraqi Turkmen were the majority in Kirkuk. However, many Arab families from central and south of Iraq have moved into Kirkuk to dominate the region.[43] Thus, ethnic cleansing has been a strong factor of the Ba’thist policy aimed at reducing the influence of Iraqi Turkmen in Kirkuk. For those who have remained in Kirkuk, they have been subject to assimilation policies.[44] Arab tribes were settled west of Kirkuk. During the early republican era, Communist and separatist groups committed the Kirkuk Massacre of July 14, 1959 which aimed at terrorizing and ethnically cleansing the Turkmen from the city. During the Baathist era, the Iraqi administration granted some cultural rights to the Turkmen on January 24, 1970, including education in the Turkmen language in primary schools, daily radio broadcasting for two hours and TV broadcasting for half an hour in the Turkmen language, these rights were gradually taken away by the authorities and by 1972, all Turkmen schools were closed. The assimilation of the Turkmen already became a state policy in 1971 when the General Assembly of the Baath Party decided to complete the Arabization of Kirkuk by 1980. Administrative boundaries were changed in 1974 to divide Turkmen concentrations. Since the mid 70s, Arabs enjoyed special incentives and rights encouraging them to move to historically Turkmen areas including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. In the latter half of the 1970s, the names of several villages and places were changed.[24] [edit] KurdificationSince 1991, some argue that the Iraqi Turkmen have been subject to Kurdification. Following the formation of the Kurdistan Region in 1991, some Iraqi Turkmen feel that their identity is being compromised.[45] The Kurds have claimed de facto sovereignty over land also claimed by the Turkmen. Tensions increased as the KDP and the PUK were institutionalised as the political hegemons of the region, as both parties have traditionally claimed Kirkuk as Kurdish[46] [edit] Present statusAlthough some have been able to preserve their language, the Iraqi Turkmen today are being rapidly assimilated into the general population and are no longer tribally organized[20] Iraqi Turkmen have also emerged as a key political force in the controversy over the future status of northern Iraq and the Kurdish Autonomous 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.[47] Tensions between the two groups over Kirkuk, however, have slowly died out and on January 30, 2006, the President of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, said that the "Kurds are working on a plan to give Iraqi Turkmen autonomy in areas where they are a majority in the new constitution they're drafting for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq."[48] However, it never happened and the policies of Kurdification by KDP and PUK after 2003 (with non-Kurds being pressures to move) have prompted serious inter-ethnic problems.[49] 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.[50][51] 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 Sadettin Ergec), two or four from the United Iraqi Alliance, one from the Iraqi Accord Front and one from the Kurdistani Alliance.[51][52] [edit] Notable Iraqi Turkmen-(COPY OF WIKIPEDIA)
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