Foundation Islamic Union
Iraq
Official Name: Republic of Iraq (IQ)
Capital : Baghdad
Administrative Divisions: 18 Regions: Anbar, Basrah, Muthanna, Qadisiyah, Najaf, Arbil, Sulaymaniyah, Ta'mim, Babylon, Baghdad, Dahuk, Dhi Qar, Diyala, Kerbala, Maysan, Ninawa, Salahaddin, Wasit.
Area: 441,839 km2.
Population : 40,132,000 (2021)[1]
Population Growth Rate: 2,66%
Ethnic Structure: The population consists of 77.1% Arabs, 19.0% Kurds, 1.4% Turkmens and 0.8% Iranians. The Kurds in the north and the Turks and Arabs living in the centre are Sunni, while the Arabs in the south are Shiite. This different structure of the society living in the region has been constantly used by the British imperialists.
Average Human Lifespan: 69 years.
Religion: 97% Muslim (Shia 60-65%, Sunni 32-37%), Christian and others 3%.
Language: Arabic (Official), Turkish, Kurdish and Syriac.
Geographical Situation: It is located in the Middle East, on the Persian Gulf between Iran and Kuwait, bordering Turkey to the north, Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to the west and Iran to the east. The country has more of a desert climate, with cold winters and dry, hot and cloudless summers. There are marshes on the Iranian border and mountain ranges along the Iranian and Turkish borders. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers originating in Turkey cross the country in a vein from north-west to south-east and flow into the Persian Gulf. The vast deserts to the west and south are barren and barren.
Natural resources: Petroleum, natural gas, phosphate, sulphur
Land use: 13.12% of land suitable for agriculture.
Irrigated land: 35,250 km²
Natural disasters: Sandstorms, floods.
Form of Government: Federal Parliamentary Democracy.
Political Parties: The only officially recognised political party in Iraq is the Arab Socialist Baath Party. The Ba'ath ideology advocated by this party was founded and conceived by Mishel Aflaq, who was of Christian origin. This ideology is based on the principles of socialism, secularism and Arab tribalism.
History: Mesopotamia, where the most ancient Eastern civilisations were born, became an Islamic land between 633-642. During the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, Iraq experienced its most brilliant period. Baghdad became the trade and cultural centre of the world. In 1258-59, it was invaded by the Mongols and especially Baghdad was razed to the ground. Historical sources record as a bitter fact that the Tigris river flowed for days with the colour of ink and carried thousands of volumes of books to the Persian Gulf. Iraq, which was under the rule of Akkoyunlu in 1444-1467, was invaded by Safavids between 1499-1508. After the conquest of Baghdad by the Ottomans in 1534, Ottoman rule prevailed in Iraq until the beginning of the 20th century. In November 1914, British-Indian troops landed in Basra. In 1920, Iraq became a British mandate with the Treaty of San Remo. The British, who suppressed the nationalist movements that emerged from time to time, found it more rational to leave the administration to the state revolutionary council, which acted in line with their own interests. The heads of the councils followed paths that frequently shifted between the West and the East bloc. Until today, the heads of the councils have been overthrown by revolutions in Iraq, but oppressive, oppressive and tyrannical dictatorial regimes have continued.
As soon as Saddam Hussein, who became President in 1979, came to power, he attacked Iran in September 1980 under false pretences. Two interesting points here; Iraq bought the weapons it used in the war from the USA and France in exchange for petrol. The country that sold them to Iran is also the USA, through Israel and in return for oil. A senseless and ruthless war that lasted for 8 years with Middle Eastern oil and American weapons. Weapons from the USA, fighting from the Muslims... The result was that the Muslims went to the grave and the oil flowed towards the Christian world. Saddam had the French build a nuclear reactor near Baghdad. It was bombed and destroyed by Israel before its construction was finished. What remains is nothing but debt and debris. The work did not end with this.
On 2 August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait overnight with the green light from the United States.
Invasion of Iraq: ACoalition forces led by the United States and Britain launched an offensive against the Baath regime in Iraq on the grounds of ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, ending Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism and liberating the Iraqi people. Beginning on 20 March 2003, the coalition forces entered the capital Baghdad on 9 April 2003 as a result of air strikes and a subsequent ground offensive, and overthrew the regime of Saddam Hussein. On 15 April, Iraq was completely under the control of the coalition forces. For some time after that, there was no significant resistance. In December 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured and executed. A resistance against the occupying US forces began and continues to this day, sometimes very fiercely.
Internal Problems: A deep divide has emerged between Shiites and Sunnis and there are violent conflicts that resemble a civil war and continue to this day. Many people have been killed in attacks organised by terrorist organisations. In early 2008, it was reported that around 4020 US soldiers had died since the beginning of the occupation in March 2003, while more than 1 million Iraqis had died as a result of violence, conflict and resistance. US torture of Iraqi prisoners has led to scandals.
External Problems: Iraq has problems with all its neighbours. The border problem, which was used as a justification for the invasion of Kuwait, was a problem that Iraq had raised years ago but kept off the agenda due to its war with Iran. The area that caused the dispute was the area that Britain, which had occupied these territories for a while, left as a problem to be used when necessary, without determining whether it belonged to Iraq or Kuwait. Although Iraq tolerates Kuwait's sovereignty over the disputed region due to the situation it fell into after the Gulf War, it has not given up its claim to this region.
The border problem that led to the Iran-Iraq war in 1980 is also old.
There have been some disagreements between Iraq and Turkey over the utilisation of the waters of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Although Iraq keeps this issue off the agenda due to the situation it fell into after the Gulf War, nothing can be said for sure whether this issue will cause any problems between the two countries in the future.
Iraq and Syria have been at odds for years, even though both are ruled by the Baathist regime. During the Gulf War, Syria took part in the front against Iraq. In addition, Iraq also provides political and logistical support to the political groups opposing the Syrian regime. Although there has been a partial softening between these two countries in recent years, the problems have not been solved and hostility continues.
Iraq's most important external issue is perhaps the economic embargo imposed by the UN.
Islamisation in the country: SCIRI (Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq) is essentially an offshoot of the 'al-Dawa al-Islamiya Party. The organisation was founded in 1982 in Tehran as an umbrella group opposing the Baathist regime in Iraq. Its first chairman was Ayatollah Bakr al-Hakim.
The repressive policy pursued after the Baath (Resurrection) Party seized power dealt a great blow to Islamic activities in Iraq and did not allow open Islamic activities. The policy of repression forced many people with Islamic thought to leave their homeland. However, secret activities aiming at informing people about Islam and raising their awareness did not stop. The Iraqi branch of the Muslim Brotherhood is one of the leading organisations carrying out these activities. The activities of this organisation have had an impact among the youth that cannot be taken lightly. The members of the organisation called the Islamic Union of Iraqi Kurdistan, which operates in Iraqi Kurdistan, where the majority of the population is Kurdish, also follow the line of the Muslim Brotherhood. This organisation focuses on education and cultural activities and tries to stay away from the conflicts between the groups struggling for dominance in the region.
Another Islamic community active in Iraqi Kurdistan is the Islamic Movement of Iraqi Kurdistan, founded by Sheikh Osman ibn Abdilaziz and currently led by his brother Sheikh Ali ibn Abdilaziz. In early 1994 there were some clashes between members of this movement and Talabani's militia. The headquarters of this organisation is located in the city of Halabja, the scene of the famous massacre.
The most influential organisation among the Shiite community, which constitutes the majority of the Iraqi people, is the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Founded in 1982 and led by Muhammad Baqr al-Hakr al-Hakim, this council carries out its activities mainly from Iran.[2]
Economy: Cultivated and planted areas constitute 12.5% of Iraq's territory and meadows and pastures constitute 9.2%. In addition to barley, wheat, vegetables and dates, sheep, goat and cattle breeding are traditionally practised. Modernisation in agriculture is almost non-existent worldwide. The reason is that modernisation is directly proportional to the level of education. Today, the level of education in Iraq is not very favourable. The literacy rate is 65 per cent for men and 26 per cent for women.
Iraq's place on the historical platform and its role on the world stage in the 19th and 20th centuries is undoubtedly closely related to its oil and natural gas deposits. In particular, having a say in world oil reserves and production has attracted all the attention. Kirkuk oil, which started to be extracted in the 1920s, constitutes the richest oil deposits of the country and at the same time the world. The second oil region is the Rumaila basin near Basra. Iraq's total oil reserves are 38.5 billion barrels. With this value, Iraq ranks 5th in the world after Saudi Arabia (167 billion barrels), Kuwait (82.7 billion barrels), the Commonwealth of Independent States (81 billion barrels, mostly in the Turkic Republics) and Mexico (49.2 billion barrels). Iraq, with an annual production of 936 million barrels of crude oil in 1988, is also among the top oil producing countries). Such a high average income level and the life of the Iraqi people today are two diametrically opposed phenomena.
Agricultural products: Wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, cotton, cattle, sheep.
Currency: New Iraqi Dinar (NID)
National Income per Capita: US$4,737[3]
Export products: Crude oil
Export partners: USA 49.7%, Italy 10.4%, Spain 6.3%, Canada 5.6%
Import products: Food, medical supplies, industrial products
Import partners: Turkey 23%.3%, Syria 23%, USA 11.6%, Jordan 6.2%
In 1989, Saddam realised 12.5% of his imports with the USA, Germany ranked second in imports with 12.5%. The shares of the UK, Romania, France and Italy totalled 23.1 per cent. In terms of exports, the USA ranks first with a share of 19.2 per cent. Brazil with 12.7 per cent, Japan with 9.1 per cent, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Yugoslavia with a combined share of 24.3 per cent. However, in the same years, Turkey's share was 9.2% in imports and 11.7% in exports.
Industry: Petroleum, chemicals, textiles, building materials, foodstuffs
Energy: Electricity generation: 31.7 billion kWh
Electricity consumption: 33.3 billion kWh
Electricity imports: 2.02 billion kWh
Transport: Railways: 2,200 km, Highways: 45,550 km, Waterways: 5,279 km, Pipelines: Natural gas 2,228 km; liquid petroleum gas 918 km; crude oil 5,506 km; petroleum products 1,637 km, Ports: Al Basrah, Khawr az Zubayr, Umm Qasr, Airfields: 110, Helicopter fields: 8
International Organisations to which it is a member: IDB (Islamic Development Bank), IMF, OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries), OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) UN (United Nations)
Education System: According to the Iraqi Education System, firstly, there is a non-compulsory two-year kindergarten education to cover the 04-06 age group. Kindergarten has the task of preparing children for primary school. Basic education (clothing, coming early in the morning, sitting, cleaning and speaking manners, etc.) is taught here. Education is based on speaking and listening. Kindergarten education is free of charge for all Iraqi citizens. After kindergarten, six years of compulsory primary education begins. This is followed by six years of secondary education. However, secondary education consists of two levels. The first three years of secondary education consist of the middle school stage. The remaining three years of secondary education is made up of the high school stage. The high school stage is divided into general and vocational education. Students continue their education according to their preferences after secondary school three. According to the structure of the Iraqi Ministry of Education, basic education consists of the first nine years. The first six years are primary education and the last three years are the secondary school stage of secondary education. In addition, the duration of basic education is applied in stages and schools can be opened where deemed appropriate. Education in all kindergartens, institutes and colleges affiliated to the Ministry is free of charge. Primary education for 0-6 age groups is free of charge and subject to compulsory education. In addition, the Ministry of Education may, if deemed necessary, open separate schools for the visually and hearing impaired. In addition, gifted and talented students can be taken under the protection of the state by opening separate classes. In the Iraqi Education System, all stages of education from kindergarten to university are free of charge and all the needs of the students (stationery, books) are met by the state during the education period.
There are 425 kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools and high schools in Iraq. Only 76 of these schools provide full Turkish education. Of these schools, 63 are located in Kirkuk, 11 in Erbil and 2 in Kifri.
[1] www.ticaret.gov.tr(October-2021 Access)
[2] www.enfal.de(October-2021 Access)
[3] www.ticaret.gov.tr(October-2021 Access)
