UN supports Turkmen rights in Iraq: Envoy

BAGHDAD

The UN is making intense efforts to guarantee the rights of all people in Iraq, including the country’s Turkmen, UN Special Envoy to Iraq Jan Kubis said Thursday.

Following a meeting with Arshad Salihi, the head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, Kubis told Anadolu Agency that he and Salihi had discussed the many difficulties facing Iraq’s Turkmen, along with the future of the country’s predominantly-Turkmen territories following the anticipated defeat of the Daesh militant group.

Regarding the precarious situation in the Tuz Khormato district of Iraq’s north-central Saladin province, Kubis -- who said he was in "constant contact" with Iraqi Turkmen representatives -- called on all parties to exercise self-control.

Tuz Khormato remains the site of frequent clashes between the Al-Hashd al-Shaabi, a pro-government Shia militia, and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters.

Salihi, for his part, voiced concern about the Turkmen regions of Iraq, which, he said, could face additional dangers following the anticipated defeat of Daesh.

"These regions are predominantly Turkmen, but they also contain Kurds, Arabs and Christians," he said. "This, however, doesn’t mean that the region’s fate should be in the hands of other people [i.e., other ethnicities]."