With long-delayed elections for the Kurdistan Parliament now slated for Oct. 20, regional power players are turning their attention towards the Turkmen quota in the assembly.

Electoral allocations in Iraq are intended to provide political representation to minority communities. However, the quotas also function as key proxies in the intensifying rivalry between the Erbil-based Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) headquartered in Sulaimaniyah.

Iraq’s 3M-strong Turkmen community is the third largest ethnic group in Iraq, after Arabs and Kurds. Its members are evenly split between Sunnis and Shiites, and its political class is broadly divided in their respective ties to...