The Iraqi Turkmens or Iraqi Turks (also spelled Turcomans, Turkomens, and Iraqi Turkmans) ( ) are the ethnic kin of Turks who mainly reside in northern Iraq. The term "Turkmen" for Iraqi Turks seems to have been created during the course of the discussion on the Mosul issue in the third decade of the last century, in order to isolate the Iraqi Turks from Turkey. Claims of their population range between 500,000 to over 3 million. Nonetheless, regardless of this uncertainty, it is generally accepted that the Iraqi Turks are the third-largest ethnic group in Iraq. According to the 1957 census, which was the last census taken in Iraq, Arabs formed the largest ethnicity followed by Kurds (13%) and Iraqi Turkmen (9%).
|
|