Turkomen Delegation Briefing Packet

The Turkomen are the third largest ethnic group in Iraq and by some estimates account for as much as 2% of the Iraqi population. They reside mostly in northeastern Iraq, in the border region between the Kurds and Arabs. The Turkomen were brought to Iraq by the Ottoman Empire to help prevent tribal raids. They claim that they are the majority population of Kirkuk. Although the Turkomen are very populous in this area, a new census is needed to determine whether the Turkomen or the Kurds constitute the majority population in this oil-rich city of about 700,000. The last census of Kirkuk was conducted in 1997 by the Ba’thist regime. However, this census is highly unreliable since the Ba’thist regime greatly manipulated census figures. Similarly, since the end of the second gulf war, thousands of Kurds and Turkomen have moved back to Kirkuk while thousands of Arabs have moved away from Kirkuk. One analyst estimates that as many as 50,000 Arab families have been displaced from the Kirkuk governate while as many as 30,000-40,000 Kurds have returned to Kirkuk since the end of the war.

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