Iraqi Turkmen Front leader Mehmet Seman Ağa becomes a minister of state in Iraq's government, the Front's first

In a mid-October vote to fill vacant cabinet posts, Iraq's Council of Representatives elected Mehmet Seman Ağa, chairman of the Iraqi Turkmen Front and governor of Kirkuk, as a minister of state in Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's government. It is the first ministerial post for a member of the Front, and Turkish media hailed it as a historic milestone for the Turkmens.

Born in Kirkuk in 1982, Seman Ağa graduated in Turkish language and literature from Gazi University in Ankara. He was elected chairman of the Front in April 2025 and became governor of Kirkuk this April — according to Turkish media, the first time in about a century that the post went to a Turkmen.

After his election as minister, Seman Ağa was due to submit his resignation as governor to the Kirkuk Provincial Council. Under an agreement among Kirkuk's Turkmen, Kurdish and Arab groups, the governorship stays with the Turkmens until the end of the year, and the Front will put forward three candidates. AK Party deputy chairman Kürşad Zorlu was among the first in Türkiye to congratulate him, calling the appointment an important step for Turkish–Iraqi friendship.