The Iraqi Turkomans and Turkey

In the publications on the Turkomans and related subjects, especially those by Turkish and Iraqi authors,' the terminology is extremely inconsistent. In order to forestall misunderstandings and misleading characteristics, one must, therefore, clarify from the outset the terminological aspect of the problem under discussion. In this paper the following system of terminology is considered to be the most authentic: 1) Turkoman-a common denomination of the Turkic ethnic continuum from Central Asia, including Iran, Iraq and Turkey. 2) Turkmer-a term designating the ethnic Turkmens in the Republic of Turkmenistan with adjoining areas and Turkmen inhabitants in Iran, as well as only the remnants and progeny of the old Turkmen ethnic elements resided in Iraq during the 9th13th centuries A.D. or planted here after that period. In other words, Turkoman is a generic name, covering ethnic Turkmens and Turkic speaking communities in Iraq, while Turkmen denotes only the ethnic Turkmens of the Central Asian type. The subject of this paper, the Turkic conglomerate of Iraq, therefore, requires the adoption of the term Turkoman2 as a