Iraqi Turkmen Front
Iraqi Turkmen Front Irak Türkmen Cephesi الجبهة التركمانية العراقية al-Jabha al-Turkmaniya al-Iraqiya | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | ITF |
| President | Mehmet Saman Ağaoğlu (Iraqi politician) |
| Honorary Leader | Saadeddin Arkej |
| Deputy President | Hasan Turan |
| Founded | 24 April 1995 |
| Headquarters | Kirkuk |
| Ideology | Regionalism Turkmen interests |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Colours | Blue |
| Seats in the Council of Representatives of Iraq: | 1 / 328
|
| Party flag | |
The Iraqi Turkmen Front (abbreviated as ITF) is a political movement representing the Iraqi Turkmen people. It was founded on April 5, 1995 as a coalition of several Turkmen parties operating within the framework of Iraq's unity. The party aims for the Turkmen community to have greater political involvement, increased recognition and more rights.
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, the party has contested control of Kirkuk and other areas of northern Iraq, claiming that Kirkuk belongs to the Turkmen people. The ITF claims a region named Turkmeneli (literally meaning the "land of the Turkmens") as the homeland of the Iraqi Turkmen. Turkmeneli includes within its boundaries Kirkuk, Tal Afar, Erbil, Mandali, Mosul and Tuz Khurmatu. The Iraqi Army and Peshmerga have not allowed them to form their militia and take control of the areas where they live.
The party played an active role in the fight against the Islamic State to defend the region of Turkmeneli (especially around Kirkuk) and the Iraqi Turkmen population from the genocide that ISIS committed against Iraqi Turkmen.