Baghdad sends delegation to Ankara to assist displaced Iraqis

BAGHDAD – Baghdad has dispatched a delegation to the Iraqi Embassy in Ankara to assist displaced families from Tal Afar in verifying their Iraqi nationality and to help Iraqi citizens living in Turkey authenticate marriage contracts and establish kinship, aiming to facilitate their return to Iraq.

The embassy, in a statement to 964media, said, “Under the prime minister’s directive, the Ministry of Migration and Displacement has dispatched a specialized delegation to our embassy in Ankara. Their mission involves verifying the nationality of displaced families from Tal Afar, authenticating marriage contracts, and confirming kinship for those wishing to return to Iraq.”

The delegation has already assisted dozens of Iraqi citizens who, due to ISIS’s actions in 2014, find themselves without the necessary Iraqi documentation because of loss, damage, or theft.

Reports indicate that around 120,000 Turkmen fled to Turkey from northern Iraq in 2014, mainly from Mosul and Tal Afar. In 2022, about 3,000 Iraqi Turkmen received assistance to return to Iraq, including help with obtaining new identification documents, reclaiming confiscated property, and transportation.