The Case of Iraqi Turkmens in Turkey a Thesis Submitted
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AN ETHNIC GROUP EMBEDDED IN MULTIPLE IDENTITIES: THE CASE OF IRAQI TURKMENS IN TURKEY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY TUNAHAN YILDIZ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS SEPTEMBER 2016 iii iv Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Tülin Gençöz Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Prof. Dr. Özlem Tür Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zana Çitak Aytürk Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayça Ergun Özbolat (METU, SOC) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zana Çitak Aytürk (METU, IR) Assist. Prof. Dr. Hakan Övünç Ongur (TOBB-ETU, PSIR) v vi PLAGIARISM I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last Name: Tunahan Yıldız Signature: iii ABSTRACT AN ETHNIC GROUP EMBEDDED IN MULTIPLE IDENTITIES: THE CASE OF IRAQI TURKMENS IN TURKEY Yıldız, Tunahan M.S., Department of International Relations Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zana Çitak Aytürk September 2016, 229 pages The Iraqi Turkmens have remained on the agenda of Turkish foreign policy, media and society on different occasions for many years. They have been at the heart of many critical issues in Iraq due to their strategic location despite their relatively underestimated political position. In addition, the Iraqi Turkmen society offers an appropriate case to analyze different identities in the Middle East. With reference to these two interrelated facts, this thesis is an attempt to understand the identity of the Iraqi Turkmens. The analysis of the Iraqi Turkmens offers projection into the identity in Iraq in particular and in the Middle East in general since they are the bearers of, what I would argue, five main dimensions of identity in the Middle East region, including religious, sectarian, national, ethnic and tribal. In this framework, this study analyzes these dimensions by presenting the historical background of the Iraqi Turkmens and findings of the survey conducted by the authors of this thesis among the Iraqi Turkmen refugees living in Ankara. Keywords: Iraq, Turkmen, Ethnicity, Multiple Identities, Nested Identities iv ÖZ ÇOKLU KİMLİKLERE GÖMÜLÜ BİR ETNİK GRUP: TÜRKİYE’DEKİ IRAK TÜRKMENLERİ ÖRNEĞİ Yıldız, Tunahan Yüksek Lisans, Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Zana Çitak Aytürk Eylül 2016, 229 sayfa Irak Türkmenleri uzun zaman boyunca Türk dış politikasının, medyasının ve toplumunun çeşitli vesilelerle gündeminde olmuştur. Aslında, siyasi pozisyonları görece olarak göz ardı edilmiş olsa da Irak Türkmenleri stratejik konumlarına bağlı olarak Irak’ta pek çok kritik meselenin tam ortasında yer almaktadır. Ayrıca, Irak Türkmenleri, Orta Doğu’da farklı kimliklerin analizi için uygun bir vaka teşkil etmektedirler. Birbiriyle alakalı bu iki olgudan hareketle, bu tez Irak Türkmenlerinde kimlik konusunu anlamaya yönelik bir çabadır. Irak Türkmenlerinin analizi, özelde Irak’ta ve genelde Orta Doğu’da kimlik konusuna bir projeksiyon sunmaktadır zira Orta Doğu’da kimliğin beş ana boyutu olarak sunduğum, dini, mezhepsel, milli, etnik ve aşiret boyutlarını içeren çoklu kimliğin taşıyıcısıdırlar. Bu çerçevede, bu tez bahsedilen boyutları, Irak Türkmen kimliğinin tarihsel arka planı ve bu tezin yazarının Ankara’da yaşayan Irak Türkmeni mültecilerle yaptığı anket çalışmasının bulguları ile analiz etmeye çalışmaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Irak, Türkmen, Etnisite, Çoklu Kimlikler, İçiçe Kimlikler v DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my loving family. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express his deepest gratitude to his supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zana Çitak for her guidance, advice, criticism, encouragements, insight and patience throughout the research. I will always appreciate her invaluable moral and intellectual assistance. In all means, without her support, writing this thesis would not have been possible. The author would like to thank the examining committee members Assist. Prof. Dr. Hakan Övünç Ongur for his constructive comments and invaluable suggestions and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayça Ergun Özbolat for her helpful comments and critiques to enrich the content of his study. The author also acknowledges the valuable contributions and full support of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özgehan Şenyuva throughout the study and also wishes to express his gratitude to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Akif Okur for his suggestions, evaluations, criticisims, support and insight. The author is deeply grateful for the supports of his friends Tahsin Şahin, Bilal Şentürk, Berat Aktan and Nida Büyükdöken during the application process of questionnaires. The author also thanks each Iraqi Turkmen respondent separately, particularly Hüseyin, Saad, Abdülkerim, Abbas, Kahtan and Vecdem for their support and patience. The author also would like to thank Davut Karataş, Özkan Özkan and Mustafa Ziya for their efforts to make the survey process easier. The author especially thanks his dear friends and accomplished colleagues Gökçe Yiğit, Günseli Durmaz, Nurdan Selay Bedir, Şengül Yıldız, Tekin Baykız, Metin Yücekaya, Tolgahan Akdan and Burak Erdinç for their never-ending support, encouragement and valuable friendship. The author also would like to thank Eda Berk for her existence in this tough period of his life with her endless understanding and encouragement. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ........................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... iv ÖZ ............................................................................................................................ v DEDICATION ....................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................ xi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 1.1. Methodology ........................................................................................... 15 1.2. Thesis Outline ......................................................................................... 17 2. THE IRAQI TURKMENS: DESCRIPTION(S) AND CHRONICLE(S) ..... 19 2.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 19 2.2. Iraqi Turkmen: Meanings, Contexts and Origins .................................... 19 2.3. Turkmen Settlement Areas in Iraq: Turkmenland................................... 24 2.4. Population: Battle for Numbers............................................................... 29 2.5. Modern Political History of the Iraqi Turkmens ..................................... 34 2.5.1. Establishment of Iraq: Emergence of Iraqi Turkmen Identity .......... 34 2.5.2. The Republican Era: Between Fear and Hope .................................. 41 2.5.3. Post-Baath Period: New Opportunities and Threats ......................... 48 viii 2.5.4. General Evaluation of the Turkmen Modern Political History, Activity and Actors .................................................................................... 64 2.6. Conclusion .............................................................................................. 72 3. THE IDENTITY OF THE IRAQI TURKMENS: A CASE OF ISIS- FORCED REFUGEES IN TURKEY ............................................................ 75 3.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 75 3.2. General Profile of Surveyed Persons ...................................................... 77 3.3. The Self-Identifications of the Respondents ........................................... 84 3.4. Portrayal of the Dimension of Religion .................................................. 87 3.5. Sectarian Identity: Growing Sectarianism? ............................................ 93 3.5.1. Views on Some Sunni and Shiite Regions ....................................... 99 3.5.2. Views on Sunni and Shiite People ................................................. 104 3.6. A Complicating Dimension: Tribal Bonds ........................................... 115 3.7. Embracing the Sense of ‘Being Iraqi’? ................................................. 119 3.8. The Dynamics of Ethnicity ................................................................... 129 3.8.1. Objective and Subjective Elements of Turkmenness ..................... 132 3.8.2. Ethnic ‘Other(s)’? ........................................................................... 139 3.8.3. Views on Actual Situation of Turkmen Community ..................... 152 3.9. Conclusion ...........................................................................................