Turkmen leader demands equal rights to Arabs, Kurds in Syria

The head of the Syrian Turkmen Assembly Emin Bozoglan spoke on Friday with the Iraqi Turkmeneli TV about his assessment of the Syrian peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana in which he participated as part of the opposition. He sees the welfare of the Turkmen minority as being closely linked to neighbouring Turkey’s power and influence in Syria, Eurasia News reported.

Bozoglan indicated that the Turkmens had been among the Syrian opposition’s diplomatic mission attending the Astana peace talks.

“We expressed our views as the Syrian Turkmen Assembly…It was hoped that the ceasefire would be applied [and] that those who violate the ceasefire are sanctioned, and that the relevant guarantor states guarantee [the ceasefire] and demands were made to this end,” Bozoglan said.

“This ceasefire should not be temporary. It must be sustained because without a maintained ceasefire, peace talks are not sustainable. Therefore, a ceasefire decision was taken at this meeting and this decision is backed by the guarantee of Turkey, Russia and Iran which are guarantor states.”

Bozoglan said that during the almost six-year war in Syria, Turkmens had always been among the opposition and supported the uprising against the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad.

“As Syrian Turkmen, we have always been with the Syrian opposition…because for 60 years the Syrian regime has oppressed all the groups which represent the opposition today, persecuted them, discriminated against people and maintained a setup which prevented them from living their cultures and identities.”

The Turkmen leader emphasised the role of Turkey in achieving a ceasefire in Syria and said: “Turkey provided the most support to achieve this ceasefire and also gave significant guarantees as a guarantor state…There is ongoing conflict in areas held by the opposition and especially in Wadi Barada between the [opposition and the] regime…supported by Iran and Hezbollah.”

Bozoglan confirmed that the Turkmens supported the territorial integrity of Syria and said that they wanted the Turkmen language to become an official language in Syria.

“We want all ethnic and sectarian groups to live in peace in a democratic environment in a Syria with territorial integrity. We shall not allow the opportunity for discrimination or any division…[H]owever, as Turkmen we would like a constitutional guarantee to enable us to learn to use, read and write Turkish in education.”

“Our demand to have our language defined as an official language is valid.”

Commenting on regional Turkish relations, Bozoglan indicated that the Iraqi and Syrian Turkmens shared the same destiny, and that both Turkmen populations were close to the Turks of Turkey.

“Our fate is similar because the Turkmen in Iraq as well as the Turkmen in Syria are the most victimised parties. Turkey is the neighbour of both Iraq as well as Syria, and us Turkmen have strong ties with Turkey. We have a kinship and the same affiliations.”

During the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, which was dominated by ethnic Turks, many Syrian Turkmens lost their ability to speak their own language well, in addition to other aspects of their identity.

The Syrian Ba’athist regime under the Al-Assad family also pursued a policy of Arabisation. The population of Turkmens who still speak their language and preserved their identity are around 1.5 million in Syria today. Despite a wide geographical spread, Turkmen settlements are concentrated in the rural regions of the provinces of Aleppo and Latakia along the Turkish border. About three million Turkmen live in Iraq today.