Iraq premier to appoint Turkmen minister: MP

BAGHDAD, Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mohammad Allawi has pledged to appoint a minister from the Turkmen minority in his government, a Turkmen lawmaker said Tuesday.

MP Hasan Torhan, however, did not give details about the portfolio.

According to the lawmaker, a Turkmen delegation held talks recently with Allawi on the situation of the Turkmen minority and current political developments in Iraq.

"Iraq's Turkmens, who have three seats in the 329-member parliament, was not represented in the former government," Torhan told Anadolu Agency.

Months of mass protests in Iraq against poor living conditions and unemployment forced former Iraqi Premier Adel Abdul-Mahdi to resign in December.

Over 600 people have been killed and 17,000 injured since the protests erupted in October, according to an Iraqi human rights group.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara

BAGHDAD, Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mohammad Allawi has pledged to appoint a minister from the Turkmen minority in his government, a Turkmen lawmaker said Tuesday.

MP Hasan Torhan, however, did not give details about the portfolio.

According to the lawmaker, a Turkmen delegation held talks recently with Allawi on the situation of the Turkmen minority and current political developments in Iraq.

"Iraq's Turkmens, who have three seats in the 329-member parliament, was not represented in the former government," Torhan told Anadolu Agency.

Months of mass protests in Iraq against poor living conditions and unemployment forced former Iraqi Premier Adel Abdul-Mahdi to resign in December.

Over 600 people have been killed and 17,000 injured since the protests erupted in October, according to an Iraqi human rights group.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara