Arabs in Turkey

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{{Infobox ethnic group

| group = Turkish Arabs
Türkiye Arapları

| native_name = {{lang|ar|عرب تركيا}}

| native_name_lang = ar

| population = 1,500,000 – 2,000,000 (2011){{cite web|title=Arabs: Turkey's new minority|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/culture/2014/09/turkey-syria-iraq-arabs-new-minority.html|website=Al-Monitor|language=en-us|date=12 September 2014}}
(Pre-Syrian Civil War Arab minority)

4,000,000 – 5,000,000 (2017){{cite web|last1=(UNHCR)|first1=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|title=UNHCR Syria Regional Refugee Response|url=http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=224|website=UNHCR Syria Regional Refugee Response|language=en|access-date=2016-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305121532/http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=224|archive-date=2018-03-05|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/02/turkey-demographic-challenge-arabs-syria-refugees-isis-160218063810080.html|title=Turkey's demographic challenge|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=2016-12-18}}{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-impact-of-syrian-refugees-on-turkey|title=The Impact of Syrian Refugees on Turkey|website=www.washingtoninstitute.org|access-date=2016-12-18}}{{cite web|last1=Ozdemir|first1=Soner Cagaptay, Oya Aktas and Cagatay|title=The Impact of Syrian Refugees on Turkey|url=http://www.cagaptay.com/19136/the-impact-of-syrian-refugees-on-turkey|website=Soner Cagaptay|access-date=2017-03-14|archive-date=2017-03-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315001602/http://www.cagaptay.com/19136/the-impact-of-syrian-refugees-on-turkey|url-status=dead}} (Including Syrian refugees)

| popplace = Mainly Southeastern Anatolia Region

| langs = Arabic • Turkish{{cite web |last=Lahdo|first=Ablahad|date=2009|title=The Arabic Dialect of Tillo in the Region of Siirt|publisher=Uppsala Universitet, Department of African and Asian Languages|url=http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:218909/FULLTEXT02.pdf}}

| rels = Predominately Sunni Islam, minority Christianity, minority Alawite

| related = Arab diaspora

| footnotes =

}}

Arabs in Turkey ({{langx|tr|Türkiye Arapları}}; {{langx|ar|عرب تركيا}}) are about 1.5 million or 5 million (including the Syrian refugees){{cite web|last1=(UNHCR)|first1=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|title=UNHCR Syria Regional Refugee Response|url=http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=224|website=UNHCR Syria Regional Refugee Response|language=en|access-date=22 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305121532/http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=224|archive-date=5 March 2018|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=The Impact of Syrian Refugees on Turkey|url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-impact-of-syrian-refugees-on-turkey|website=www.washingtoninstitute.org}}{{cite web|title=Turkey's demographic challenge|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/02/turkey-demographic-challenge-arabs-syria-refugees-isis-160218063810080.html|website=www.aljazeera.com}} citizens or residents of Turkey who are ethnically of Arab descent. They are the third-largest minority in the country after the Kurds[http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/how-many-kurds-live-in-turkey-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=45644&NewsCatID=396 How many Kurds live in Turkey?] by Tarhan Erdem, Hurriyet Daily News, April 26, 2013{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/turkey/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110073821/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/turkey|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 10, 2021|title=The CIA World Factbook: Turkey (19% of a total population of 80.2 million (2017) gives a figure of about 15.25 million)|access-date=9 November 2016}}[http://www.institutkurde.org/en/info/the-kurdish-population-1232551004 The Kurdish Population] by the Kurdish Institute of Paris, 2017 estimate. and the Circassians{{citation |url = http://www.unpo.org/members/7869 |title=Circassia |publisher=Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129062007/http://unpo.org/members/7869 |archive-date = 2010-11-29 }}.Ülkü Bilgin: Azınlık hakları ve Türkiye. Kitap Yayınevi, Istanbul 2007; S. 85. {{ISBN|975-6051-80-9}} (Turkish Language){{cite book |last1=Richmond |first1=Walter |title=The Circassian Genocide |date=2013 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0813560694 |page=130 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LHlwZwpA70cC&q=million+circassians+in+turkey&pg=PA130}}{{cite book |last1=Danver |first1=Steven L. |title=Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1317464006 |page=528 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vf4TBwAAQBAJ&q=2+million+circassians+turkey}}{{cite journal |last1=Zhemukhov |first1=Sufian |title=Circassian World Responses to the New Challenges |journal=PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo No. 54 |date=2008 |page=2 |url=http://www.ponarseurasia.org/sites/default/files/policy-memos-pdf/pepm_054.pdf |access-date=8 May 2016}} and are concentrated in a few provinces in Southeastern Anatolia. In addition to this native group, millions of Arab Syrian refugees have sought refuge in Turkey since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011.{{cite web |title=Total Persons of Concern by Country of Asylum |url=https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/syria# |website=data2 |publisher=UNHCR |access-date=24 September 2018}}

Background

Besides the large communities of both foreign and Turkish Arabs in Istanbul and other large cities, most live in the south and southeast.[http://www.haber7.com/haber/20080212/Istanbul8217da-yasayanlar-aslen-nereli.php Die Bevölkerungsgruppen in Istanbul (türkisch)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203022931/http://www.haber7.com/haber/20080212/Istanbul8217da-yasayanlar-aslen-nereli.php |date=February 3, 2012 }}

Turkish Arabs are mostly Muslims living along the southeastern border with Syria and Iraq but also in Mediterranean coastal regions in the following provinces: Batman, Bitlis, Gaziantep, Hatay, Mardin, Muş, Siirt, Şırnak, Şanlıurfa, Mersin and Adana. Many tribes, in addition to other Arabs who settled there, arrived before Turkic tribes came to Anatolia from Central Asia in the 11th century. Many of these Arabs have ties to Arabs in Syria and Saudi Arabia, especially in the city of Raqqa. Arab society in Turkey has been subject to Turkification, yet some speak Arabic in addition to Turkish.{{citation needed |date=April 2024}} The Treaty of Lausanne ceded to Turkey large areas that had been part of Ottoman Syria, especially in Aleppo Vilayet.[http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Treaty_of_Lausanne Translation of the Treaty of Lausanne (1923)]. The original text was in French.

Besides a significant Shafi'i Sunni population, about 300,000 to 350,000 are Alawites[http://www.psakd.org/dunyada_turkiyede_nusayrilik1.html Die Nusairier weltweit und in der Türkei (türkisch)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111217012743/http://www.psakd.org/dunyada_turkiyede_nusayrilik1.html |date=2011-12-17 }} (distinct from Alevism). About 18,000 Arab Christians[http://www.bpb.de/publikationen/R1HJSB,2,0,Christen_in_der_islamischen_Welt.html Christen in der islamischen Welt – Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte (APuZ 26/2008)] belong mostly to the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch.{{Cite web|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/11738545.pdf|title=Fragmented in space: the oral history narrative: of an Arab Christian from Antioch, Turkey}} There are also few Arab Jews in Hatay and other Turkish parts of the former Aleppo Vilayet, but this community has shrank considerably since the late 1940s, mostly due to migration to Israel and other parts of Turkey.

History

= Pre-Islamic period =

File:Al-Jazira.svg, Diyar Mudar, and Diyar Rabi'a), during the Umayyad and Abbasid calipahtes.]]

Arabs presence in what used to be called Asia Minor, dates back to the Hellenistic period. The Arab dynasty of the Abgarids were rulers of the Kingdom of Osroene, with its capital in the ancient city of Edessa (Modern day city of Urfa). According to Retsö, The Arabs presence in Edessa dates back to AD 49.{{Cite book|last1=Retso|first1=Jan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pUepRuQO8ZkC&q=%22Arabs+at+Edessa%22&pg=PA441|title=The Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads|last2=Retsö|first2=Jan|date=2003|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-7007-1679-1|language=en}} In addition, the Roman author Pliny the Elder refers to the natives of Osroene as Arabs and the region as Arabia.{{Cite journal|journal=Classical Philology|language=en|jstor = 269718|last1 = MacAdam|first1 = Henry Innes|last2 = Munday|first2 = Nicholas J.|title = Cicero's Reference to Bostra (AD Q. FRAT. 2. 11. 3)|year = 1983|volume = 78|issue = 2|pages = 131–136|doi=10.1086/366769|s2cid=162025249}} In the nearby Tektek Mountains, Arabs seem to have made it the seat of the governors of 'Arab.{{Cite book|last1=Drijvers|first1=Han J. W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_eNmC35CN90C&q=%22sumatar+harabesi%22&pg=PA40|title=Der Nahe und Mittlere Osten|last2=Healey|first2=John F.|date=1999|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-11284-1|language=en}} An early Arab figure who flourished in Anatolia is the 2nd century grammarian Phrynichus Arabius, specifically in the Roman province of Bithynia. Another example, is the 4th century Roman politician Domitius Modestus who was appointed by Emperor Julian to the position of Praefectus urbi of Constantinople (Modern day Istanbul). And under Emperor Valens, he became Praetorian Prefect of the East whose seat was also in Constantinople. In the 6th century, The famous Arab poet Imru' al-Qais journeyed to Constantinople in the time of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. On his way back, it is said that he died and was buried at Ancyra (Modern day Ankara) in the Central Anatolia Region.{{Cite book|last1=Inc|first1=Merriam-Webster|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKNK1YwHcQ4C&q=Imru+Qais+Ankara&pg=PA583|title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature|last2=STAFF|first2=MERRIAM-WEBSTER|last3=Staff|first3=Encyclopaedia Britannica Publishers, Inc|date=1995|publisher=Merriam-Webster|isbn=978-0-87779-042-6|language=en}}

= The age of Islam =

In the early Islamic conquests, the Rashidun Caliphate successful campaigns in the Levant lead to the fall of the Ghassanids. The last Ghassanid king Jabalah ibn al-Aiham with as many as 30,000 Arab followers managed to avoid the punishment of the Caliph Umar by escaping to the domains of the Byzantine Empire."The Origins of the Islamic State", a translation from the Arabic of the "Kitab Futuh al-Buldha of Ahmad ibn-Jabir al-Baladhuri", trans. by P. K. Hitti and F. C. Murgotten, Studies in History, Economics and Public Law, LXVIII (New York, Columbia University Press, 1916 and 1924), I, 207-211 King Jabalah ibn al-Aiham established a government-in-exile in ConstantinopleGhassan Resurrected, Yasmine Zahran 2006, p. 13 and lived in Anatolia until his death in 645. Following the early Muslim conquests, Asia Minor became the main ground for the Arab-Byzantine wars. Among those Arabs who were killed in the wars was Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Abu Ayyub was buried at the walls of Constantinople. Centuries later, after the Ottomans conquest of the city, a tomb above Abu Ayyub's grave was constructed and a mosque built by the name of Eyüp Sultan Mosque. From that point on, the area became known as the locality of Eyup by the Ottoman officials. Another instance of Arab presence in what is nowadays Turkey, is the settlement of Arab tribes in the 7th century in the region of Al-Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), that partially encompasses Southeastern Turkey. Among those tribes are the Banu Bakr, Mudar, Rabi'ah ibn Nizar and Banu Taghlib.File:The Historical Atlas, 1911 – Distribution of Races in the Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor.jpg area]]

Demographics

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ Arabic-speaking population in TurkeyFuat Dündar, Türkiye Nüfus Sayımlarında Azınlıklar, 2000

!Year

!As first language

!As second language

!Total

!Turkey's population

!% of Total speakers

1927

|134,273

| -

|134,273

|13,629,488

|0.99

1935

|153,687

|34,028

|187,715

|16,157,450

|1.16

1945

|247,294

|60,061

|307,355

|18,790,174

|1.64

1950

|269,038

| -

|269,038

|20,947,188

|1.28

1955

|300,583

|95,612

|396,195

|24,064,763

|1.65

1960

|347,690

|134,962

|482,652

|27,754,820

|1.74

1965

|365,340

|169,724

|533,264

|31,391,421

|1.70

According to a Turkish study based on a large survey in 2006, 0.7% of the total population in Turkey were ethnically Arab.{{cite web | url=http://www.konda.com.tr/tr/raporlar/2006_09_KONDA_Toplumsal_Yapi.pdf | title=Toplumsal yapı araştırması 2006 | publisher=KONDA Research and Consultancy | year=2006 | access-date=May 10, 2012 | pages=15–16 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215004933/http://www.konda.com.tr/tr/raporlar/2006_09_KONDA_Toplumsal_Yapi.pdf | archive-date=February 15, 2017 | url-status=dead }} .{{in lang|tr}} The population of Arabs in Turkey varies according to different sources. A 1995 American estimate put the numbers between 800,000 and 1 million.Helen Chapin Metz, ed., [http://countrystudies.us/turkey/29.htm Turkey: A Country Study]. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1995. According to Ethnologue, in 1992 there were 500,000 people with Arabic as their mother tongue in Turkey.Tu. [http://www.ethnologue.com/country/TR/languages Turkey: Languages]. Accessed on 19 September 2013. Another Turkish study estimated the Arab population to be between 1.1 and 2.4%.Ali Tayyar Önder: Türkiye'nin etnik yapısı: Halkımızın kökenleri ve gerçekler. Kripto Kitaplar, Istanbul 2008, {{ISBN|605-4125-03-6}}, S. 103. (in Turkish)

Arabs in Cilicia

A significant Arab population has long existed in Cilicia in southern Turkey. Most of them are Alawites, but Sunnis and Orthodox Christians are also present. The number of Alawites in the provinces of Adana and Mersin, determined through surveys and field work in 2000, was estimated between 247,000 and 329,000, encompassing the area's three large cities (Adana, Mersin and Tarsus) and the country side.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AwwNS0diXP4C&pg=PA439|title=The Plain of Saints and Prophets: The Nusayri-Alawi Community of Cilicia (Southern Turkey) and its Sacred Places|author1=Procházka-Eisl|author2=Stephan Procházka| year=2010| page=57-64|publisher=Routledge | isbn=978-3-447-06178-0}} The percentages of Alawite Arab are estimated at 5-6% in Mersin, 10-15% in Adana, and 15-20% in Tarsus.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AwwNS0diXP4C&pg=PA439|title=The Plain of Saints and Prophets: The Nusayri-Alawi Community of Cilicia (Southern Turkey) and its Sacred Places|author1=Procházka-Eisl|author2=Stephan Procházka| year=2010| page=57-64|publisher=Routledge | isbn=978-3-447-06178-0}} Thirty-two Alawite Arab villages are scattered in the area south of the Adana-Mersin road.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AwwNS0diXP4C&pg=PA439|title=The Plain of Saints and Prophets: The Nusayri-Alawi Community of Cilicia (Southern Turkey) and its Sacred Places|author1=Procházka-Eisl|author2=Stephan Procházka| year=2010| page=57-64|publisher=Routledge | isbn=978-3-447-06178-0}}

Notable people

Emine Erdoğan, wife of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose family is from Siirt."[http://www.economist.com/node/3093576 Mrs Erdogan's many friends]", The Economist, 12 August 2004
Yasin Aktay, aide to President Erdoğan.
Hüseyin Çelik, politician (Arab father).[http://www.sabah.com.tr/Gundem/2010/03/21/yaklasik_56_milyon_turkkurt_evliligi_var Yaklaşık 5-6 milyon Türk-Kürt evliliği var], Sabah, 2010
Tülay Hatimoğulları Oruç, politician.
Murat Yıldırım, actor, (Arab mother).{{cite web|url=http://www.aksam.com.tr/magazin/murat-yildirim-annem-arapca-babam-kurtce-konusur/haber-281888|title=Murat Yıldırım: 'Annem Arapça, babam Kürtçe konuşur'|work=Akşam|date=3 February 2014|access-date=2 March 2017}}
Murathan Mungan, author, (Arab father).{{cite web|title=Kürt değilim, kökenim Arap|url=http://www.batmancagdas.com/gundem/kurt-degilim-kokenim-arap-h27172.html}}
Nicholas Kadi, actor (Iraqi descent).{{Cite web |url=http://www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=1764 |title=Nicholas Kadi, actor with Iraqi roots |access-date=2008-08-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180534/http://www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=1764 |archive-date=2016-03-03 |url-status=dead }}
Mihrac Ural, militant and leader of the Syrian Resistance.
Selin Sayek Böke, politician, (Antiochan Greek or Christian Arab father).
Pınar Deniz, actress.
Sevda Erginci, actress (Arab father).
Selin Şekerci, actress (Arab father).
İbrahim Tatlıses, actor and singer, (Arab father).{{cite news|title=Tatlises rapped for using Kurdistan|url=http://www.kurdpress.com/En/NSite/FullStory/News/?Id=5760|work=kurdpress|date=27 October 2013|access-date=12 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121032402/http://www.kurdpress.com/En/NSite/FullStory/News/?Id=5760|archive-date=21 November 2015|url-status = dead|df=dmy-all}}
Jehan Barbur, singer and songwriter.
Atiye, pop singer of Arab descent.
Selami Şahin, singer and songwriter.
Selçuk İnan, football player.
Muhaymin Mustafa
Murat Salar, football player
Saruhan Hünel, actor (Iraqi Arab mother)
Kaan Urgancıoğlu, actor (Syrian Arab-Albanian mother)

References

{{reflist|refs=

http://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/11298 The Iraqi Refugee Crisis and Turkey: a Legal Outlook

{{cite web |url=http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=224 |title=UNHCR Syria Regional Refugee Response/ Turkey |date=31 December 2015 |work=کمیساریای عالی سازمان ملل متحد برای پناهندگان |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305121532/http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=224 |archive-date=5 March 2018 |url-status=dead |access-date=17 January 2016}}

}}