Peoples of the Caucasus in Turkey

The terms Peoples of the Caucasus and Caucasian peoples indicate two main groups of people in Turkey:

• Immigrants from North Caucasus:
  • Circassians (including the Abkhaz, Abazins, and Ubykh): Following the end of Circassian insurgency in 1864 and as an exodus from North Caucasia, Circassian peoples had settled in the territory of Turkey. Circassian population in Turkey is concentrated on two belts of habitation; first one from the province of Samsun to Hatay, the second from Düzce to Çanakkale, especially in Balıkesir.
  • Dagestani peoples: They live in villages in the provinces like Balıkesir, Tokat and also scattered in other parts of the country. Majority among them are Lezgins, Avars are the second significant ethnic group. Kumyks are also present.
  • Nakh peoples: Chechens and Ingush live in the provinces Kahramanmaraş, Mardin, Sivas and Muş.
  • Ossetians: This ethnic group is found in provinces Kars and Yozgat.
  • Karachay: They live in villages concentrated in Konya and Eskişehir.
  • Azeris arrived in Turkey in several waves throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century settling consistently in the eastern regions (Erzurum, Ağrı, Kars), as well as in Afyon, Bursa, and Amasya.

• Autochthonous peoples of Transcaucasia:
  • speaking South Caucasian languages:
    • Laz: They are found in the territory of former Lazistan sanjak and also in Düzce, Sakarya, Kocaeli, Bartın.
    • Georgians: Muslim Georgians form the majority in parts of Artvin Province east of the Çoruh River. Immigrant groups of Georgian origins, found scattered in Turkey are known as Chveneburi.

See also

• Ethnic Cleansing of Circassians

References

• Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey, Peter Alford Andrews, Wiesbaden, 1989; ISBN 3-89500-297-6