Turkish/Kurdish... or else?

[erlikhan]

Ariel, Turkoman (Turkmen in Turkish)was describing Turks living a fully or partially nomadic life in Eastern Anatolia,north and south Azerbaijan and Northern Iraq in Ottoman period. They and Kurds are completely different in origin and language. They settled by time and Turkoman word began to mean just some folcloric nuances in 20th c., but not a word to define any actual seperation . (Not for Turkmenistan which is not our subject .Just for Turkey).

Kirkuk with some neighboring towns were mainly Turkoman populated in Ottoman period. Majority in Kirkuk where some significant portion of Iraq oil sources lie underground is still Turkoman despite the systematical Arabification efforts in Saddam regime, and similar Kurdification after the invasion of Iraq, but many having been culturally assimilated.

I must note always there will be somebody else to tell 2nd paragraph from a different point of view. I hope this summary is enough as further comments can cross the sensitive borders of politics.

A solid fact,if it was still in Turkey,those people would name themselves as not "Turkoman" but ordinary Turks living there. Their official naming "Turkoman" as a minority of Iraq has been mainly a preference of Iraq state or more probably former British imperialism I think. So I am not expert enough in etnoghraphical culture to tell any possible difference between niellos of Turkey and Turkomans but what the overall style of the dagger, with silver hilt and scabbard, niello, several `very thin` gold leafs over silver adress Kirkuk to me.Crescent-star can be assumed as the cream over the cake to complete it. Their flag is crescent-star on blue ground. But as I said this is a very special quality one.