Syrian Turkmens
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Estimates range between several hundred thousand to over 3.5 million (1.5 million Turkish-speaking and 2 million Arabized) (see population) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Aleppo · Damascus · Hama · Homs · Latakia · Tell Abyad | |
| Languages | |
| Turkish · Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| Predominately Sunni Islam, minority Alevis | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Oghuz Turks (Turkish people · Iraqi Turkmen · Turks in Egypt) |
Syrian Turkmens (also referred to as Syrian Turkomans or Syrian Turks) (Arabic: تركمان سوريا, Turkish: Suriye Türkleri or Suriye Türkmenleri) are Syrian citizens of Turkic origin who mostly adhere to a Turkish heritage and identity.
Turkic migration to Syria began in the 11th century during the rule of the Seljuk Empire. However, most Turkmen settled in the region after the Ottoman sultan Selim I conquered Syria in 1516. The Ottoman administration encouraged Turcoman families from Anatolia to establish villages throughout the rural hinterlands of several cities in Ottoman Syria (and later the Syria Vilayet). Migration from Anatolia to Syria was continuous for over 400 years of Ottoman rule, until the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in 1918; nonetheless, the Syrian Turkmen community continued to reside in the region during the French Mandate and the formation of various Syrian Republics.
Today the Syrian Turkmen community share common genealogical and linguistic ties with the "Turkmen" of Iraq (see Iraqi Turkmen) and Turkey and do not identifity themselves with the Turkmen of Turkmenistan. Thus, Syrian Turkmen share a closer kinship to the Turks of Turkey rather than to the Turkmens of Central Asia. They reside mostly near the Syrian-Turkish border that runs from the northwestern governorates of Idlib and Aleppo to the northeastern governorate of Raqqa. Moreover, many reside in the Turkmen Mountain, with the area's local name Bayırbucak, region near Latakia, the city of Homs and its vicinity until Hama, Damascus, and the southwestern governorates of Dera’a (bordering Jordan) and Quneitra (bordering Israel).
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