ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s Foreign Ministry on Friday expressed support for Turkmen in Kirkuk, saying they are understandably upset about the appointment of a Kurdish woman as mayor of Prde (Altun Kupri) sub-district.
“The appointment of a non-Turkmen director to the Altunkopru Municipality, where the Turkmen population is dense, has understandably caused unease and disappointment among the Turkmen community,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli wrote on X.
“It is our fundamental expectation that our Turkmen kin are duly represented within Iraq’s political and state structures,” he added, noting that developments in Kirkuk are being “closely and sensitively followed” by Ankara.
The appointment of a Kurdish woman as municipal mayor of the disputed sub-district triggered days of protests this week by supporters of the Iraqi Turkmen Front. Turkmen members of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or Hashd al-Shaabi) and cadres from the Badr Organization were also seen at the protests, according to Rudaw reporters on the ground and footage of the demonstrations.
Some protesters, reportedly armed, stormed the municipality building, smashing windows and doors before being dispersed by security forces. Others set fires and shut down traffic on the main highway connecting Erbil and Kirkuk. The road was closed for over an hour on Thursday before security forces reopened it.
Protesters demanded that one of three key positions in the town - municipality head, sub-district administrator, or police chief - be given to a Turkmen.
The Turkmen community, particularly in Kirkuk, has long called for greater political representation in the province’s government. Turkey, which sees the Turkmen population as its ethnic kin, has consistently advocated for their rights in Iraq.
Kirkuk Provincial Council member Abdullah Mirwais told Rudaw on Thursday that the unrest is being politicized by certain factions ahead of federal elections, scheduled for November. “Turkmens, Kurds, and Arabs as ethnicities have no problems with each other, but parties sometimes stir up these issues for their own gains,” he said.
The Iraqi Turkmen Front is reportedly split on how to respond to recent appointments, following an internal rift between former leader Hassan Turan - who resigned in April - and Arshad al-Salihi, the party’s current head in parliament and Turan’s predecessor.
The party remains a key political force in the disputed oil-rich province and has repeatedly claimed that Kirkuk “belongs to the Turkmen people.”
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