An Overview of the Phenomenon of Women and the Position of Turkmen Women in Iraq in the Light of the Field Observations

Throughout the history of Iraq, Iraqi women have had to live with dictator regimes and wars together with embargoes and sanctions as a result of wars andhad tostruggle with the heavy responsibilities stemming fromthese processes. The general situation of the country didn’t change even after the 2003 American invasion on which Iraqi people as well as Iraqi women pinned their hopes andwhat was experienced in Iraq during this 12 year process has made the position and lives of Iraqi women even worse. According to the report published by Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights and Minority Rights Group International in February 2015, since 2003, approximately 14,000 women have lost their lives because of explosions, air bombardments and the attacks of the militias and the extreme radical organizations which  got a foothold in the country.Women almost became an open target in Iraq during these 12 years. After the American invasion, over 1.5 million women became widow and around 3 million children were left orphans as a result of assassinations, bombings, terrorist incidents, sectarian tensions and military operations in Iraq. The situation concerning the business and education life of women in the country is highly underwhelming.Only 2% of the people who work in the private sector in Iraq are women and 68% of women who graduate from a university cannot find a job.Also, there is an increase in the number of families that don’t send their daughters to school because of the weak security situation in the country. Women’s life has become more difficult due to the ISIS threat in the country within the recent year. This one year after ISIS, Iraqi women with their families were forced to migrate from where they live and they were exposed to rape, abduction and torture. A fact of female slavery trade which emerged in the country after 2003, increased a lot during this one year and ISIS kidnapped many women as well as 10 year old children and sold them as slaves..A great number of women committed suicide due to these incidents.When we consider the whole process in the country, those who lost the most were Iraqi women.Turkmen women also lived and were influenced deeply by these poor and negative conditions that Iraqi women went through.However, the situation of Turkmen women couldn’t have many repercussions in the world public opinion. That is why interviews have been made with Turkmen women and what they experiencedin this process has been touched upon in the field study.

General Situation of Turkmen Women
Today, like all women in Iraq, Turkmen women are also exposed to gender-based violence and discrimination, either their access to employment is denied or they face great difficulties concerning employment. They were not largely involved in the decision making process not only in the parliament, but also in social and cultural domains.Nevertheless, Turkmen women suffer from and they are subject to discrimination twice as much as Iraqi women both because of their gender and their ethnic identity.

The education level and working life of Turkmen women have been negatively affected by the lack of security and the violence across the country.Poor conditions and negative developments in the country have caused an increase in the conservative trends within Turkmen family structure, so there have been families who don’t send their daughters to university in the Turkmen society.Due to what ISIS has done to Iraqi women within the recent year, a considerable increase has been observed in the number of Turkmen families that worry about the security of life of their daughters and because of this reason, they don’t send their daughters to school.

Considering the working life,security problem has been the greatest factor to lead Turkmen men not to send their wives to work and Turkmen families not to send their daughters to work.Apart from the security problem, social pressure also plays an important role in the unemployment of Turkmen women.

The societal perception that women cannot work at every job is another obstacle ahead of the working life of Turkmen women.The non-governmental organizations concerning Turkmen women in Kirkuk state that there are women who cannot accept a job offer for they fear both their families and social pressure and, unfortunately, they shy away from the society in spite of existing employment opportunities for Turkmen women.Some Turkmen women don’t prefer to work due to their anxiety for lack of security. Turkmen women provincial council members and the authorities of nongovernmental organizations concerning Turkmen women indicate that Turkmen women face discrimination in certain sectors due to their ethnic identity and they remain unemployed for the very same reason. 

Turkmen women haven’t yet been able to reach where they deserve to be in the political arena. Iraqi Constitution foresees that women constitute 25% of the provincial council members and deputies. However, only 2 Turkmen women were elected respectively to the parliament in the 2014 elections and only 2 Turkmen women were elected to the provincial council. Unfortunately, the situation has remained unchanged during all the elections held since 2003 and no positive development has been observed, yet.

It is quite difficult for Iraqi female deputies to make preparations for the elections and run election campaigns easily.Turkmen female deputies face difficulties during the elections as well.Turkmen female deputies are the primary target of the radical groups in the country like all the other female deputies in the country.It is known that there are Turkmen women who prefer not to be candidates and those who become candidates fear running their election campaigns because of the threats and attacks of the radical groups.Another compelling situation for Turkmen women deputies is that the society, especially the male electorate doesn’tappreciate or prefer to vote for female candidates.This hinders the increase in the number of Turkmen female politicians and makes it difficult for them to be involved in the political process.

Despite all these negations, Turkmen female electorates prefer to vote for female candidates and demand to see more female deputies since they consider that Turkmen female deputies will convey their problems much betterand utter that they will be able to communicate better with female deputies.Turkmen women somehow have their place in the politics; but both they are few in number and the missions given to them are so restricted.That is why Turkmen women demand to serve as deputies in larger numbers, thus express in person the problems that Turkmen women have.

Turkmen Women’s Situation after ISIS
Women’s situation has become more troublous within the last year in Iraq, where violence and internal conflicts have almost become a part of daily life.Alongside the state of chaos and lack of security within the country for 12 years, especially after June 2014, the presence of ISIS influenced the entire society and the daily life of individuals negatively.Concerning the last year, this negative environment has also triggered changes in the Turkmen society and Turkmen women have been affected the most by these changes.With increasing conflicts because of ISIS and the psychological trauma that the violence has created in the Turkmen society, Turkmen women have suffered from both physical and psychological violence and intra-family pressure on women has increased as well.         

Turkmen women have lost their husbands and fathers during the war against ISIS; therefore, the number of widow Turkmen women and Turkmen orphans is quite high.Turkmen women who have become widows have had to undertake full responsibility of their families. However, the unemployment of women and lack of any kind of assistance from the Iraqi government have rendered them helpless.They struggle for life with the assistance they receive from the Turkmen people and the countries like Turkey.They will face hunger and poverty if they don’t receive assistance.Interviews with the Turkmen women revealed that it is essential to find permanent solutions for widow Turkmen women to enable them pursue their living without being dependent on  assistance.

When we consider the statements made by ErşatSalihi, the president of Iraq Turkmen Front and Turkmen deputy, it is seen that Turkmen women face a lot greater problems after ISIS.Salihi has signified that Turkmen women are abducted by ISIS in Mosul and Tel Afar, some of whom are raped, killed  or sent to the market in Nahhasa, Syria to be sold.Having indicated that ISIS still detains 200 Turkmen women, Salihi has said that these women wait inhopefor the day when they will be saved from ISIS.ErşatSalihi has stated that a Turkmen elder living in a clan called him and said he had poisoned his two daughters and killed them in order not to see them be detained by ISIS. Salihi has also added that there are Turkmen families living this sad situation.

When ISIS launched operations in June 2014 in Iraq in general and in the regions where Turkmens live in large numbers in particular, Turkmensstarted fleeing from these cities.Approximately 350,000 Turkmens abandoned the places they lived and Turkmen women started to settle in safer regions within the country with their families.However, the wayout from ISIS wasnot easy.Turkmen women had to walk with their families to safer regions for days without enough vittles and water.The pregnant Turkmen women who were to give birth in a short time had to bear their babies during their escape.All Turkmen women waited for days at the borders of the provinces where they demanded to take shelter.Some of the Turkmen women were able to settle in refugee camps.However, a very great majority had to settle in the buildings, the construction of which had not yet been completed, the mosques and schools in the cities and had to live in these places since the refugee camps in Iraq are not sufficient in terms of quality and quantity for the moment.Turkmen women and their families live under difficult conditions both inside and outside these camps.For example, they live without necessary hygiene conditions in the places where they stay, so they catch very serious diseases.They cannot receive orhave access to sufficient health service in the camps and places where they stay.That is why they cannot be treated and their diseases progress.There is no hygienic delivery room for pregnant women and there is very limited number of midwives, doctors and medical equipment.This causes births to be given in unhygienic environments and under difficult conditions.

Turkmen women whose situation in the country has deteriorated under ISIS control strive to continue their life under all these negative conditions mentioned above.It is principally required that the state of chaos should be solved and an environment of mutual trust should be established in order for the women in Iraq, especially the Turkmen women to have access to the lifestyle they deserve to have as well as the freedoms and rights.It is also required to create a collective consciousness about women’s rights and equality of opportunity in the Iraqi society in the name of balancing Iraqi women’s roles between social life and family within the new order established with the wholesome formation of the democratic order as well as the environment of mutual trust in the country.In addition, great devotions and efforts which will be made in order to improve and empower democracy, law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms with the protection of women’s rights across the country will ameliorate the situation and position of the women in Iraq.