Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) President Hasan Turan said in a statement that the Provincial Assembly Elections to be held across Iraq on December 18 are very important for Turkmens.
Stating that the Turkmen will participate in this election with the United Iraqi Turkmen Front List, which is the only Turkmen list in Kirkuk, Turan noted that the list consists of 9 Turkmen parties, especially the Iraqi Turkmen Front.
Informing that there are candidates from all parties on the list, Turan stated that they will participate in the elections with 30 reasonable, young, dynamic, acceptable and experienced candidates in the city.
Pointing out that all Turkmen political parties have been preparing for elections for months, Turan emphasized that Turkmens should participate in the elections especially in Kirkuk and they do not have the luxury of not participating.
Stating that for nearly 20 years, the Turkmens have not been represented as they deserve in the central government and have not been able to get a ministry, Turan said that they will make up for this only by taking part in the local administration in the cities where the Turkmens mostly live.
Turan stated that they had significant representative weight in the local administrations in Kirkuk, Mosul, Diyala, Erbil, Salahaddin and Baghdad, where Turkmen lived intensely before, and that they lost this advantage after 2019, when the provincial assemblies in Iraq were abolished.
Turan said that Kirkuk remained under very difficult conditions from 2003, when the Saddam administration was overthrown, until the central government entered Kirkuk on October 16, 2017, when the Peshmerga presence in the city was ended, adding, “Turanmen are working to prevent Kirkuk from returning to those insecure, unstable and dark days. should participate in the election,” he said.
Noting that the Turkmen, who have been aspiring to the post of Governor of Kirkuk for years, can only do so by demonstrating their weight in the city’s legislative body, the Provincial Assembly, Turan added that all Turkmen political parties have already focused on the elections.