Baku, Azerbaijan, June 11
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) head Ershad Salihi addressed Turkey calling on it to protect Iraqi Turkmen, the CNN Turk TV channel reported.
"The Iraqi government provides support to the citizens of all nationalities, and only Iraqi Turkmens are deprived of this support," he said.
At present, the Iraqi Turkmens living particularly in the north of the country, do not feel the protection of the central Iraqi government, Salihi said.
He noted that the situation of Iraqi Turkmens has deteriorated after the militants from the "The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant" group which is a radical offshoot of "Al-Qaeda" took control of towns in the north of the country.
Iraqi Turkmens have no weapons to defend against the militants, according to Salihi.
Iraqi Turkmens make up 11 percent of the population.
Earlier it was reported that the militants of the "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant" group, took control of Mosul - the second most populous city in Iraq.
The Iraqi military servicemen left the Mosul region during fighting according to the witnesses, which is the administrative center of the Neynava province, and their places are taken by extremists.
Last week, the situation in northern Iraq sharply escalated. Nearly 60 people were killed as a result of numerous clashes between Iraqi security forces and militants near the city of Mosul. "Islamic state" controled the western part of Mosul in recent days, and attacked and captured the governor's residence building on June 9. Extremists erupted in to the central headquarters of the army, military airfield and prisons.
On June 10, Mosul governor Aseel al-Najafi urged citizens to defend the city. However, the Mosul residents preferred to escape. Over the past few days tens of thousands of people have fled the city.
Edited by CN