Turkmeneli

Turkmeneli, also known as Turkmenland,[1] and historically as Turcomania,[2] (Turkish: Türkmeneli, lit. 'Land of the Turkmens') is a political term used to define the vast swath of territory in which the Iraqi Turkmens historically have had a dominant population.[3] The term incorporates the Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman homelands running from Iraq's border with Turkey and Syria and diagonally down the country to the border with Iran.[2]

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

In particular, the Turkmen/Turkoman consider the capital of Turkmeneli to be disputed city of Kirkuk and its boundaries also include Tal Afar, Mosul (second largest city in Iraq), Erbil (capital of Kurdistan Region), Mandali, and Tuz Khurmatu.[4][5] According to Liam Anderson and Gareth Stansfield, the Turkmen/Turkoman note that the term "Turcomania" – an Anglicized version of "Turkmeneli" – appears on a map of the region published by William Guthrie in 1785, however, there is no clear reference to Turkmeneli until the end of the twentieth century.[2]

The Turkmen/Turkoman homeland

The Iraqi Turkmen/Turkomans generally consider several major cities, and small districts associated with these cities, as part of their homeland.[6] The major cities claimed to be a part of Turkmeneli, in a north-to-south order, include: Mosul, Erbil, Kirkuk, Salahaldeen and Diala, Tal Afar, Sancar Altun Kupri, Kifri, Khanaqin, Kizil Ribat, Bakuba and Mendeli.[6] Consequently, the Turkmeneli region lies between the Arab areas of settlement to the south and Kurdish areas to the north.[6]

Prospects of an autonomous region
An Iraqi Turkmen man climbs a pole in Kirkuk for a photo with a flag of Turkmeneli
Iraqi Turkmen woman holding a placard written in Turkish: "Kerkük'ü hiçbir güç Kürtleştiremez" (No power can Kurdify Kirkuk).

According to Khalil Osman there has been "a raft of federalist schemes" proposed by various Turkmen/Turkoman political parties.[5] For example, one controversial proposal to set up Turkmeneli as a Turkmen/Turkoman autonomous region included the areas northwest of Iraq, from Tal Afar in Nineveh Governorate, through Kirkuk Governorate and Tuz Khurmatu District in Saladin Governorate in north-central Iraq, to Mandali in the Diyala Governorate in the northeast of Baghdad.[5]

Vahram Petrosian suggests that the Iraqi Turkmen Front's (ITF) forwarding of the idea of the recognition of Turkmeneli may pave the way for a future Kurdish-Turkmen conflict.[7]

In 2016 Wassim Bassem reported that the Turkmen/Turkoman have been calling for their own independent province in the Tal Afar district.[8] Their demands had coincided with calls for the establishment of other new provinces for the Christian and the Yazidi minorities.[8]

On 17 July 2017, Turkmens proposed that Tal Afar and Tuz Khurmatu to become an autonomous Turkmen region and asked for a "special status" for Kirkuk in a summit in Baghdad under the name "Future of Turkmens in United Iraq".[9] Also asked to "training and equipping the Turkmen Hashd al-Shaabi forces."[10]

  • Bilingual sign in Arabic and Turkish
  • Bilingual sign in Arabic and Turkish
  • Bilingual sign in Arabic and Turkish

See also

References
  1. Rich, Paul J. (2008), Iraq and Rupert Hay's Two Years in Kurdistan, Lexington Books, p. x, ISBN 1461633672
  2. Anderson, Liam; Stansfield, Gareth (2009), Crisis in Kirkuk: The Ethnopolitics of Conflict and Compromise, University of Pennsylvania Press, p. 56, ISBN 0812206045
  3. Strakes, Jason E. (2009), "Current Political Complexities of the Iraqi Turkmen", Iran & the Caucasus, Brill Publishers, 13 (2): 369
  4. Anderson & Stansfield 2009, 57
  5. Osman, Khalil (2015), Sectarianism in Iraq: The Making of State and Nation Since 1920, Routledge, p. 243, ISBN 1317674871
  6. Oğuzlu, Tarik H. (2004), "Endangered community:The Turkoman identity in Iraq", Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Routledge, 24 (2): 313
  7. Petrosian, Vahram (2003), "The Iraqi Turkomans and Turkey", Iran & the Caucasus, Brill Publishers, 7 (1/2): 305
  8. Bassem, Wassim (2016). "Iraq's Turkmens call for independent province". Al-Monitor.
  9. Iraqi Turkmen to propose "special status" for Kirkuk, Anadolou Agency
  10. Iraq meeting tackles Turkmens' future in post-Daesh era, Anadolou Agency

Bibliography
  • Anderson, Liam; Stansfield, Gareth (2009), Crisis in Kirkuk: The Ethnopolitics of Conflict and Compromise, University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 0812206045
  • Oğuzlu, Tarik H. (2004), "Endangered community: the Turkoman identity in Iraq", Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Routledge, 24 (2)
  • Osman, Khalil (2015). "Sectarianism in Iraq: The Making of State and Nation Since 1920". Routledge. ISBN 1317674871. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  • Petrosian, Vahram (2003), "The Iraqi Turkomans and Turkey", Iran & the Caucasus, Brill Publishers, 7 (1/2)
  • Rich, Paul J. (2008), Iraq and Rupert Hay's Two Years in Kurdistan, Lexington Books, ISBN 1461633672
  • Strakes, Jason E. (2009), "Current Political Complexities of the Iraqi Turkmen", Iran & the Caucasus, Brill Publishers, 13 (2)

Further reading

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