Turkmeneli map on a monument in Altun Kopru

Iraqi Turkmen youth holding a Turkmeneli scarf

Turkmeneli, also known as Turkmenland, and historically as Turcomania, (), and East Turkmeneli (Doğu Türkmeneli) is a political term used to define the vast swath of territory in which the

Iraqi Turkmen The Iraqi Turkmen (, عراق تورکمنلری; Arabic: تركمان العراق), also referred to as Iraqi Turks, (, عراق توركلری; ) are the third largest ethnic group in Iraq. They make up to 10%–13% of the Iraqi population. I ...

s historically have had a dominant population. The term incorporates the Iraqi Turkmen homelands running from Iraq's border with

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and diagonally down the country to the border with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. It is sometimes referred to as East Turkmeneli to distinguish from the

Syrian Turkmen Syrian Turkmen, also called Syrian Turks or Syrian Turkish people (; ) are Syrian citizens of Turkish origin who mainly trace their roots to Anatolia (i.e. modern Turkey). Turkish-speaking Syrian Turkmen make up the third largest ethnic group ...

homeland, known as West Turkmeneli. Apart from the designation of the region as Turcomania in a 1785 map by William Guthrie, there's no certain mention of the region in published works until the establishment of the Iraqi Turkmen Front. In particular, the Turkmen/Turkoman consider the capital of Turkmeneli to be disputed city of

Kirkuk Kirkuk (; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Cit ...

and its boundaries also include

Tal Afar Tal Afar (, ; ) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located west of Mosul, east of Sinjar Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

(second largest city in Iraq),

Erbil Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate. Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...

, Mandali, and

Tuz Khurmatu Tuz Khurmatu (, , , also spelled as Tuz Khurma and Tuz Khormato) is the central city of Tooz District in Saladin Governorate, Iraq, located south of Kirkuk. Its inhabitants are predominantly Shia Turkmen, with a minority of Arabs and Sunni ...

. According to Liam Anderson and Gareth Stansfield, the Turkmen/Turkoman note that the term "Turcomania" – an

Anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

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.

The Turkmen homeland

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 Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

(maybe sometimes even

Tikrit Tikrit ( ) is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. In 2012, it had a population of approximately 160,000. Originally created as a f ...

) and

Tal Afar Tal Afar (, ; ) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located west of Mosul, east of SinjarAltun Kupri, Kifri, Khanaqin, Kizil Ribat, Bakuba and Mendeli. Consequently, the Turkmeneli region lies between the Arab areas of settlement to the south and Kurdish areas to the north.

Prospects of an autonomous region

According to Khalil Osman there has been "a raft of federalist schemes" proposed by various Turkmen/Turkoman political parties. For example, one controversial proposal to set up Turkmeneli as a Turkmen/Turkoman autonomous region included the areas northwest of Iraq, from

Tal Afar Tal Afar (, ; ) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located west of Mosul, east of Sinjar Nineveh Governorate Nineveh Governorate (; , ) is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people as of 2003. Its largest city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of a ...

, through

Kirkuk Governorate Kirkuk Governorate (; ; ) or Kirkuk Province is a governorate in northern Iraq. The governorate has an area of . In 2017, the estimated population was 1,259,561 people. The provincial capital is the city of Kirkuk. It is divided into four Distri ...

and Tuz Khurmatu District in

Saladin Governorate The Saladin, Salah ad Din, or Salah Al-Din Governorate (, ) is one of Iraq's 19 governorates, north of Baghdad. It has an area of , with an estimated population of 1,042,200 people in 2003. It is made up of 8 districts, with the capital being T ...

in north-central Iraq, to Mandali in the

Diyala Governorate Diyala Governorate ( ) or Diyala Province is a Governorates of Iraq, governorate in northeastern Iraq. Provincial Government *Governor: Muthanna al-Tamimi *Deputy Governor: Mohammed Jassim al-Jubouri Council Geography Diyala Governorate ...

in the northeast of

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. 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. In 2016 Wassim Bassem reported that the Turkmen/Turkoman have been calling for their own independent province 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. On 17 July 2017, Turkmen representatives proposed that

Tal Afar Tal Afar (, ; ) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located west of Mosul, east of Sinjar Tuz Khurmatu Tuz Khurmatu (, , , also spelled as Tuz Khurma and Tuz Khormato) is the central city of Tooz District in Saladin Governorate, Iraq, located south of Kirkuk. Its inhabitants are predominantly Shia Turkmen, with a minority of Arabs and Sunni ...

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". They also called for "training and equipping the Turkmen Hashd al-Shaabi forces."

Independence movement

Pan-Turkists advocated for Iraqi Turkmen to separate from Iraq and form East Turkmeneli, and for

to separate from Syria and form West Turkmeneli, which would both unite and form the State of Turkmeneli, which would be a prerequisite for Pan-Turkism. Iraqi Turkmen nationalists were divided between those who wanted to join Turkey and those who wanted an independent Turkmeneli. Iraqi Turkmen nationalists advocated for a Turkmeneli stretching from Tal Afar to Mandali, with its capital in Kirkuk. After the expiration of the

Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (, ) is a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–1923 and signed in the Palais de Rumine in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially resolved the conflict that had initially ...

in 2023, many Iraqi Turkmen expressed hope that Turkmeneli, especially Mosul and Kirkuk, would become part of Turkey.Iraqi Turkmen: The Controversy of Identity and Affiliation, 2021, pp. 16, Dr. Ali Taher Al-Hamoud

Gallery

File:Village of Yahyava sign.jpg, Bilingual sign in Arabic and Turkish File:Welcome sign to the village of Çardağlı.jpg, Bilingual sign in Arabic and Turkish File:The Martyr Necdet Koçak Park-Square.jpg, Bilingual sign in Arabic and Turkish

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{Turkish people by country Regions of Iraq Geography of Iraq Cultural regions Iraqi Turkmens Turkic toponyms