Türkmeneli

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved!)
Any material not supported by sources may be challenged and removed at any time. This article has been tagged since March 2007.

**Türkmeneli**

Iraqi Turkmen inhabited area
Location	Northern Iraq
Estimated Area	ca. 97,000 km²
Estimated Population	About 2.5-3 Million

Türkmeneli(also know as Turkmenia) is in northern Iraq. Turkmeneli means Land of the Turkmen. It was referred to as Turcomania by the British geographer William Guthrie in 1785.

[edit] Geography

The main feature of Turkmeneli is that it is a hilly land and includes the oil fields of northern Iraq. Turkmeneli is a strip of land 800 km long and 200 km wide. Today, Turkmeneli is located main cities from north to south are: Tal Afar, Mosul, Arbil, Altun Kopru, Kirkuk, Taze Khurmatu, Tawuq, Tuz Khurmatu, Kifri, Qara Teppe, Qizlarbat, Qaraghan, Khanaqin, Shahraban, Mansuriyya, Baqubah, Mendeli, and Bedre. Substantial numbers of Turkmens live in northeast district of Baghdad of Adhamiyya also in Aziziyya, Kut as well as Najaf and Karbala.

[edit] History

The origin of the Iraqi Turkmen dates back to the Al-Ma'mun and Al-Mu'tasim rules of Abbasid in 9^th century. Most of the Turkmen living in the region settled in northern Iraq during the early Seljuk Empire period, when Turks migrated from Central Asia (Turkestan) to Anatolia, Iran and Iraq.

During the late 14th and early 15th centuries, the Black Sheep Turkmen ruled Turkmeneli. In 1466, the White Sheep Turkmen defeated the Black Sheep and took control. Later, most of Turkmeneli would become part of the Safavid Empire that arose in Iran in 1501.

In the 16th century Turkmeneli became a part of the Ottoman Empire, although the Safavids temporarily recaptured much of Turkmeneli the first part of the 17th century.

October 30, 1918, at the end of First World War, the Mosul Province (Turkmeneli) was still within the borders of the Ottoman Empire. The British troops occupied the territory after the cease-fire on November 11, 1918. Turkey refused to accept this act and demanded the return of Mosul Province. After the British invasion of Iraq, the Turkmens began to experience a different situation. Branded unjustly as loyal to Turkey, they were removed from the administration, pushed into isolation and ignored. June 5, 1926, Turkey, under British pressure, accepted the integration of Mosul Province into Iraq.

With the rise of Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath domination over Iraq, a policy of Arabization was imposed on the Turkmens. It was declared in the constitution that schools were prohibited from using the Turkish language and banned Turkish-language media in Iraq. In the 1980s, Saddam prohibited the public use of the Turkish language completely.