Iraqi Turkmen Front officer attacked in Kirkuk

By Ali Mukarrem Garip

KIRKUK, Iraq

An Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) officer and his family got injured in an armed attack on late Tuesday in Kirkuk city, according to security sources.

“Kirkuk’s Bulava village representative for ITF Ahmad Bulavali and his family were attacked in their car by unknown assailants and three people were injured in the armed attack,” Kirkuk Police Department spokesperson Afrasyav Kamil said.

“Bulavali, his wife and his brother are under treatment at the Kirkuk State Hospital,” Kamil added.

Over 20 Turkmen killed in last 4 months

More than 20 Turkmen in Kirkuk, including several politicians and professors, have been killed in the attacks in the past four months.

Earlier this year, leading ITF member Alaa Eddine al-Salihi was gunned down in Kirkuk’s Al-Askari neighborhood by unknown assailants.

The most recent murder was that of Ali Almas, a Turkmen intellectual and professor at Kirkuk University.

Iraqi Turkmen, also known as Iraqi Turks, are a Turkic-speaking minority whose total population is estimated at some three million.

The Turkmen Front occupies two out of 328 seats in the Iraqi parliament and nine out of 41 seats in the Kirkuk provincial council.

Since October, Iraqi forces have controlled the entire province of Kirkuk, ending the presence of the northern regional forces Peshmerga.