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Turkmeneli

Coordinates: 35°12′04″N 43°57′54″E / 35.201°N 43.965°E / 35.201; 43.965
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Turkmeneli
Turkish: Türkmeneli
Turcomania
Cultural region
Kirkuk, the Cultural capital
Kirkuk, the Cultural capital
Nickname: 
Doğu turkmeneli (East Turkmeneli)
Anthem: Turkish: Turkmeneli milli marşı English: Turkmeneli Anthem [1]
Location of Turkmeneli
A map of Turkmeneli on a monument in Altun Kupri (Turkish: Altınköprü).
An Iraqi Turkmen youth holding a Turkmeneli scarf.

Turkmeneli, historically known as Turcomania,[2] (Turkish: Türkmeneli, lit.'Land of the Turkmens'), and East Turkmeneli (Doğu Türkmeneli)[3] is a cultural term used to define the vast swath of territory in which the Iraqi Turkmens inhabit[4].[5] The term incorporates the Iraqi Turkmen homelands running from Iraq's border with Turkey and Syria and diagonally down the country to the border with Iran.[2] It is sometimes referred to as East Turkmeneli to distinguish from the Syrian Turkmen homeland, known as West Turkmeneli. In particular, the Turkmen consider the capital of Turkmeneli to be the city of Kirkuk[6] and its boundaries also include Tal Afar, Mosul, Erbil, Mandali, and Tuz Khurmatu.[7][8] According to Liam Anderson and Gareth Stansfield, the Turkmen/Turkoman note that the term "Turcomania" – an Anglicized version of "Turkmeneli" – appears on a maps of the region published by William Guthrie and Adolf Stieler, however, there is no clear reference to Turkmeneli until the end of the twentieth century.[2]

The Turkmen homeland[edit]

The Iraqi Turkmen/Turkomans generally consider several major cities, and small districts associated with these cities, as part of their homeland. The major cities claimed to be a part of Turkmeneli, in a north-to-south order, include: Mosul, Erbil, Kirkuk, Tuz Khurmatu (maybe sometimes even Tikrit) and Tal Afar, Altun Kupri, Kifri, Khanaqin, Sadiyah, Baqubah, Taza khurmatu, Tavuk kasabasi and Mendeli.[9] Consequently, the Turkmeneli region lies between the Arab areas of settlement to the south and Kurdish areas to the north.[9]

Prospects of an autonomous region[edit]

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 political parties. For example, one proposal to set up Turkmeneli as a Turkmen 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.[8]

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.[10]

In 2016 Wassim Bassem reported that the Turkmen have been calling for their own independent Governorate in the Tal Afar district.Their demands had coincided with calls for the establishment of other new provinces for the Christian and the Yazidi minorities.[11]

On 17 July 2017, Turkmen representatives proposed that Tal Afar and Tuz Khurmatu become an autonomous Turkmen region and asked for a "special status" for Kirkuk at a summit in Baghdad under the name "Future of Turkmens in United Iraq".[12] They also called for "training and equipping the Turkmen Hashd al-Shaabi forces."[13]

Gallery[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Case of officers saluted Turkmen anthem sorted out". Kirkuknow. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  2. ^ a b c Anderson & Stansfield 2009, p. 56.
  3. ^ "DOĞU TÜRKMENELİ'DE BATI TÜRKMENELİ'YE ZİYARET". Archived from the original on 9 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Türkmeneli – Türkmeneli Foundation". Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  5. ^ Strakes, Jason E. (2009), "Current Political Complexities of the Iraqi Turkmen", Iran & the Caucasus, 13 (2), Brill Publishers: 369, doi:10.1163/157338410X12625876281505
  6. ^ "UNPO: Iraqi Turkmen". unpo.org. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  7. ^ Anderson & Stansfield 2009, p. 57.
  8. ^ a b Osman, Khalil (2015), Sectarianism in Iraq: The Making of State and Nation Since 1920, Routledge, p. 243, ISBN 978-1317674870
  9. ^ a b Oğuzlu, Tarik H. (2004), "Endangered community:The Turkoman identity in Iraq", Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 24 (2), Routledge: 313, doi:10.1080/1360200042000296681, hdl:11693/49129, S2CID 56385519
  10. ^ Petrosian, Vahram (2003), "The Iraqi Turkomans and Turkey", Iran & the Caucasus, 7 (1/2), Brill Publishers: 305, doi:10.1163/157338403X00150
  11. ^ Bassem, Wassim (2016). "Iraq's Turkmens call for independent province". Al-Monitor.
  12. ^ "Iraqi Turkmen to propose 'special status' for Kirkuk". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  13. ^ "Iraq meeting tackles Turkmens' future in post-Daesh era". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2024-06-22.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Anderson, Liam; Stansfield, Gareth (2009), Crisis in Kirkuk: The Ethnopolitics of Conflict and Compromise, University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 978-0812206043
  • Oğuzlu, Tarik H. (2004), "Endangered community: the Turkoman identity in Iraq", Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 24 (2), Routledge: 309–325, doi:10.1080/1360200042000296681, hdl:11693/49129, S2CID 56385519
  • Osman, Khalil (2015), Sectarianism in Iraq: The Making of State and Nation Since 1920, Routledge, ISBN 978-1317674870
  • Petrosian, Vahram (2003), "The Iraqi Turkomans and Turkey", Iran & the Caucasus, 7 (1/2), Brill Publishers: 279–308, doi:10.1163/157338403X00150
  • Rich, Paul J. (2008), Iraq and Rupert Hay's Two Years in Kurdistan, Lexington Books, ISBN 978-1461633679
  • Strakes, Jason E. (2009), "Current Political Complexities of the Iraqi Turkmen", Iran & the Caucasus, 13 (2), Brill Publishers: 365–382, doi:10.1163/157338410X12625876281505

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

35°12′04″N 43°57′54″E / 35.201°N 43.965°E / 35.201; 43.965