The Iraqi Turkmen Front ( ar, الجبهة التركمانية العراقية, ''al-Jabha al-Turkmāniya al-Irāqiya;'' tr, Irak Türkmen Cephesi), also abbreviated as ITF, is a political movement representing the

Iraqi Turkmen The Iraqi Turkmens (also spelled as Turkoman and Turcoman; tr, Irak Türkmenleri), also referred to as Iraqi Turks, Turkish-Iraqis, the Turkish minority in Iraq, and the Iraqi-Turkish minority ( ar, تركمان العراق; tr, Irak Türkleri ...

people. It was founded on April 5, 1995 as a coalition of several Turkmen parties operating within the framework of Iraq's unity. The party aims for the Turkmen community to have greater political involvement, increased recognition and more rights. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, the party has contested control of Kirkuk and other areas of northern

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, claiming that Kirkuk belongs to the Turkmen people. The ITF claims a region named

Turkmeneli Turkmeneli, also known as Turkmenland, and historically as Turcomania, ( tr, 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 popula ...

(literally meaning the "land of the Turkmens".) as the homeland of the Iraqi Turkmen. Turkmeneli includes within its boundaries Kirkuk,

Tal Afar Tal Afar ( ar, تَلْعَفَر, Talʿafar, ) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located 63 km (39 mi) west of Mosul, 52 km (32 mi) east of SinjarErbil, Mandali,

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...

and Tuz Khurmatu. The Iraqi Army and

Peshmerga The Peshmerga ( ku, پێشمەرگه, Pêşmerge, lit=those who face death) is the Kurdish military forces of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, the Peshmerga, along with their security subsidiaries, ...

have not allowed them to form their militia and take control of the areas where they live. The party played an active role in the fight against the

Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

to defend the region of Turkmeneli (especially Kirkuk and surroundings) and the Iraqi Turkmen population.

Composition

The Iraqi Turkmen Front is a coalition of the following political parties: * Iraqi National Turkmen Party (INTP), founded in 1988 and which operated in the northern

Iraqi no-fly zones The Iraqi no-fly zones conflict was a low-level conflict in the two no-fly zones (NFZs) in Iraq that were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom, and France after the Gulf War of 1991. The United States stated that the NFZs were intend ...

* Turkmeneli Party, founded in 1992 in Northern Cyprus as the ''Turkmen Union Party'' * Provincial Turkmen Party * Movement of the Independent Turkmen * Iraqi Turkmen Rights Party * Turkmen Islamic Movement of Iraq

Election results

In the

December 2005 Iraqi legislative election Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 15 December 2005, following the approval of a new constitution in a referendum of 15 October. Electoral system The elections took place under a list system, whereby voters chose from a list of parti ...

, the ITF list (#630) polled 76,434 votes, or 0.7% nationwide, according to the uncertified published results. The overwhelming majority of those votes were cast in

Kirkuk Governorate Kirkuk Governorate ( ar, محافظة كركوك, Muḥāfaẓat Karkūk, ku, پارێزگای کەرکووک, Parêzgeha Kerkûkê/Parêzgayi Kerkûk, tr, Kerkük ili) or Kirkuk Province is a governorate in northern Iraq. The governorate has an ...

, where the ITF won more than 10% of the total. Most of the rest of the ITF's votes were in

Saladin Governorate The Saladin or Salah Al-Din Governorate ( ar, محافظة صلاح الدين) 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 ...

. According to the full official results of that election, the ITF is entitled to only one seat in the permanent

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

. The party has been funded deeply by the Turkish administration and military. In the aftermath of the first Iraqi parliamentary election in 2005, the ITF lodged a number of formal complaints to the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq alleging vote fraud on the part of the Kurdish parties and protesting the Commission's decision to allow Kurdish

internally displaced person An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. ...

s and refugees to vote in the places from which they had been expelled under

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

. In the election, they received just over 90,000 votes, or 1.1% of votes cast, earning them three seats in the transitional National Assembly of Iraq. In the 2009 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election, many Turkmen boycotted the elections. The ITF polled just 7,077 votes, or 0.38% of the popular vote, winning 1 seat. In the 2010 Iraqi national elections, the ITF has entered into an alliance with the Iraqi National Movement (Iraqiya) in the Governorate of Kirkuk.

Iyad Allawi Ayad Allawi ( ar, إيَاد عَلَّاوِي ; born 31 May 1944) is an Iraqi politician. He served as the vice president of Iraq from 2014 to 2015 and 2016 to 2018. Previously he was interim prime minister of Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and the ...

Iraqiya List The Iraqi National Movement (INM) (Arabic language, Arabic: الحركة الوطنية العراقية ''al-Ḥaraka al-Waṭaniya al-Iraqiyya''), more commonly known as the al-Iraqiya List, was an Iraqi political coalition formed to contest the ...

which the ITF candidates have taken part in, has won the elections in the governorate over the list of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in total votes. The ITF candidate in the Turkmen stronghold of Kirkuk, Arshad Salihi, won 59,732 votes all by himself. This was second only to Khalid Shwani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, who won 68,522 votes. The other candidates of ITF who have entered the parliament from ITF lists and different lists were as following, Arshad Salihi (Kirkuk), Jale Çiftçi (Kirkuk), İzzettin Devle (Mosul) who was appointed as the Minister of Agriculture, Nebil Harbo (Mosul), Müdrike Ahmet (Mosul) and Hasan Özmen (Diyala) and 4 more including Turhan Müftü who was appointed as the Minister of the Governorates. The ITF has won a total of 127,989 votes in general in Iraq, increasing their total vote cast by 34,600. ITF has decided to enter the latest Kurdish Elections which took place in late 2013, too. ITF has made up one list and got the highest vote in Erbil making Aydın Maruf the ITF Turkmen member of parliament from Erbil in KRG Parliament. In the Iraqi parliamentary election in 2014, the ITF has protected its total parliament member count of 10 and protecting the number of their directly elected number of candidates from ITF-Turkmen lists (without alliances) but also increasing the total number of ITF parliamenters to 3, as a result of the victory of the ITF member who participated in Muttahidun Lil'Islah List, Hena Asğar, in Tuz Khurmatu, a major Turkmen settlement located in the

Tooz District Tooz District ( ar, قضاء طوز) is a district in the north-eastern part of Saladin Governorate, Iraq. Its main settlement is the city of Tuz Khurmatu. Other towns include Sulaiman Bek, Yankjah, and Amirli Amirli ( ar, آمرلي, ʾĀmirlī ...

of Governorate of Saladin. ITF tried hard to make all Turkmens cast their votes but they couldn't change the situation a lot, when compared to the previous elections and the

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

advance in Iraq was shown as the main reason for this. The movement's leader Arahad Salihi (Kirkuk) and deputy Hasan Turan (Kirkuk) has been elected as members of parliament from ITF's own list; Kirkuk Turkmen Front List, headed by party's deputy Hasan Turan. ITF's, Kirkuk Turkmen Front List was the second in the Governorate of Kirkuk, winning 71,492 votes, nearly 13% of the total votes in Kirkuk Governorate. Although there was a second Turkmen list named Kirkuk Turkmen Alliance, participating in elections in Kirkuk; the votes of ITF in Kirkuk have increased about 3,000 when compared to the received votes of ITF candidates in the 2010 elections. The total vote received by Turkmen lists, nevertheless it was almost fully received by the ITF's Turkmen List, have increased too. There were 7 other non-ITF Turkmen candidates who were elected to the parliament from various lists. The biggest surprise was the 3 Turkmens getting elected in

, including the first ITF parliament member of Tuz Khurmatu, from a non-ITF list, Hena Asğar.

Training by the Turkish Special Forces Command

In March 2015, exiled governor of

Atheel al-Nujaifi Atheel al-Nujaifi ( ar, أثيل النجيفي; tr, Esil Nuceyfi; born 1958) is an Iraqi politician who was the Governor of Nineveh Governorate from April 2009 until May 2015. Nujaifi was born into a Mawsili family in 1958. He is a brother ...

, revealed that Turkish Special Forces known as the "Maroon Berets" are training both Iraqi and

Syrian Turkmens Syrian Turkmen, also referred to as Syrian Turkomans, Turkish Syrians, or simply Syrian Turks or Turks of Syria, ( ar, تركمان سوريا; tr, Suriye Türkmenleri or ) are Syrian citizens of Turkish origin who mainly trace their roots to ...

in a training mission targeted at recapturing

's Mosul stronghold. Nujaifi also said that Turkish authorities had promised to send weapons. Turkish officials later confirmed training camps in Erbil, Mosul and Kirkuk as well as at unrevealed locations inside Syria. They said the training focussed on street clashes, sabotage and intelligence gathering. On the same day, Iraqi Turkmen Front MP Aydın Maruf declared that an official Turkmen Brigade of the Iraqi army would be created in the near future, starting with 500 men and then growing up to 1500 shortly thereafter for the defense of

Tal Afar Tal Afar ( ar, تَلْعَفَر, Talʿafar, ) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located 63 km (39 mi) west of Mosul, 52 km (32 mi) east of Sinjar Kifri Kifri ( ar, کفري; ku, کفری, translit=Kifrî; tr, Kifri) is the central town of Kifri District in Diyala Governorate, Iraq. It has a Kurdish majority and a Turkmen and Arab minority. It is administered by Kurdistan Region but remains a ...

and other major Turkmen settlements from

and also for the planned offense to retake the areas which were under ISIL control, like

. He also stated that the brigade from now on would receive official support by the

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The current Chi ...

and that an Iraqi Turkmen commander would be in charge of the brigade in the ongoing fight. This official agreement between ITF, the Iraqi Government and the KRG will be guaranteed officially by the Republic of Turkey. Maruf considered this an important step for the future of Iraqi Turkmens. There are 4,000 Turkmen fighters battling Daesh in the northern province of Kirkuk and 10,000 others have finished their training in Mosul.

References

Works cited

* {{Authority control 1995 establishments in Iraq Anti-ISIL factions in Iraq Political parties established in 1995 Political parties of minorities Political party alliances in Iraq Regionalist parties Turkmen political parties in Iraq Political parties in Kurdistan Region

Composition

Election results

Training by the Turkish Special Forces Command

See also

References

Works cited