Turkey says it wants all ethnic groups in Iraq to be treated as equals and has abandoned the policy of favoring Turkmens, saying all ethnic groups are at an equal distance to Ankara. However, Ankara also feels that the Turkmens have not been given equal treatment in the writing of the Iraqi constitution and have been sidelined in favor of the Kurds, who have managed to include Kurdish as the second official language of Iraq after Arabic.
Ankara has enhanced its ties with the Iraqi Kurds in recent years, much to the distaste of Maliki. The more Ankara strengthens its relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government, the more it alienates Maliki, who in return is actively putting the screws to Turkish companies who operate in the region.
Initially, it was expected that if Turkey forged closer ties with the Iraqi Kurds, it would be able to help mediate an end to several outstanding disputes between the central government in Baghdad and the regional administration led by Barzani. But that turned out to be wrong. As Ankara took steps to court the Barzani administration, the central government in Baghdad and especially Maliki saw this as interference in the internal affairs of the country and relations started cooling. Added to this were Turkey’s efforts in 2010 to forge an elections alliance between the Sunni Arabs and the secular Shiites of former prime minister Iyad Alawi with the goal of preventing Maliki from coming to power again. But that did not work, and Maliki managed to retain power. Ankara encouraged the Sunni Arabs and the Kurds to form a colaition with Maliki, but it seems he never forgave Turkey for masterminding the alliance against him.
Since then, relations between Maliki and Ankara have been deteriorating at a fast pace while ties with Barzani are flourishing. Ankara is giving the red-carpet treatment to the Iraqi Kurds and Barzani has been responding with political and economic gestures. He received a standing ovation recently when he attended the convention of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Ankara. That would be unthinkable a couple of years ago. Turkish companies are dominating the business scene in Iraqi Kurdistan, while Maliki has been blocking tenders for Turks. Moreover, there is talk that Turkish companies are not being paid for the major projects they are currently undertaking under orders from Maliki. A recent visit by Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız to Erbil to attend an energy conference was blocked when Iraq informed Turkish authorities that the aircraft carrying the Turkish cabinet member could not enter Iraqi airspace.
For the time being, it seems that the Kurds are best positioned to provide help and support to all Turkmen in Iraq. The turkish influence in the KRG is enormous and thus indirectly influence on the Turkmen.
The KRG is not the party who will stop medical care for turkmen as it has happened with the wounded in Kirkuk not allowing planes to land and take turkmen to Turkey for care.
But the kurds have to improve and visualize this "protection" by deeds and not merely words. The turkmen are really in bad shape when are attacked by Al-Qaeda and shia arabs because they feel unprotected.
So who will protect the Turkmen of Iraq? The kurds ar best positioned since they have most to gain with such support.