The assimilation problem of Kirkuk Turkmen between 1958-2017

The region known as Iraq today was conquered by the Muslims about 1400 years ago. There has been a Turkmen presence in the region since these dates, Kirkuk is the region where Turkmens are most densely settled in Iraq. Therefore, Kirkuk is called as a Turkmen city by many sources. However, Kirkuk Turkmens were exposed to many assimilation policies after the Ottoman Empire left the region. The biggest of these repressions are the 1924 Kirkuk Massacre, 1946 Gavurbag Massacre and 1959 Kirkuk Massacres. Although the main actors of these massacre and assimilation policies are the Kurds and other ethnic communities living in the same regions as minorities, the Iraqi state also contributed to the deepening of these problems due to its failure to intervene in the events and its inability to punish the criminals. Even though Kirkuk Turkmens are not exposed to physical attacks such as ethnic cleansing today, they continue to be exposed to acts such as "ignoring" of their political identity. The oppression and assimilation that Kirkuk Turkmen were exposed became a state policy started with the proclamation of the Republican regime in Iraq in 1958. From this date until the referendum held in 2017 for the seperation of Kurdish Administrative Region from the Iraqi Central Government, Kirkuk Turkmens were not taken into account by the Iraqi central government, while facing the threats of armed groups such as the Kurdish Administration on the one hand and DAESH on the other. In the light of this information, the causes and consequences of the assimilation experienced by Kirkuk Turkmens are examined in a way to cover the period between 1958 and 2017 in this study.