 For the next 150 years, the Seljuk Turks placed large Turkmen communities along the most valuable routes of northern Iraq, especially Tal Afar, Erbil, Kirkuk, and Mandali, which is now identified by the modern community as Turkmeneli.Many of these settlers assumed positions of military and administrative responsibilities in the Seljuk Empire.The third, and largest, wave of Turkmen migration to Iraq arose during the four centuries of Ottoman rule (1535–1919).