Talk:Tal Afar

Citing the New York Times[edit]

For some reason, PBP has twice cut this sentence from the article: "On Jan. 8, 2006, the New York Times described Tal Afar as 'a dusty, isolated city of a quarter-million people surrounded by desert and barren hills.'" I feel this both adds interesting information and gives a source, which official policy urges us to do. If some other user agrees, perhaps s/he could reintroduce the sentence. Mark K. Jensen 09:39, 12 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I took it out because it seems un-encyclopedic to describe a city based on a description from one newspaper. I don't think there's any other city on Wikipedia that is described with an American newspaper citation. I removed it and put in the 200,000 figure, taken from a Google search. PBP 00:13, 13 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Tal Afar is a Turkish city.[edit]

More than 98 % of the population in Tal Afar are the Turkmen people.

i removed the population of 450.000 this figure is based upon a group called turcoman front, a nationalistic group famous for citing inflated numbers according to the us military there are 220.000 citiziens in the town in january of 2008 , according to other figures provided by the us military , three may be even 150.000 people in the city , whilke up to 100.000 could have left the city second the link does mention only 250.000 and not 450.000 a us military link http://74.125.39.104/search?q=cache:1mL6wbNnTcgJ:www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/of-interest-9.pdf+tal+afar+population+2008&hl=de&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=de Though there is no available official census count, it is estimated that 220,000 inhabitants live within the 9 square miles of densely-packedbuildings that make up the town proper —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.184.115.233 (talk) 16:29, 16 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Religious demographics[edit]

My experience is that Tal Afar is mostly Sunni, with a significant Shia enclave concentrated primarily in neighborhoods southwest of the castle.--Artificialintel 18:08, 28 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If current population of Tal Afar is still only ~80,000 (also doubtful - see discussion above giving military figures from 2008) because the Sunni majority has still not returned, I can see it being majority Shia, but this would still be major a historical departure and I am highly skeptical of the referenced article's sources in this matter. I think calling it a "mainly Shia" town without additional caveats is highly misleading no matter what its current state may be, not least because it was undoubtedly majority Sunni before the exodus and would resume being so if even half the refugees returned. I wish I could find some decent English-language sources on its current state. Artificialintel (talk) 21:06, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It is not a city with Shia majority at all, check out the below source:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1mL6wbNnTcgJ:www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/of-interest-9.pdf+tal+afar+population+2008&hl=de&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=de

which mentions: —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.213.191.3 (talk) 05:38, 9 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

((in Tal’Afar itself, the population is mostly Turkomen, about 75 percent ofwhom are Sunni Muslims, while a quarter are Shi’ites. Both groups are Arabicspeakers, though a dialect of Turkish is their, and hence the town’s, language ofchoice. Local customs therefore reflect a blend of Turkish and Arabicinfluences—e.g., Turkoman men and boys often wear Arab-style dishdashas(white, outer robes) and checkered headscarves, and many of Tal’Afar’s residentsmaintain ties with relatives in Turkey. The town and surrounding area consistsof mostly flat, desert-like terrain seemingly unsuitable to Western eyes for itsprincipal agricultural product, wheat. Other local crops include potatoes,tomatoes, raisins, and cucumbers, usually served in the local diet with grilledlamb and unleavened bread.)) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.213.191.3 (talk) 05:35, 9 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Iraq is more than a military playground[edit]

The article is about a city, the featured picture is of a tank. I understand that there aren't that many pictures of Iraqi cities availible for Wikipedia, but I do find it disturbingly imperialistic to put up that as the only picture of Tal Afar. It gives the impression that Iraq only is a military playground for the Americans. I suggest we remove it. --Merat 12:52, 7 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, no reaction. I'll remove it and see what happens. --Merat 11:35, 13 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Pictures...[edit]

I added a picture of the castle for the featured image. I took that picture and many others of the city while I was there in 2006. Among the others I have are a "welcome to Talafar" sign, and a picture of the Iraqi flag flying with a minarette in the background. Let me if you'd prefer to see one of those and I'll put it up. Kparker84 20:36, 31 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Chemical weapons claim in ORR[edit]

I can't find any references I would consider reputable that support my edit regarding US troops putting on CBRN gear after a chemical find, but it seems like there must be articles out there. In any case, I know it to be true because I was personally there, so if anyone can find a decent link, I'd appreciate the addition. Artificialintel (talk) 20:54, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Tal Afar has become a separate provin[edit]

Tal Afar has become a province after the iraqi government decided to form new provinces. Could someone update?

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1077674 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Konreed (talk • contribs) 16:07, 21 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Historically, the area in the vicinity of the city was populated by Kurds and considered part of Kurdistan"[edit]

Can this statement be verified by a reliable source? Black Goat Nomad (talk) 23:14, 22 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

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