Iraqi Turks: Transformation of status and Turkish foreign policy towards Iraq (1914-2003)

Throughout history, Iraq has been of great importance since the official inception of the Silk Route in AD 1st century. Flourishing over time thanks to the Silk Route, Baghdad has been the center of this geography as a significant economic and cultural hub. Turks arrived in Iraq for the first time during the Umayyads period and settled in Basra, thus forming the most important element of the Umayyad army. Since Turkish soldiers were rather successful and disciplined, Turks were invited and encouraged every year to come from Turkistan lands to Iraq.During the Abbasid period, on the other hand, Turkish soldiers constituted the most important element in Caliphal-Mam'un's accession to the throne, and therefore, Caliph al-Mam'un further accelerated and encouraged Turks' arrival in Iraq. Thus, Mosul and Kirkuk became places largely inhabited and settled by Turks.These provinces remained to be Turkish during the periods of the Great Seljuks Empire, the Anatolian Seljuk Empire and the Ottoman Empire.During World War I, the British government discovered oil in Iraq and created a defacto situationas a result of the secretSykes-Picotagreement with France, leading to the invasion of Iraq by the United Kingdom.Acclaimed as King by the United Kingdom, Faisal I acted together with the British in disregarding the existence of Turks in Mosul and Kirkuk and started to develop assimilation policies.Assimilation policies did not change in hundred years after World War I; the concept of Turkmen was propounded instead of Turks;Turks living here were tried to be Arabized by means of Sunnitizationpoliciesand efforts were made to change the status of Mosul and Kirkuk as Turkish Lands by means of Kurds. This studyis designed to analyze the history of Iraq and Iraqi Turks from World War I to today in detail. At the same time,the study will seek answers for the following questions: Do Iraqi Turks, Mosul and Kirkuk have any geopolitical importance for Turkey?Were assimilation policies imposed on Iraqi Turks? Are Mosul and Kirkuk Turkish lands. Key Words:Iraq, Iraqi Turks, Mosul, Kirkuk, Assimilation