Turkmeneli

Turkmeneli, also known as Turkmenland,^[1] and historically as Turcomania,^[2] (Turkish: Türkmeneli, lit. 'Land of the Turkmens'), and East Turkmeneli (Doğu Türkmeneli)^[3] is a political term^[2] used to define the vast swath of territory in which the Iraqi Turkmens historically have had a dominant population.^[4] The term incorporates the Iraqi Turkmen homelands running from Iraq's border with Turkey and Syria and diagonally down the country to the border with Iran.^[2] It is sometimes referred to as East Turkmeneli to distinguish from the Syrian Turkmen homeland, known as West Turkmeneli.^[3] Apart from the designation of the region as Turcomania in a 1785 map by William Guthrie, there's no certain mention of the region in published works until the establishment of the Iraqi Turkmen Front.^[2]

In particular, the Turkmen/Turkoman consider the capital of Turkmeneli to be disputed city of Kirkuk and its boundaries also include Tal Afar, Mosul (second largest city in Iraq), Erbil, Mandali, and Tuz Khurmatu.^[5][6] According to Liam Anderson and Gareth Stansfield, the Turkmen/Turkoman note that the term "Turcomania" – an Anglicized version of "Turkmeneli" – appears on a maps of the region published by William Guthrie and Adolf Stieler, however, there is no clear reference to Turkmeneli until the end of the twentieth century.^[2]