Turkmen Reform Party demands safeguarding constitutional status of Kurdistan Region
The TRP emphasized the importance of political parties cooperating, coordinating, and uniting to prevent any efforts to undermine the position of the Kurdistan Region.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The Turkmen Reform Party (TRP) stated on Sunday that safeguarding the constitutional status of the Kurdistan Region is a patriotic responsibility for all “loyal individuals” in the Kurdistan Region.
The TRP emphasized the importance of political parties cooperating, coordinating, and uniting to prevent any efforts to undermine the position of the Kurdistan Region.
The Party also fully supports all initiatives aimed at expediting parliamentary elections and addressing the financial challenges and livelihood issues faced by Kurdish citizens.
Turkmen in Iraq form the third largest ethnic group in the country. They are estimated to make up 8% of the population of the Kurdistan Region. They are predominantly Sunni Muslims. The Turkmen language, although similar to modern Turkish, uses a more archaic form of Turkic linguistics.
The ethnic group has a large presence in Kirkuk, Tuz Khurmatu, and Erbil. In the Kurdish capital, they have had a historic presence in the Citadel area, a relic of Ottoman history over several centuries.
On Dec. 25, 2019, the Kurdistan Region parliament voted to designate Nov. 17 as Turkmen Language and Culture Day. As a show of support, the Kurdistan Region Parliament previously allotted five quota seats for Turkmen representation.
Although there are a few large political groups, such as the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF), that claim to advocate for them, ethnic Turkmen are largely divided among multiple parties across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.
Turkmen draw ancestral ties to their kin in neighboring Turkey, which has long sought to enhance the interests of Turkmen in Iraq.
Despite otherwise friendly ties between Erbil and Ankara, the issue of recognizing Turkmen aspirations in Kirkuk remains a persistent dilemma.
Turkey is opposed to the Iraqi Constitution’s Article 140, which would reverse decades of Arabization policies under the former Ba’athist regime and, thus, empower Kurdish representation in the province.
Editing by Dastan Muwaffaq
