Turks in Palestine

Once Ottoman Algeria came under French rule in 1830, many Turkish Algerians were forced to leave the region. Although the majority who fled were shipped off to Turkey, many others migrated to other regions of the Ottoman Empire, including Palestine, Syria, Arabia, and Egypt.{{citation |last=Kateb|first=Kamel|year=2001|title=Européens: "Indigènes" et juifs en Algérie (1830-1962) : Représentations et Réalités des Populations|publisher=INED|isbn=273320145X|pages=50–53}}

During the British rule of Cyprus (1878-1950) Turkish Cypriots who remained on the island faced the harsh economic conditions of the Great Depression and its aftermath. Consequently, many families in the poorest villages, facing debt and starvation, married off their daughters to Arabs mainly in British Palestine{{citation |last1=Mert|first1=Kadir|last2=Ali-Aybar|first2=Mehmet|last3=Rize|first3=Ekrem|year=1994|title=Kıbrıslı Türk Kimliği |journal=K.K.T.C. Milli Eğitim Ve Kültür Bakanlığı Yayınları|volume=97|issue=17|page=95}} in the hope that they would have a better life.{{cite web|last1=Andreou|first1=Evie|access-date=2019-09-10|title=Searching for the missing brides of Cyprus|url=https://cyprus-mail.com/2018/07/29/searching-for-the-missing-brides-of-cyprus/|date=29 July 2018}}{{cite journal|first1=Michael|last1=Paraskos|title=Brides for Sale, by Neriman Cahit|journal=Women's Studies|date=17 November 2015|issn=0049-7878|pages=1200–1203|volume=44|issue=8|doi=10.1080/00497878.2015.1084166|hdl=10044/1/71142|s2cid=146127415|hdl-access=free}} A bride price was normally given by the groom to the family of the girls, usually about £10-20, enough to buy several acres of land at the time, as part of the marriage arrangements.{{citation |last=Güven-Lisaniler|first=Fatma|year=2003|title=Assessing the Status of Women: A Step Towards Equality |publisher=Turkish Cypriot University Women Association|page=9}} Such payments had not been part of Cypriot tradition, and Cypriots typically describe the girls in these forced marriages as having been "sold". The marriages were sometimes arranged by brokers, who presented the prospective husbands as wealthy doctors and engineers. However, Neriman Cahit, in her book Brides for Sale, found that in reality many of these men had mediocre jobs or were already married with children. Unaware of these realities, Turkish Cypriot families continued to send their daughters to Palestine until the 1950s. Cahit estimates that within 30 years up to 4,000 Turkish Cypriot women were sent to Palestine to be married to Arab men.{{cite web |author=Sabah|title=Küçük adanın talihsiz kızları|url=http://www.sabah.com.tr/fotohaber/yasam/kucuk_adanin_talihsiz_kizlari/28151|access-date=26 October 2015}}

During and after the 1947–1949 Palestine war, many Turkish families fled the region and settled in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.{{citation |last=Suwaed|first=Muhammad|year=2015|chapter=Turkmen, Israeli|title=Historical Dictionary of the Bedouins|page=121|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1442254510}}

According to a 2022 news article by Al Monitor many families of Turkish origin in Gaza have been migrating to Turkey due to the "deteriorating economic conditions in the besieged enclave."{{citation |last=Al Gherbawi|first=Hadeel|year=2022|title=Palestinian, Turkish ethnic mixture persists over times|url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/01/palestinian-turkish-ethnic-mixture-persists-over-times|publisher=Al-Monitor|accessdate=3 November 2022}}

Turkish family surnames in Palestine often end with the letter's "ji" (e.g, al-Batniji and al-Shorbaji) whilst other common names include al-Gharbawi, Tarzi, Turk, Birkdar, Jukmadar, Radwan, Jasir and al-Jamasi.

• Ahmad Shukeiri, the first Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization
• the Doghmush clan, criminal family
• Yusuf Hamdan, was a Palestinian rebel commander during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt
• Nada Zeidan, spokesmodel and female rally driver

==See also==

• Palestine–Turkey relations
• Abu Zurayq an archaeological site and former Turkish village in Palestine
• Fawzi al-Qawuqji
• Turks in Israel
• Turks in Jordan
• Turks in Lebanon
• Turks in Syria

{{Reflist}}

{{Turkish people by country}}

Category:Ethnic groups in Palestine

Category:Turkish diaspora

Category:Ethnic groups in the Middle East

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