Turkey Raises Alarm Over Demographic Changes in Kirkuk Ahead of Census

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Turkey has expressed serious concerns regarding the demographic changes in Kirkuk, Iraq, as the country conducts its first comprehensive population census in 37 years. The Turkish Foreign Ministry is closely monitoring reports of mass transfers of Kurds from the Kurdistan Region to Kirkuk, warning that this could alter the province's demographic makeup. Turkish officials emphasize their support for the Iraqi Turkmen, who they believe are being marginalized in this process. The head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, Hassan Turan, reported that approximately 260,000 individuals have been brought from outside Kirkuk and registered in the governorate’s records, raising alarms about potential manipulation of the census results. The Iraqi government has conducted the census electronically, involving 120,000 employees, but has intentionally excluded questions about ethnicity to prevent societal division.