Pomaks in Turkey

{{Infobox ethnic group

|group=Pomaks in Turkey

|native_name=Türkiye'deki Pomaklar

|total= 750,000

|popplace = Eastern Thrace

|rels = Sunni Islam

|langs = Pomak, Turkish

|related = South Slavic Muslims (mainly Torbeshi and Bosniaks)

}}

The Pomaks in Turkey refers to a Slavic Muslims, who speak Bulgarian language.{{cite book |author=Kristen Ghodsee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VZ9FmdPZs2YC&pg=PA38 |title=Muslim Lives in Eastern Europe: Gender, Ethnicity, and the Transformation of Islam in Postsocialist Bulgaria |date=27 July 2009 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-3135-7 |page=38}} They mostly live in Eastern Thrace, though some are also present in Anatolia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pomak.eu/board/index.php?topic=1150.90;imode|title = Pomaks in USA}}

Numbers

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

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

!Year

!As first language

!As second language

!Total

!Turkey's population

!% of Total speakers

1935

|32,661

|8,380

|41,041

|16,157,450

|0.25

1945

|10,287

|5,594

|15,881

|18,790,174

|0.08

1950

|36,612

|20,947,188

|0.17

1955

|16,163

|22,816

|38,979

|24,064,763

|0.16

1960

|24,098

|28,602

|52,700

|27,754,820

|0.19

1965

|23,138

|34,234

|57,372

|31,391,421

|0.18

In the census of 1965, those who spoke Pomak as first language were proportionally numerous in Edirne (3.4%), Kırklareli (1.3%) and Çanakkale (1.0%).

Language

The Pomaks of Turkey speak a Bulgarian dialect.The Balkans, Minorities and States in Conflict (1993), Minority Rights Publication, by Hugh Poulton, p. 111.Richard V. Weekes; Muslim peoples: a world ethnographic survey, Volume 1; 1984; [https://books.google.com/books?id=aVdIAAAAMAAJ&q=%22pomaks+exist%22 p.612]Raju G. C. Thomas; Yugoslavia unraveled: sovereignty, self-determination, intervention; 2003, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9L6ZayN27PAC&dq=pomaks&pg=PA105 p.105]R. J. Crampton, Bulgaria, 2007, p.8Janusz Bugajski, Ethnic politics in Eastern Europe: a guide to nationality policies, organizations, and parties; 1995, [https://books.google.com/books?id=m_AcqFSfvzAC&dq=pomaks&pg=PA243 p.237] According to Ethnologue at present 300,000 Pomaks in European Turkey speak Bulgarian as mother tongue.{{cite book|title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|editor=Gordon, Raymond G. Jr.|publisher=SIL International|location=Dallas, Texas|year=2005|edition=Fifteenth|isbn=978-1-55671-159-6|url=http://www.ethnologue.com|chapter-url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=TRE|chapter=Languages of Turkey (Europe)}} It is very hard to estimate the number of Pomaks along with the Turkified Pomaks who live in Turkey, as they have blended into the Turkish society and have been often linguistically and culturally assimilated.{{cite news|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/h.php?news=trial-sheds-light-on-shades-of-turkey-2008-06-10|title=Trial sheds light on shades of Turkey |date=2008-06-10|newspaper=Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review|access-date=2011-03-23|archive-date=2012-10-12|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012021718/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/h.php?news=trial-sheds-light-on-shades-of-turkey-2008-06-10}} According to Milliyet and Turkish Daily News reports, the number of the Pomaks along with the Turkified Pomaks in the country is about 600,000.

{{cite web|url=http://www.milliyet.com.tr/default.aspx?aType=SonDakika&Kategori=yasam&ArticleID=873452&Date=07.06.2008&ver=16|title=Milliyet - Turkified Pomaks in Turkey|publisher=www.milliyet.com.tr|access-date=2011-02-08|language=tr}}

References

Category:Ethnic groups in Turkey

Category:Ethnic groups in the Middle East