Yörük
Encyclopedia
The Yorouks, also Yuruks or Yörüks are immigrants, ultimately of Thracian
descent,some of whom are still nomad
ic, primarily inhabiting the mountains of Anatolia
and partly Balkan peninsula. Their name derives from the Turkish verb yürü- (yürümek in infinitive
), which means "to walk", with the word yorouk or Yuruk designating "those who walk, walkers".
The Yorouk to this day appear as a distinct segment of the population of Macedonia
and Thrace
where they settled as early as the 14th century. While today the Yoruk are increasingly settled, many of them still maintain their nomad
ic lifestyle, breeding goats and sheep in the Šar Mountain
s (Kosovo
), the Pirin
and Rhodope Mountains
(Bulgaria
) and Dobrudja. An earlier offshoot of the Yörüks, the Kailar or Kayılar Turks were amongst the first settlements in Europe, The Yorouks are credited with the conversion to Islam in the 18th century, after a period of cohabitation, of a part of the native Meglen Vlachs
of Greece who in 1923 were expelled to Turkey
under the terms of the population exchange
between the two countries. In Belgium and The Netherlands are there also Yorouks, with a little change in the family name. They have Greco-Turkish origins and their family name is Yürük.
to try to establish a connection between the Yorouks and the people of Greek
origin Sarakatsani
(or Karakachans) of Greece
. However, the Sarakatsani when for the first time mentioned under this name were Orthodox Christians and speaking a Greek dialect
. While there are no actual linguistic or religious links to the Yorouk, there are nevertheless connections and similarities as to the transhumant, nomadic way of life.
A particular puzzle constitute the above mentioned Kailar Turks, who formerly inhabited parts of Thessaly
and Macedonia
(especially near the town of Kozani
and modern Ptolemaida
). These Turks, associated often by scholars with the Yörüks too, whose splinter group they are generally recognised to be, were a little group of semi-settled cattle breeders -who adopted Christianity
in order to avoid expulsion after Thessaly became part of Greece in 1881 respectively Southern Macedonia in 1913. These Kailar Turks are known also by the alternate name of Konariotes. The Kailar Turks, especially those of the Erdemuş village of Kailar claim descent from what they describe the "noble, sober Yörükhan family" who hail in turn from the so-called Pervaneoğulları 'timariot
' according to the Ottoman
archives
.
The Yorouks of Anatolia
are often called by historians and ethnologists by the additional appellative 'Yörük Turcoman
' or 'Turkmens'. In Turkey's general parlance today, the terms "Turkmen" and "Yoruk" indicate the gradual degrees of preserved attachment with the former semi-nomadic lifestyle of the populations concerned, with the "Turkmen
" now leading a fully sedentary life, while keeping parts of their heritage through folklore and traditions, in arts like carpet-weaving, with the continued habit of keeping a yayla house for the summers, sometimes in relation to the Alevi
community etc. and with Yörüks maintaining a yet stronger association with nomadism. These names ultimately hint to their Oghuz
Turkish
roots. The remaining transhumant or "true" Yörüks of today's Anatolian region traditionally use the camel
as means of transportation though these are more and more replaced by trucks.
and further east around the shores of the Caspian sea
. Of the Turcomans of Iran
, the Yomuts come the closest to the definition of the Yörüks. An interesting offshoot of the Yörük mass are the Tahtadji of the mountainous regions of Western Anatolia who, as their name implies, have been occupied with forestry work and wood craftsmanship for centuries, although they share similar traditions (with markedly matriarchal tones in their society structure) with their other Yorouk cousins. The Qashqai
people of southern Iran (around Shiraz
), and the Chepni of Turkey's Black Sea region are also worthy of mention due to their shared characteristics. A considerable number of the original Turkish population of Northern Cyprus are also of Yoruk descent.
Thracians
The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family...
descent,some of whom are still nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
ic, primarily inhabiting the mountains of Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
and partly Balkan peninsula. Their name derives from the Turkish verb yürü- (yürümek in infinitive
Infinitive
In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual description of English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives...
), which means "to walk", with the word yorouk or Yuruk designating "those who walk, walkers".
Yorouks in Europe
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
and Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
where they settled as early as the 14th century. While today the Yoruk are increasingly settled, many of them still maintain their nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
ic lifestyle, breeding goats and sheep in the Šar Mountain
Šar Mountain
The Šar Mountains , formerly known as the Shar Dagh , is a mountain range in the Balkans that extends from southern Kosovo and the northwest of the Republic of Macedonia to northeastern Albania.-Etymology:...
s (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...
), the Pirin
Pirin
The Pirin Mountains are a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria, with Vihren the highest peak, situated at . The range extends about 40 km northwest-southeast, and about 25 km wide. Most of the range is protected in the Pirin National Park...
and Rhodope Mountains
Rhodope Mountains
The Rhodopes are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, with over 83% of its area in southern Bulgaria and the remainder in Greece. Its highest peak, Golyam Perelik , is the seventh highest Bulgarian mountain...
(Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
) and Dobrudja. An earlier offshoot of the Yörüks, the Kailar or Kayılar Turks were amongst the first settlements in Europe, The Yorouks are credited with the conversion to Islam in the 18th century, after a period of cohabitation, of a part of the native Meglen Vlachs
Megleno-Romanians
The Megleno-Romanians or Meglen Vlachs or Moglenite Vlachs, are a small Eastern Romance people, currently inhabiting seven villages in the Moglena region spanning the Pella and Kilkis prefectures of Central Macedonia, Greece, and one village, Huma, across the border in the Republic of...
of Greece who in 1923 were expelled to 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...
under the terms of the population exchange
Population exchange between Greece and Turkey
The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey was based upon religious identity, and involved the Greek Orthodox citizens of Turkey and the Muslim citizens of Greece...
between the two countries. In Belgium and The Netherlands are there also Yorouks, with a little change in the family name. They have Greco-Turkish origins and their family name is Yürük.
Yorouks and Sarakatsani
Their nomadic way of life and the fact that they spread through the Balkans led Arnold van GennepArnold van Gennep
Arnold van Gennep was a noted French ethnographer and folklorist.-Biography:He was born in Ludwigsburg, Kingdom of Württemberg...
to try to establish a connection between the Yorouks and the people of Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
origin Sarakatsani
Sarakatsani
The Sarakatsani are a group of Greek transhumant shepherds inhabiting chiefly Greece, with a smaller presence in neighbouring Bulgaria, southern Albania and the Republic of Macedonia. Historically centered around the Pindus mountains, they have been currently urbanised to a significant degree...
(or Karakachans) of Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. However, the Sarakatsani when for the first time mentioned under this name were Orthodox Christians and speaking a Greek dialect
Varieties of Modern Greek
The linguistic varieties of Modern Greek can be classified along two principal dimensions. First, there is a long tradition of sociolectal variation between the natural, popular spoken language on the one hand and archaizing, learned written forms on the other. Second, there is regional variation...
. While there are no actual linguistic or religious links to the Yorouk, there are nevertheless connections and similarities as to the transhumant, nomadic way of life.
Kailar Yorouks
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
and Macedonia
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
(especially near the town of Kozani
Kozani
Kozani is a city in northern Greece, capital of Kozani regional unit and of West Macedonia region. It is located in the western part of Macedonia, in the northern part of the Aliakmonas river valley...
and modern Ptolemaida
Ptolemaida
Ptolemaida is a town and a former municipality in Kozani peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Eordaia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
). These Turks, associated often by scholars with the Yörüks too, whose splinter group they are generally recognised to be, were a little group of semi-settled cattle breeders -who adopted Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
in order to avoid expulsion after Thessaly became part of Greece in 1881 respectively Southern Macedonia in 1913. These Kailar Turks are known also by the alternate name of Konariotes. The Kailar Turks, especially those of the Erdemuş village of Kailar claim descent from what they describe the "noble, sober Yörükhan family" who hail in turn from the so-called Pervaneoğulları 'timariot
Timariot
A timariot was another name given to the Timarli Sipahi cavalry that served the Ottoman sultan and in return was granted a fief called a timar. The timariots had to assemble with the army when at war, and had to take care of the land entrusted to him in times of peace...
' according to the Ottoman
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...
archives
Ottoman Archives
The Ottoman Archives is a collection of historical sources related to the Ottoman Empire. A total of 39 nations hold the collective information, including 19 in the Middle East, 11 in the EU and Balkan states, 3 in the Caucasus, 2 in Central Asia, Cyprus, as well as Israel and Turkey.The main...
.
Yorouks in Anatolia and the Middle East
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
are often called by historians and ethnologists by the additional appellative 'Yörük Turcoman
Oghuz Turks
The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion....
' or 'Turkmens'. In Turkey's general parlance today, the terms "Turkmen" and "Yoruk" indicate the gradual degrees of preserved attachment with the former semi-nomadic lifestyle of the populations concerned, with the "Turkmen
Turkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
" now leading a fully sedentary life, while keeping parts of their heritage through folklore and traditions, in arts like carpet-weaving, with the continued habit of keeping a yayla house for the summers, sometimes in relation to the Alevi
Alevi
The Alevi are a religious and cultural community, primarily in Turkey, constituting probably more than 15 million people....
community etc. and with Yörüks maintaining a yet stronger association with nomadism. These names ultimately hint to their Oghuz
Oghuz Turks
The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion....
Turkish
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
roots. The remaining transhumant or "true" Yörüks of today's Anatolian region traditionally use the camel
Camel
A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
as means of transportation though these are more and more replaced by trucks.
Clans, related tribes and offshoots
Clans closely related to the Yorouks are scattered throughout the Anatolian peninsula and beyond its boundaries, particularly around the chain of Taurus MountainsTaurus Mountains
Taurus Mountains are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, dividing the Mediterranean coastal region of southern Turkey from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğirdir in the west to the upper reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the east...
and further east around the shores of the Caspian sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
. Of the Turcomans of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, the Yomuts come the closest to the definition of the Yörüks. An interesting offshoot of the Yörük mass are the Tahtadji of the mountainous regions of Western Anatolia who, as their name implies, have been occupied with forestry work and wood craftsmanship for centuries, although they share similar traditions (with markedly matriarchal tones in their society structure) with their other Yorouk cousins. The Qashqai
Qashqai
Qashqai are the largest group of nomadic pastoralists people of Azeri descent who mainly live in the provinces of Fars, Khuzestan and southern Isfahan on the territory of modern Iran, especially around the city of Shiraz in Fars. They speak the Qashqai language which is a member of the Turkic...
people of southern Iran (around Shiraz
Shiraz
Shiraz may refer to:* Shiraz, Iran, a city in Iran* Shiraz County, an administrative subdivision of Iran* Vosketap, Armenia, formerly called ShirazPeople:* Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet* Ara Shiraz, Armenian sculptor...
), and the Chepni of Turkey's Black Sea region are also worthy of mention due to their shared characteristics. A considerable number of the original Turkish population of Northern Cyprus are also of Yoruk descent.
See also
- PhanariotesPhanariotesPhanariots, Phanariotes, or Phanariote Greeks were members of those prominent Greek families residing in Phanar , the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople, where the Ecumenical Patriarchate is situated.For all their cosmopolitanism and often Western education, the Phanariots were...
- Ak KoyunluAk KoyunluThe Aq Qoyunlu or Ak Koyunlu, also called the White Sheep Turkomans , was an Sunni Oghuz Turkic tribal federation that ruled parts of present-day Eastern Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, northern Iraq, and Iran from 1378 to 1508.-History:According to chronicles from the Byzantine Empire, the Aq Qoyunlu...
- Kailar
- QashqaiQashqaiQashqai are the largest group of nomadic pastoralists people of Azeri descent who mainly live in the provinces of Fars, Khuzestan and southern Isfahan on the territory of modern Iran, especially around the city of Shiraz in Fars. They speak the Qashqai language which is a member of the Turkic...
- SarakatsaniSarakatsaniThe Sarakatsani are a group of Greek transhumant shepherds inhabiting chiefly Greece, with a smaller presence in neighbouring Bulgaria, southern Albania and the Republic of Macedonia. Historically centered around the Pindus mountains, they have been currently urbanised to a significant degree...
- SerikSerikSerik is a town and district in Antalya Province of Turkey, east of the city of Antalya, along the Mediterranean coast.-Geography:Towards the coast the district is mainly flat farmland, used for growing vegetables, while the inland half of Serik is forested hills and the Taurus Mountains...
; a town in TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
's Antalya ProvinceAntalya ProvinceAntalya Province is located on the Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean sea.Antalya Province is the centre of Turkey's tourism industry, attracting 30% of foreign tourists visiting Turkey. The province of Antalya corresponds to the lands of... - SerinhisarSerinhisar-Name:Other names include Karia and Kızılhisar . The latter is the name given by the Seljuk Turks as there were brick built fortifications here...
- Turkmen peopleTurkmen peopleThe Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
- Yaylag