Turkmeneli, also known asTurkmenland,[1] and historically asTurcomania[2] (Turkish:Türkmeneli,lit. 'Land of the Turkmens'), andEast Turkmeneli (Doğu Türkmeneli)[3] is a geopolitical term[2] used to define the vast swath of territory in which theIraqi Turkmens historically have had a dominant population.[4] The term incorporates the Iraqi Turkmen homelands running from Iraq's border withTurkey andSyria and diagonally down the country to the border withIran.[2] It is sometimes referred to as East Turkmeneli to distinguish from theSyrian Turkmen homeland, known asWest Turkmeneli.[3] 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 theIraqi Turkmen Front,[2] whose maps of Turkmeneli were often exaggerated.[5]
In particular, theTurkmen/Turkoman consider the capital of Turkmeneli to be the disputed city ofKirkuk and its boundaries also includeTal Afar,Mosul (second largest city in Iraq),Erbil,Mandali, andTuz Khurmatu.[6][7] According to Liam Anderson and Gareth Stansfield, the Turkmen/Turkoman note that the term "Turcomania" – anAnglicized 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 Iraqi Turkmen/Turkomans generally consider several major cities, and small districts associated with these cities, as part of their homeland.[8] The major cities claimed to be a part of Turkmeneli, in a north-to-south order, include:Mosul,Erbil,Kirkuk,Tuz Khurmatu (maybe sometimes evenTikrit) andTal Afar, SancarAltun Kupri,Kifri,Khanaqin,Kizil Ribat,Bakuba andMendeli.[8] Despite accusing Kurdish nationalists of making exaggerated maps of Kurdistan, Iraqi Turkmen nationalists also made very exaggerated maps of Turkmeneli, including many non-Turkmen settlements, and inflated the Turkmen population in Iraq.[9]Samarra historically had a large Turkmen population which were among the earliest settlers in the city.[10] Consequently, the Turkmeneli region lies between the Arab areas of settlement to the south and Kurdish areas to the north.[8]
 | |
| Gök Bayrak | |
| Use | Ethnic national flag  |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | 1994.Although it was adopted in 1994 Officially, The flag existed and saw a lesser extent before 1994. |
| Design | A sky blue field charged with a white crescent and star slightly left of center, flanked by two horizontal white stripes. |
The flag ofTurkmeneli is a sky blue banner, featuring a central white crescent and star, flanked above and below by two narrow horizontal white stripes.[11] It is used as the ethnic and political symbol of theIraqi Turkmen community.[12][13][14][15][16]
The sky blue color, known as gök mavisi inTurkmen, symbolizes theTurkic heritage. While there is no fixed shade, the hexadecimal color #52B5F7 is widely used. The crescent and star are common symbols in Turkic and Islamic iconography, representing cultural and religious heritage. The two horizontal white lines are interpreted as symbolic representation of the region on whichTurkic peoples inhabit between theDanube River inAustria (the maximum extent of theOttoman Empire) to theGreat Wall of China.[17]
According to Khalil Osman there has been "a raft of federalist schemes" proposed by various Turkmen/Turkoman political parties.[7] For example, one controversial proposal to set up Turkmeneli as a Turkmen/Turkoman autonomous region included the areas northwest of Iraq, fromTal Afar inNineveh Governorate, throughKirkuk Governorate and Tuz Khurmatu District inSaladin Governorate in north-central Iraq, toMandali in theDiyala Governorate in the northeast ofBaghdad.[7]
Vahram Petrosian suggests that theIraqi Turkmen Front's (ITF) forwarding of the idea of the recognition of Turkmeneli may pave the way for a future Kurdish-Turkmen conflict.[18]
In 2016 Wassim Bassem reported that the Turkmen/Turkoman have been calling for their own independent province in the Tal Afar district.[19] Their demands had coincided with calls for the establishment of other new provinces for the Christian and the Yazidi minorities.[19]
On 17 July 2017, Turkmen representatives proposed thatTal Afar andTuz 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".[20] They also called for "training and equipping theTurkmen Hashd al-Shaabi forces."[21]
Pan-Turkists advocated for Iraqi Turkmen to separate from Iraq and form East Turkmeneli, and forSyrian Turkmen 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.[22]
After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the Turkmen did not want to be part of Iraq and wanted to be part of Turkey. The Turkmen elites detested the idea of going from the Ottoman ruling class to a marginalized minority. The Turkmen elites "had a hard time reconciling with the fact that the Mosul-Kirkuk region would never be part of Turkey. For them, Iraq was just a make-believe state founded by the 'merciless infidel (gavur)' (the British) and his Arab collaborators who were 'too inept to run a state on their own.'" Turkmen nationalists stated that "there is no such thing as the state of Iraq for our grandfathers" and that "there is the Turkish State and there is the Iraqi State. I did not found it, but have to live with it, just as people diagnosed with cancer have to live with it!"[23]
Iraqi Turkmen nationalists were divided between those who wanted to join Turkey and those who wanted an independent Turkmeneli.[24] Iraqi Turkmen nationalists advocated for a Turkmeneli stretching from Tal Afar to Mandali, with its capital in Kirkuk.[25] After the expiration of theTreaty of Lausanne in 2023[citation needed], many Iraqi Turkmen expressed hope that Turkmeneli, especially Mosul and Kirkuk, would become part of Turkey.[26]
brief mention only/ not in depth
brief mention only/ not in depth
brief mention only/ not in depth
Media related toTürkmeneli at Wikimedia Commons