 The Iraqi Turkmen are mostly Muslims and have close cultural and linguistic ties with the Anatolian region of Turkey.The Iraqi Turkmen/Turkman dialects fall under the Western Oghuz branch of Turkic languages and are often referred to as "Iraqi Turkmen Turkish" "Iraqi Turkish", and "Iraqi Turkic".The dialects possess their own unique characteristics, but have also been influenced by the historical standards of Ottoman Turkish (which was the official language of administration and lingua franca in Iraq between 1534 and 1920) and neighboring Azeri Turkic.