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Ankara backs some Turkmens in Iraqi politics, shuns others

By ostracizing Turkmen politicians who supported the 2017 independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkey could be shooting itself in the foot.
Demonstrators wave Turkish and Iraqi Turkmen (blue) flags during a protest against the independence referendum in northern Iraq, in Istanbul, Turkey, September 17, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC1F65EFDC90
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While trying to place its Turkmen kin back at the center of its influence on politics in Iraq, Turkey is falling into the trap of discriminating between Turkmens who align with its policies and those who beg to differ. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s recent trip to Iraq has exposed Ankara’s drift away from its claim of embracing all Turkmen groups.

In his April 28 talks with Iraqi officials in Baghdad, Cavusoglu pressed for Turkmen participation in government bodies — a welcome move for the Turkmens, who have come to feel forgotten in recent years. The optimistic sentiment, however, dissipated the following day as Cavusoglu traveled to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Four of the five Turkmen members of the Kurdistan parliament were kept from participating in the welcoming protocol for Cavusoglu and his meeting with the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF), the main Turkmen party in Iraq.

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