A sociological research on Iraq's Turkmens: Case of Kirkuk

This thesis is a sociological study made about Iraqi Turcomans who have lived in Iraq for centuries and who have a deep history and socio-cultural wealth. In the study, first the Turcoman existence in Iraq, the identity and population have been analyzed along with socio-economic and cultural structure. Also the Baath Party which has a big determinance and the US invasion and the period until today has been covered. So that, the power structure's change and its impact on Turcoman society has been attempted to analyze. In this thesis study, the Turcomans who have a deep history and socio-cultural wealth living in Iraq for many centuries have been covered. In the study, the demographical, financial and cultural structures of Turcomans have been analyzed and the impact of the changing power structure in Iraq on Turcomans has been adressed. The methodology of this study which is carried out through Kirkuk has been arranged according to qualitative research method. Structured interviews have been made with 20 people living in Kirkuk and the data have been interpreted with descrpitive analysis technique. The data have been interpreted based on 4 rules: Political, social, culturan and economic. The socio-demographic characteristics, social, cultural and economic relations, economic structure, education levels, constitutional rights, political activities and the impact of the political activities of Turcomans living in Kirkuk have been explored. As a result, this study has tried to analyze the existence, cultural sturucture and historical richness of Turcomans in Iraq. At the same time, the difficulties the Turcomans faced and the way how they handled these and the way how they protected their political and cultural structure have been studied from a sociological perspective. Keywords: Turcoman, Identity, Belonging, Kırkuk, Iraq.