Turkmens see chance to expand influence in Kirkuk
With Kurdish peshmerga gone, and Kirkuk back under Baghdad's authority, Turkmens in the province feel their time might have arrived.
The Turkmens of ethnically diverse Kirkuk province in Iraq finally feel that they are coming into their own, sensing a new beginning after being subjected to Arabization policies under President Saddam Hussein's regime and then to Kurdish domination after he was toppled in 2003. The tide turned after Baghdad rejected the September 2017 Kurdish independence referendum and forcibly reclaimed Kirkuk from the Kurds the following month.
For the Turkmens, Iraq's most recent nationwide parliamentary elections, held May 12, were an opportunity to begin to translate their desire of increasing their influence in Kirkuk and the region into concrete gains. The province's Kurds, dejected after last year's setbacks, lacked enthusiasm for the elections, while the Turkmens' organized an impressive turn out.
Ammar Kahya of the Iraqi Turkmen Front told Al-Monitor that Turkmens had united for the first time to ensure they wouldn't miss the opportunity to make themselves heard. Remaining silent, they feared, might result in the return of Kurdish domination to the region.
Five Turkmen parties formed a Turkmen slate to run in the elections, and three unregistered Turkmen parties organized their supporters to back the Turkmen list. Both Ankara and Baghdad declared their support for the Turkmen alliance.
