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Turkmen people (of which the Turkic plural is properly Turkmenler) form an ethnic group, part of the Turkic peoples.

Turkmen people live in:

• Afghanistan
• Iran
• Turkmenistan

Turkmen in Iraq

A Turkmen minority live in Iraq, primarily in and around Kirkuk. Estimates of their numbers vary dramatically, from 300 000 Turkmen and Turkish speakers according to the Ethnologue to 3 million according to the Iraqi Turkmen Front. These people are the descendants of those Turks the Ottoman Empire brought to the region from Turkey to work as a secure line of people to transport mail from Baghdad to Istanbul and vice versa. They speak a language that is a mixture of Arabic, Kurdish and old Turkish. It is a minority language.

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraqi Turkmen have emerged as a key political force in the controversy over the future status of northern Iraq and the Kurdish Autonomous Region. The government of Turkey has helped fund such political organizations as the Iraqi Turkmen Front, which opposes Iraqi federalism and in particular the proposed annexation of Kirkuk to Kurdistan.

Saparmurat Niyazov

Since October 22, 1993 Saparmurat Niyazov has used the title Turkmenbashi, meaning "Leader of all Ethnic Turkmen". In his state Turkmenistan, this is probably largely true. It should be noted, however, that President Niyazov has not to date demonstrated any desire to expand his political suzerainty beyond the borders of Turkmenistan

See also

• Turkmen language
• Oghuz Turks - for a discussion of the terms Turcoman and Turkmen
• Demographics of Iran

• Iranian ethnic groups
• Turkmenistan