Minorities in Iraq include various ethnic and religious groups.
See main article: Iraqi Kurdistan.
The vast majority of Iraqi Kurds are Sunni Muslims, with Shia and Christian minorities.
Under the Kingdom of Iraq, Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani led a rebellion against the central government in Baghdad in 1945. After the failure of the uprising Barzānī and his followers fled to the Soviet Union. In the 1960s, when Iraqi Brigadier Abdul-Karim Qassem distanced himself from Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, he faced growing opposition from pro-Egypt officers in the Iraqi army. When the garrison in Mosul rebelled against Qassem's policies, he allowed Barzānī to return from exile to help suppress the pro-Nasser rebels. By 1961, Barzānī and the Kurds began a full-scale rebellion.
When the Ba'ath Party took power in Iraq, the new government, in order to end the Kurdish revolt, granted the Kurds their own limited autonomy. However, for various reasons, including the pro-Iranian sympathies of some Kurds during the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s, the regime implemented anti-Kurdish policies and a de facto civil war broke out. From March 29, 1987 until April 23, 1989, the infamous Al-Anfal campaign, a systematic genocide of the Kurdish people in Iraq, was launched. For this, Iraq was widely condemned by the international community, but was never seriously punished for oppressive measures, including the use of chemical weapons against the Kurds, which resulted in thousands of deaths.
After the Persian Gulf War, the Kurds began another uprising against the Ba'athists and established the autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, which was never recognized by the Iraqi government until 2005.[1] During the same year, Turkey, fighting Kurds on its on territory, bombed Kurdish areas in Northern Iraq, claiming that bases for the terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party were located in the region. However, the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the fall of Saddam, brought renewed hope to the Kurds. The Kurds have since been working towards developing the area and pushing for democracy in the country. However, most Kurds overwhelmingly favor becoming an independent nation. "In the January 2005 Iraqi elections, 98.7 percent of Kurds voted for full independence rather than reconciliation with Iraq."[2] Almost no other political or social group in the region is agreeable to the idea of Kurdish independence. Iraq's neighboring countries such as Turkey are particularly opposed to the movement because they fear that an independent Iraqi Kurdistan would strengthen Kurdish independence movements in their own territories.
Nouri al-Maliki was at loggerheads with the leader of ethnic Kurds, who brandished the threat of secession in a growing row over the symbolic issue of flying the Iraqi national flag at government buildings in the autonomous Kurdish north. Maliki's Arab Shi'ite-led government was locked in a dispute with the autonomous Kurdish regional government, which has banned the use of the Iraqi state flag on public buildings. The prime minister issued a blunt statement on Sunday saying: "The Iraqi flag is the only flag that should be raised over any square inch of Iraq." But Mesud Barzani, president of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, told the Kurdish parliament the national leadership were "failures" and that the Iraqi flag was a symbol of his people's past oppression by Baghdad: "If at any moment we, the Kurdish people and parliament, consider that it is in our interests to declare independence, we will do so and we will fear no one." The dispute exposes a widening rift between Arabs and Kurds, the second great threat to Iraq's survival as a state after the growing sectarian conflict between Arab Sunnis and Shi'ites.[3]
See main article: Feylis.
The Feylis are a ethnographic group of Shia Muslim Kurds who follows the Ja'fari school. The Feylis are indigenous to Elam, the region between Iraq and Iran, they live in the central and northeastern parts of Iraq. There are also a big Feyli community in Baghdad, many of whom come from well known aristocratic families, who originally migrated from Persia during the 1600 and 1700 hundreds.[4] Their population is estimated to be around 1,500,000 to 2,500,000 in Iraq which is about 30% of the Iraqi Kurdish population. They are known for being very wealthy businessmen, bankers, merchants, politicians, senators, highly educated and dominated the politics and economy of Iraq especially during the 30s until the 70s. Unlike the other sunni Kurds the Feylis speak the southern Kurdish dialect which is more closer to the Persian language. [5] [6] In the mid 1970s, the Iraqi government launched a campaign of forced deportation and exile targeting the Feyli Kurds. In 1970, more than 70,000 Feylis were deported to Iran and their citizenship was revoked, alleging that they were Iranian nationals. On 7 May 1980, Saddam Hussein signed decree number 666 which legalized and ordered the confiscation, forced deportation, exile and detention of Feyli Kurds. [7] Saddam justified the decree by accusing Feyli Kurds of having "foreign origin" and "disloyalty to the people and father land and to the political and social principles of the Revolution", deporting over 700 000 Feylis to Iran. However, since 2003 many Feyli kurds have returned to Iraq and been granted Iraqi citizenship.[8]
See main article: Iraqi Turkmen. The Iraqi Turkmen are the third largest ethnic group in the country, after the Arabs and Kurds.[9] They are a branch of the Turkic peoples and adhere to that heritage and identity, this is because most Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman are the descendants of the Ottoman soldiers, traders and civil servants who were brought into Iraq from Anatolia during the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Since the demise of the Ottoman Empire, the Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman have found themselves increasingly discriminated against from the policies of successive regimes, such as the Kirkuk Massacre of 1923, 1947, 1959, and in 1979 when the Ba'ath Party discriminated against the community. Although the Turks were recognized as a constitutive entity of Iraq (alongside the Arabs and Kurds) in the constitution of 1925, the Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman were later denied this status.
According to the 1957 Iraqi census the Turkmen/Turkoman had a population of 567,000, accounting for 9% of the total Iraqi population.[10] [11] By 2013, the Iraqi Ministry of Planning said that there were 3 million Turkmen/Turkoman, out of a population of 34.7 million, forming 8.65% of the population. The Turkmen/Turkoman minority mainly reside in northern and central Iraq, in the so-called Turkmeneli region – which is a political term used by the Turkmen/Turkoman to define the vast swath of territory in which they have historically had a dominant population. In particular, the Turkmen/Turkoman consider the capital of Turkmeneli to be Kirkuk and its boundaries also include Tal Afar, Mosul, Erbil, Mandali, and Tuz Khurmatu. According to Liam Anderson and Gareth Stansfield, the Turkmen/Turkoman note that the term "Turcomania" – an Anglicized version of "Turkmeneli" – appears on a map of the region published by William Guthrie in 1785, however, there is no clear reference to Turkmeneli until the end of the twentieth century.[12] According to Khalil Osman there has been "a raft of federalist schemes" proposed by various Turkmen/Turkoman political parties.The Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman share close cultural and linguistic ties with Turkey, particularly the Anatolian region.[13] They are predominately Muslims, formed of a majority Sunni population (about 60%-70%) but there is also a significant number of Turkmen/Turkoman practicing the Shia branch of Islam (about 30% to 40%). Nonetheless, the Turkmen are mainly secular, having internalized the secularist interpretation practiced in the Republic of Turkey. The minority speak their own dialect of Turkish, which is often called "Turkmen". This dialect was influenced by Ottoman Turkish from 1534 onwards, but also by Persian during the brief capture of Baghdad in 1624; thereafter, in 1640, the Turkish varieties continued to be influenced by Ottoman Turkish, as well as other languages in the region, such as Arabic and Kurdish. Some linguists have suggested that the dialect spoken by Turkmen/Turkoman is similar to the South Azeri dialect used by the Turkish Yörük tribes in the Balkans and Anatolia. However, the Turkmen/Turkoman dialect is particularly close to the Turkish dialects of Diyarbakır and Urfa in south-eastern Turkey and Istanbul Turkish has long been the prestige dialect which has exerted a profound historical influence on their dialect. In addition, the Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman grammar differs sharply from Irano-Turkic varieties, such as South Azeri and Afshar types. In 1997 the Turkmen/Turkoman adopted the Turkish alphabet as the formal written language[14] and by 2005 the community leaders decided that the Turkish language would replace the Arabic script in Iraqi schools. The current prevalence of satellite television and media exposure from Turkey may have also led to the standardisation of Turkmeni towards Turkish, and the preferable language for adolescents associating with the Turkish culture.[15]
See main article: Christianity in Iraq. Christianity has a presence in Iraq dating to the 1st century AD. The Christian community in Iraq is relatively small, and further dwindled due to the Iraq War to just several thousands. Most Christians in Iraq belong traditionally to Syriac Orthodox Church, Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, and are concentrated in small cities in the Nineveh Plains, such as Alqosh, Tel Keppe, Ankawa, and Bartella.
See main article: Assyrians in Iraq. The Northeastern Neo-Aramaic-speaking Assyrians are the indigenous people of Iraq and the descendants of those who ruled ancient Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia. More generally speaking, the Assyrians (like the Mandeans) are the descendants of the ancient Mesopotamians (Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylon, Adiabene, Osroene and Hatra). They speak various Neo-Aramaic dialects and have their own written scripts. They began to convert to Christianity in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD formerly having followed the ancient Sumerian-Akkadian religion (also known as Ashurism). There are believed to be no more than 500,000 Assyrians remaining in Iraq,[16] with a large concentration in the diaspora. They are Iraq's fourth largest ethnic group after the Arabs, the Kurds and the Iraqi Turkmen.
The Assyrian minority came under persecution during Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime. When Hussein first assumed power, the Assyrian population there numbered 2 million to 2.5 million. Many have fled to neighboring countries such as Jordan and Syria, or have emigrated to Europe and the U.S. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees reports that half a million Iraqi Christians have registered for temporary asylum in Syria.[17] Assyrians have traditionally made good soldiers, during the Iran–Iraq War, many were recruited to the armies of both sides.
Currently, Assyrians face persecution from Kurds, as Kurdification attempts at Assyrian cities are in progress. This was after the Kurdish takeover of Assyrian towns in the Kurdistan region (such as Zakho, Ainkawa, Aqrah, etc.) and the forceful deportation and killing of Christians in that area.[18]
The Assyrian Security force Nineveh Plain Protection Units Currently run the security in many Towns and Villages in the Nineveh Plains
See main article: Armenians in Iraq.
The Armenians are Orthodox Christians. Armenians have a long history of association with Mesopotamia, going back to pre-Christian times. The Armenians have historically been a thriving community in Iraq with football clubs (Nadi Armeni) and other establishments. Armenian folk music and dance is admired in Iraq. Most Iraqi Armenians live in Baghdad, Mosul, and Basra and their population is estimated at around 10,000 down from 70,000 before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[1]
See main article: History of the Jews in Iraq.
Iraq was home to one of the oldest Jewish communities of the Middle East. During the Ottoman period, the Jews were part of society in Iraq. Iraq's first finance minister was Sassoon Eskell, an Iraqi Jew from Baghdad.[19]
Almost all Iraqi Jews were transferred to Israel in the early 1950s in Operation Ezra and Nehemiah and the Israeli bombing. During the time of Abdul-Karim Qasim, the Jews were re-integrated into Iraqi society. Following his overthrow in the 1963 revolution and further coup, the Jewish community faced persecution again. Most of the Jews fled Iraq. Gradually as Saddam Hussein rose to power, the remaining Jews were granted protection and freedom. Between 500 to 1,000 Jews remained in Iraq, across Baghdad, Mosul, Basra and Erbil in Kurdistan. They were not allowed to have jobs in the government and military.
During the oil boom of the 1970s, massive infrastructure projects were proposed by the government. Among them was the construction of a road in Baghdad, where an old Jewish cemetery lies on the route. The cemetery was transferred to another location in the Shi'ite neighborhood of Sadr City, under supervision of the government and Saddam paid the amount for relocation. The Meir Taweig Synagogue in Baghdad continued to function, which was also restored by Saddam. Remaining Jewish sites, some of them also revered by Muslims and Christians were protected by the Ba'ath regime.
See main article: Mandaeans and Mandaeism. Mandaeans, also known as Sabians (a Quranic epithet historically claimed by several religious groups)[20] and (in Arabic) as, are one of the smallest ethno-religious groups in the world, with only about 75,000 followers worldwide. The oldest independent confirmation of Mandaean existence in the region is Kartir's inscription at Ka'ba-ye Zartosht and there is archaeological evidence that attests to the Mandaean presence in pre-Islamic Iraq.[21] [22] The Mandaeans were originally native speakers of Mandaic, an Eastern Aramaic language, before many switched to colloquial Iraqi Arabic.
The Iraqi Mandaean community, in the pre-1990 Gulf War period, was the most important in the world with 30,000–50,000[23] of the 70,000 total living in the country mainly in the area around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Mandaeans, although an ethnic and religious minority, consider themselves Iraqi and have supported the Iraqi nation patriotically. They gained large protection from the Ba'ath Party against persecution with the Ba'athist regime helping pay for the construction of Mandi's in Iraq, Saddam Hussein even allocated the land owned by the Iraqi ministry of finance to the Mandaeans in the 1980s, granting the Mandaeans a free 1,200 square meters of land, which allowed for the construction of the Sabian–Mandaean Mandi of Baghdad.[24] The Mandaeans were considered an economically successful community, and had achieved high levels in Iraqi society, and are held in high regard as silversmiths, goldsmiths, academics and poets.[25]
See main article: Marsh Arabs.
The Marsh Arabs or Ma'dãn are a group of Arabs who number 125,000 to 150,000 who live in the Mesopotamian Marshes in southern Iraq.
See main article: Yarsanism.
The Kaka'is are a small Kurdish religious group who located mainly in and around Kirkuk in northern Iraq.
See main article: Shabak people.
There are about 60,000–400,000 Shabaks in Iraq. They are an ethnic and religious minority, retaining their own distinct Pre Islamic religion. They are an Indo-European (Aryan) people and speak an Indo-European language with elements of Turkish and Arabic infused. The Shabak's origin are not well-known, many notables such as Anastas Al-Karmali have argued that the Shabak People were of Kurdish origins. The Encyclopaedia of Islam's 'First Edition' from 1913-1936, states that the Shabaks are "a religious community of Kurdish origin in the wilāyet of Mawṣil."[26]
Despite having their own language and culture unique from other groups, Kurdish authorities have attempted to Kurdify the Shabaks by occupying Shabak villages and referring to them as "Kurdish Shabaks". In 2005, two Assyrians were killed and four Shabaks were wounded by the KDP during a demonstration organized by the Democratic Shabak Coalition, a group which wants separate representation for the Shabak community.[27]
See main article: Romani people in Iraq.
Iraq's Roma (Kawliya) ethnic minority was looked down upon as second-class citizens under Ba'ath party rule.
See main article: Ezidi.
Today, there are around 650,000 Yezidis in Iraq who live in northern parts of Iraq. All speak Kurdish with the exception of the two villages Bashiqa and Bahzani, located near Mosul.[28] Most Yezidis live in southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq, the Sheikhan area near Mosul, the Sinjar mountains), southwestern Kurdistan (Northern Syria), northwestern Kurdistan (southeastern Turkey), as well as in Armenia, Georgia, Russia, the Ukraine, the USA, Germany and other countries of Western Europe.[29] the majority consider themselves ethnically Kurdish, although Yazidis are religiously distinct from Iraq's predominantly Sunni Kurdish population. Yezidism has roots in a western Pre-Zoroastrian religion[30] [31]
See main article: Afro-Iraqis.
The Iraqis of largely African descent live mostly around the city of Basra, having been brought to the region as slaves over one thousand years ago to work the sugarcane plantations then in existence. Although they are Muslims and Arabic-speakers, Afro-Iraqis also retain some cultural and religious traditions from their ancestral homeland. They suffer considerable discrimination due to their race, and, as a result, are restricted to working as entertainers or menial laborers. Moreover, they are often addressed by other Iraqis as abd, meaning "slave". In the mid-9th century, black slaves around Basra rose in a rebellion, conquering their former masters and ruling the city for 15 years before being put down by forces sent by the Caliph in Baghdad. After the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime, Afro-Iraqis have once again begun to struggle for an improvement in their condition.[32]
See main article: Ajam of Iraq.
See main article: Bedouin.
See main article: Circassians in Iraq.