Azerbaijanis in Turkey
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 800,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Iğdır, Kars | |
| Languages | |
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|
| Religion | |
| Predominately Twelver Shia Islam |
Azerbaijanis in Turkey or Turkish Azerbaijanis (Azerbaijani: Türkiyə azərbaycanlıları) are Azerbaijani people in Turkey, and are Turkish citizens and permanent residents of ethnic Azerbaijani background. It is hard to determine how many ethnic Azerbaijanis currently reside in Turkey because ethnicity is a rather fluid concept in this country. According to some sources, there are about 800,000 Twelver Shias in Turkey, however this figure may differ substantially from the real one.Looklex Encyclopaedia puts the number of Azerbaijanis in Turkey at 800,000. Up to 300,000 of Azerbaijanis who reside in Turkey are citizens of Azerbaijan. In the Eastern Anatolia Region, Azerbaijanis are sometimes referred to as acem (see Ajam) or tat. They currently are the largest ethnic group in the city of Iğdır and second largest ethnic group in Kars, where they constitute majority in the district of Akyaka (Azerbaijani: Şörəyel).
Azerbaijanis first settled in what is now Turkey during the period of Safavi governance over Kars and neighbouring areas. Their numbers grew during the first half of the nineteenth century, when following the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813), the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828) and the respectively out coming Gulistan and Turkmenchay treaties between Persia and Russia, Persia was forced to cede sovereignty over the khanates of Karabakh (1813), Nakhchivan (1828) and Erivan (1828), among others to Russia, and the Treaty of Adrianople gave Christians and Muslims the right to choose a place of residence between Russia and Turkey. Similarly to those of the North Caucasus, large groups of local Muslim population refused to live within Russian boundaries and migrated to Turkey (or Iran) settling in its eastern regions, especially in the Şenkaya district of Erzurum and the Taşlıçay district of Ağrı. The Turkish dialect of Erzurum has been grammatically influenced by the Azerbaijani language. Phonemic analyses indicate that Azeri-influenced dialects are spoken as far as Elâzığ and Van's Erciş district.
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