Turkmen official says community is well represented in Kurdistan Region

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkmens are well represented in the Kurdistan Region’s political sphere, a Turkmen minister in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) told Rudaw on Wednesday, following claims from Turkey's ambassador to Iraq that the ethnic group is oppressed in Iraq and not represented sufficiently in the Region.

“The participation of the Turkmens in the Kurdistan Region is at a good level. They are involved in the political process, Kurdistan parliament, and the parliament leadership. They also have representatives in the Council of Ministers. This is important,” said Aydin Maruf, the Region’s Minister for Minority Affairs and member of the Iraqi Turkmen Front’s politburo. 

However, Maruf told Rudaw’s Dildar Herki this is not the case in Iraq, where Turkmens have been sidelined in the political process in the past. 

He appreciated the participation of minorities in the Kurdistan Region and hoped that their own participation in the Region would become “more active.” 

In an interview aired on Tuesday, Turkish Ambassador Ali Riza Guney, told Rudaw that Turkmens – whom he preferred to call “Iraqi Turks “ – suffer the most in the country. He said the presence of only one Turkmen minister in the KRG, Maruf, is insufficient. 

“We have a minister. The Kurds are the second largest group in Iraq in terms of population. How many Kurdish ministers do we have? The number is quite large. So, how many ministers do the Turkmen, the second largest group in the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government, have? They have one minister. They can only move within the quota reserved for them. Do you think this is enough?” asked the ambassador.  

“Iraqi Turks have always been at the forefront for the unity and integrity of Iraq, and they have fought for the salvation of Iraq, but throughout history, they are the most victimized group for various reasons,” he added.

The KRG has opened Turkmen schools and the ethnic group has similar rights to Kurds and others in the Kurdistan Region. They also have five members of parliament thanks to a quota system which allocates a certain number of seats for minority groups. 

According to Minority Rights Group, Turkmen fear political and cultural assimilation, and are at the center of land disputes between Baghdad and the KRG. The situation is particularly volatile in Kirkuk, where residents “have been subjected to years of attacks and kidnappings, which they see as part of a strategy to induce demographic change,” it said in 2017.