Iraqi Turkmen to propose ‘special status’ for Kirkuk

By Haidar Hadi

BAGHDAD (AA) - Turkmen parties will submit a proposal to the Iraqi government on how to govern majority-Turkmen areas, including calls to give the northern city of Kirkuk a “special status”, an Iraqi Turkmen leader said Tuesday.

“Turkmen parties met today [Tuesday] and decided to issue proposals for granting a special status to the city of Kirkuk,” Arshad al-Salehi, head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, told Anadolu Agency.

The proposal, he added, is aimed at providing adequate protection to majority-Turkmen areas in Iraq following the anticipated defeat of the Daesh terrorist group.

“Turkmen parties plan to make similar proposals regarding the Tal Afar district in Nineveh province and the Tuz Khurmatu district in Saladin province,” al-Salehi said, stressing the need to rebuild war-battered Tal Afar and “end the PKK/PYD terrorist group’s presence there”.

Last week, al-Salehi told Anadolu Agency that there was a “conspiracy” to shepherd terrorist groups into areas of northern Iraq inhabited by Turkmen.

Long known for its ethnic diversity, Kirkuk is mainly populated by Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs.