Turks in Europe - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Turks in Europe refers to Turkish people

Turkish people

Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

living in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. According to a 2011 academic estimate, there is approximately 9 million Turks living in Europe

Europe

, excluding those who live in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

.

Turks have had a long history beginning in the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

when they began to migrate to Southeast Europe

Southeast Europe

Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a relatively recent political designation for the states of the Balkans. Writers such as Maria Todorova and Vesna Goldsworthy have suggested the use of the term Southeastern Europe to replace the word Balkans for the region, to minimize potential...

(see the Ottoman territories in Europe) which, other than Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, created Turkish minorities

Turkish minorities

The Turkish minorities refers to ethnic Turks who live in nowadays independent, but once conqured by the Ottoman Empire states, the ancestors of these people settled there for controlling and conquering these teritorries...

in Bulgaria

Turks in Bulgaria

The Turks in Bulgaria number 588,318 people and constitute 8.8% of those who declared their ethnic group and 8.0% of the total population according to the 2011 Bulgarian census. 605,802 persons or 9.1% of the population pointed Turkish language as their mother tongue. They are also the largest...

(Bulgarian Turks), Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

(Bosnian Turks

Turks in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Turks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as Bosnian Turks, are ethnic Turks who form an ethnic minority in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to the Ottoman colonisation process, a significant Turkish community emerged when the Ottoman Empire conquered Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1386; the community grew...

), Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

(Turkish Cypriots

Turkish Cypriots

Turkish Cypriots are the ethnic Turks and members of the Turkish-speaking ethnolinguistic community of the Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The term is used to refer explicitly to the indigenous Turkish Cypriots, whose Ottoman Turkish forbears colonised the island in 1571...

), Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

(Meskhetian Turks), Greece (Cretan Turks

Cretan Turks

The Cretan Turks, Turco-Cretans , or Cretan Muslims were the Muslim inhabitants of Crete and now their descendants, who settled principally in Turkey, the Levant, and Egypt as well as in the larger Turkish diaspora.After the Ottoman conquest of Crete...

, Dodecanese Turks

Turks of the Dodecanese

The Turks of the Dodecanese form a 5,000-strong community of ethnic Turks inhabiting the Dodecanese islands of Rhodes and Kos who were not affected by the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey since the islands were under the rule of the Kingdom of Italy at the time and who became...

, and Western Thrace Turks

Turks of Western Thrace

Turks of Western Thrace are ethnic Turks who live in Western Thrace, in the north-eastern part of Greece.According to the Greek census of 1991, there were approximately 50,000 Turks in Western Thrace, out of the approximately 98,000 strong Muslim minority of Greece...

), Kosovo

Kosovo

Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...

(Kosovan Turks), the Republic of Macedonia

Republic of Macedonia

Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

(Macedonian Turks), and Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

(Romanian Turks).

Modern immigration of Turks to Western Europe

Western Europe

Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...

began with Turkish Cypriots

Turkish Cypriots

migrating to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

in the early 1920s when the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

annexed Cyprus

Cyprus

in 1914 and the residents of Cyprus became subjects of the Crown. However, Turkish Cypriot migration increased significantly in the 1940s and 1950s due to the Cyprus conflict. Conversely, in 1944, Turks who were forcefully deported from Meskheti

Meskheti

Meskheti is in a mountainous area of Moschia and is a former province in southwestern Georgia. The ancient Georgian tribes of Meskhi and Mosiniks were the indigenous population of this region. A majority of the modern Georgian population of Meskheti are descendants of these ancient tribes...

in Georgia

Georgia (country)

during the Second World War, known as the Meskhetian Turks, settled in Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

(especially in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, and Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

). By the early 1960s, migration to Western and Northern Europe

Northern Europe

Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...

increased significantly when Turkish "guest workers" arrived under a "Labour Export Agreement" with Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

in 1961, followed by a similar agreement with the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

and Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

in 1964; France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

in 1965; and Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

in 1967. More recently Bulgarian Turks, Romanian Turks, and Western Thrace Turks have also migrated to Western Europe.

Ottoman migration

During the rule of the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

(1299-1923), Turkish settlers began to move into the Ottoman territories in Europe as part of the Turkish expansion, because these Turkish communities migrated to these countries during the Ottoman rule, they are not considered part of the modern Turkish diaspora

Turkish diaspora

The Turkish diaspora refers to "Turks" who have emigrated from their homeland. Thus, the term may refer to citizens of Turkey living abroad or ethnic Turks from traditional areas of Turkish settlement who are living abroad.Due to the...

. However, these populations, which have different nationalities, still share the same ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious origins as today's Turkish nationals. As early as the 13th centry, Turkish muslim slaves (Mameluks) had been sold to Italian city states by Arab traders. Ottoman traders, a mix of ethnic Turks, Armenians, Sefardic Jews and Greeks were also common in western European trading capitols like London, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Genoa and Venice from the 15th century onwards.

Modern migration

Modern migration of Turks to Europe began with the bilateral agreements signed between Germany

Germany

and Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

in 1961. This led to other industrial countries in Europe (namely Austria

Austria

, Belgium

Belgium

, France

France

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, the Netherlands

Netherlands

, Sweden

Sweden

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

and the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

) attracting Turkish workers. More recently Bulgarian Turks, Romanian Turks, and Western Thrace Turks have also migrated to Western Europe, especially to Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

Demographics

Country	Census figures	Current est. Turkish population	Further information	Lists of Turks
Albania
Andorra
Austria		350,000 500,000	Turks in Austria Turks in Austria Turks in Austria are people of Turkish ethnicity living in Austria who form the largest ethnic minority in Austria.- History :-Early settlement:...	List of Austrian Turks
Azerbaijan	43,400 (1999 Azeri Census)	110,000	Turks in Azerbaijan Turks in Azerbaijan Turks in Azerbaijan are Turkish people who live in Azerbaijan. According to the 1999 Azerbaijani population census, there were 43,400 Turks living in Azerbaijan...
Belarus		154
Belgium		200,000250,000	Turks in Belgium Turks in Belgium Turks in Belgium are either Turkish people who live in Belgium even though having been born outside Belgium, or are Belgian-born, but have Turkish roots...	List of Belgian Turks
Bosnia and Herzegovina		50,000	Turks in Bosnia and Herzegovina Turks in Bosnia and Herzegovina Turks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as Bosnian Turks, are ethnic Turks who form an ethnic minority in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to the Ottoman colonisation process, a significant Turkish community emerged when the Ottoman Empire conquered Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1386; the community grew...
Kingdom of Bulgaria	588,318 (2011 Bulgarian Census)	1,000,000-1,500,000	Turks in Bulgaria Turks in Bulgaria The Turks in Bulgaria number 588,318 people and constitute 8.8% of those who declared their ethnic group and 8.0% of the total population according to the 2011 Bulgarian census. 605,802 persons or 9.1% of the population pointed Turkish language as their mother tongue. They are also the largest...	List of Bulgarian Turks
Independent State of Croatia	300 (2001 Croatian Census)	2,000
Cyprus Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus		2,000 300,000-500,000	Turkish Cypriots Turkish Cypriots Turkish Cypriots are the ethnic Turks and members of the Turkish-speaking ethnolinguistic community of the Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The term is used to refer explicitly to the indigenous Turkish Cypriots, whose Ottoman Turkish forbears colonised the island in 1571...	List of Cypriots
Czech Republic		1,700
Denmark		70,000 80,000	Turks in Denmark Turks in Denmark Turks in Denmark or Danish Turks covers people who have immigrated from Turkey to Denmark. However, the term may also refer to Danish-born persons whose parents were born in Turkey or who have a ancestral background from Turkey...
Estonia		24
Finland		7,000	Turks in Finland Turks in Finland Turks in Finland are Turkish people who have immigrated to Finland. However, the term may also refer to Finnish-born persons who have Turkish parents or who have a Turkish ancestral background.- History :...
Early Modern France		500,000-600,000	Turks in France Turks in France Turks in France or French Turks are Turkish people who have immigrated to France. However, the term may also refer to French-born persons who have Turkish parents or who have a Turkish ancestral background...	List of French Turks
Georgia (country)		2,500	Turks in Georgia
Germany		3,500,000 - 4,000,000	Turks in Germany	List of German Turks
Greece Western Thrace Western Thrace Western Thrace or simply Thrace is a geographic and historical region of Greece, located between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country. Together with the regions of Macedonia and Epirus, it is often referred to informally as northern Greece... Athens Athens Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state... Rhodes Rhodes Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within... and Kos Kos Kos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Kos peripheral unit, which is... Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...		Total number unknown 150,000 10,000 to 15,000 5,000 5,000	Turks in Greece Turks in Greece Turks in Greece may refer to:* Turks of the Dodecanese* Turks of Western Thrace* Cretan Turks...
Hungary		1,700	Turks in Hungary Turks in Hungary Turks in Hungary refers to the Turks living in Hungary which includes immigrants or the descendants of immigrants from the Ottoman Empire , as well as immigrants from today's Turkey, or from neighbouring countries once part of the Ottoman Empire that still have a population whose language is...
Iceland		68
Republic of Ireland		3,000	Turks in Ireland Turks in Ireland Turks in Ireland are Turkish people who live in Ireland having been born elsewhere, or are Irish-born, but have Turkish roots. By Turkish roots, this could mean roots linking back to Turkey, the island of Cyprus or the communities of the Turkish diaspora....
Italy		21,000	Turks in Italy Turks in Italy Turks in Italy are Italian citizens of Turkish origin. The term Turk or Turkish used in Italy may apply to immigrants or the descendants of immigrants born in the Ottoman Empire before 1923, in the Republic of Turkey since then, or in neighbouring countries once part of the Ottoman Empire that...
Kazakhstan	97,015 (2009 Kazakh census)	150,000	Turks in Kazakhstan Turks in Kazakhstan -Ottoman migration:The First All-Union Census of the Soviet Union in 1926 recorded 8,570 Ottoman Turks living in the Soviet Union. The Ottoman Turks are no longer listed separately in the census, it is presumed that those who were living in Kazakhstan have either been assimilated into Kazakh...
Republic of Kosovo		50,000-100,000	Turks in Kosovo Turks in Kosovo Turks in Kosovo are the ethnic Turks who constitute a minority group in Kosovo.-History:The Ottomans brought Islamisation with them, particularly in towns, and later also created the Vilayet of Kosovo as one of the Ottoman territorial entities...
Latvia		142	:lv:Turki Latvijā
Liechtenstein		1,000	Turks in Liechtenstein Turks in Liechtenstein Turks in Liechtenstein consist of both Turkish people who live in Liechtenstein but were born elsewhere, as well as natives of Liechtenstein with Turkish roots...
Lithuania		35
Luxembourg		450
Republic of Macedonia	77,959 (2002 Macedonian census)	200,000	Turks in the Republic of Macedonia Turks in the Republic of Macedonia Turks in the Republic of Macedonia, also known as Macedonian Turks, are the ethnic Turks who constitute the third largest ethnic group in the Republic of Macedonia. According to the 2002 census, there were 77,959 Turks living in the country, forming a minority of some 4% of the population. The...
Malta		53
Moldova		1,000	Turks in Moldova Turks in Moldova Turks in Moldova are Turkish people who live in Moldova even though having been born outside Moldova, or are Moldovan-born, but have Turkish roots...
Monaco		57
Kingdom of Montenegro	104 (2011 Montenegrian census)		Turks in Montenegro Turks in Montenegro Turks in Montenegro, also known as Montenegrin Turks, are ethnic Turks who form an ethnic minority in Montenegro. According to the 2011 census, there were 104 Turks living in the country, forming a minority of some 0.02% of the total population....
Netherlands		400,000-500,000	Turks in the Netherlands	List of Dutch Turks
Norway		16,000	Turks in Norway Turks in Norway Turks in Norway are people of Turkish ethnicity living in Norway. There is currently over 15,000 Turks living in Norway.- History :...
Poland		2,500	Turks in Poland Turks in Poland Turks in Poland are people of Turkish ethnicity living in Poland who form one of the country's smaller minority groups.- Turkish community :...
Portugal		250
Kingdom of Romania	32,098 (2002 Romanian Census)	55,000-80,000	Turks in Romania
Russia	95,672 (2002 Russian Census)	120,000-150,000	Turks in Russia Turks in Russia Turks in Russia are Turkish people who live in Russia. The community is largely made of Meskhetian Turks and immigrants from Turkey.-Ottoman migration:...
San Marino
Serbia		30,000	Turks in Serbia Turks in Serbia Turks in Serbia refer to the migrants of the Ottoman Empire or immigrants from todays Turkey or neighbouring countries once part of the Ottoman Empire that still have a population who claims a Turkish identity or cultural heritage.- Bibliography :...
Slovakia		150
Slovenia		259
Spain		4,000	Turks in Spain Turks in Spain - Demographics:The majority of Turks are recent immigrants and mainly live in Catalonia followed by the Community of Madrid and the Valencian Community...
Sweden		100,000-150,000	Turks in Sweden Turks in Sweden Turks in Sweden or Swedish Turks are people of Turkish ethnicity living in Sweden. According to the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, there are 100,000 people in Sweden with a Turkish background, and a further 10,000 Swedish-Turks live in Turkey....
Switzerland		100,000-120,000	Turks in Switzerland Turks in Switzerland Turks in Switzerland are Swiss citizens of Turkish origin. Over the last two decades, there has been a significant increase in the diversity of culture, language and customs in the Swiss population...	List of Swiss Turks
Turkey		55,000,000-60,000,000	Turkish people Turkish people Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...	List of Turks
Ukraine	8,844 (2001 Ukrainian Census)	10,000	Turks in Ukraine Turks in Ukraine Turks in Ukraine are people of Turkish ethnicity living in Ukraine. This could mean roots linking back to Turkey, the island of Cyprus or other Turkish communities.- Demographics :- Religion :...
United Kingdom		500,000	Turks in the United Kingdom	List of British Turks
Total		approximately 9,000,000 (not including Turkey)

External links

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Ottoman migration

Modern migration

Demographics

See also

External links