Iraqi Turkmens

Police deployed overnight in the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk to prevent any outbreak of ethnic violence ahead of an independence referendum strongly opposed by the Baghdad government, local residents said.

Iraqi Turkmen political parties have reiterated their opposition to an upcoming referendum on Kurdish regional independence, calling on supporters to boycott the Sept. 25 poll.

Members of the Kirkuk Provincial Council voted on March 28 in favor of raising the KRG flag over official buildings during a meeting that was boycotted by Turkmen and Arabs.

On April 1, the Iraqi parliament in a session voted against the decision of the Kirkuk Provincial Council.

Turkey will not accept any attempt to declare independence in northern Iraq and to incorporate Kirkuk into the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said, vowing they will continue to stand with Iraqi Turkmen groups. 

A city council in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk has approved raising the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) flag over official buildings, receiving protests from Turkmen and Arab members of the council. 

Both Turkey and the United Nations had expressed their concerns over such a move.  

Foreign Ministry undersecretary Ümit Yalçın has called on representatives of Turkmen communities in Iraq and Syria, saying Ankara backs their resistance.

"Your cause is ours. If we are strong here, you will be strong there too," Yalçın said at a panel on Dec. 14 that convened representatives of Syrian and Iraqi Turkmens. 

Fifteen Iraqi Turkmens suffering burns and other injuries after an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) chemical attack earlier this month began their medical treatment March 24 in the Turkish capital of Ankara.   

The Iraqi Turkmen Front has expressed concern over a U.S. House committee discussion on a bill which aims to arm Kurds and Sunni tribes in Iraq.

The U.S. House committee discussed on April 29 proposed legislation that would grant President Barack Obama's request for $715 million for security assistance to Iraqi forces fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The Turkish Red Crescent distributed aid to at least 500 Turkmen families fleeing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq's northern province of Kirkuk on Dec. 29, 2014.  The aid packages were distributed at the Turkmen Civilian Society Center and the Turkmen Women Association Center in the province.

Iraqi Turkmens have said they want to help defend the northern Iraqi province of Kirkuk against Islamist jihadists along with Kurdish militants and have asked Baghdad to supply arms and a budget.

"We also want to contribute to the defense of Kirkuk with the Peshmerga," Arshad al-Salihi, the head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC), told state-run Anadolu Agency on Nov. 28.