Turkey's relationships with the ethnic, religious and political groups in Iraq after the First Gulf War

It is observed that international relations has no longer been limited with just those among the central political authorities, but has started to include also those among federal or regional authorities owing to globalisation and the changes in the current international order. In this context, the ethnic, religious and political groups in the so-called "failed states", where the central authority has weakened, even sometimes faced with the question of leagcy, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya, have inceased their influence and become "sub-actors" of foreign affairs. In the light of the fact mentioned above, this study invesigates Turkey's relations with the ethnic, religious, and political groups in Iraq together with the effects of them on the relationship between Turkey and Iraq on the governmental level.The research period is chosen as the decades after the First Gulf War and diveded into twosub-periods as before and after the year 2002. Kurds, Shia and Sunni Arabs, Turkmens as well as Christians, and Yezidis are included in the research subjects since they have been in an influential status in Iraq during the given period. The study demonstrates that Turkey has gained an effective position not only on the Iraq government but also the ethnic, religious, and political groups in this country, contrubuting the balance and stability of this political system.