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The term Turkish diaspora (Turkish: Türk diyasporası) refers to the estimated population of Turkish people in the world migrated outside of Turkey and any other Turkish homeland.^[1]

Turkish people

Turkish people primarily live in Turkey; however, when the borders of the Ottoman Empire became smaller after World War I and the foundation of the new Republic; many Turkish people chose to stay outside Turkey's borders. Since then, some of them have migrated to Turkey but there are still significant minorities of Turks living in different countries such as in Northern Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Syria, Iraq, Republic of Macedonia, the Dobruja region of Romania and Kosovo (especially in Prizren). These Turkish people are not to be confused with the Turkish diaspora as they are considered to be 'native Turks' due to living in these countries for hundreds of years and thus are not immigrates.

Turkish people living in other countries outside of Turkey can be summarized into three groups^[2];

People who have stayed out of the borders after the Republic of Turkey was formed (Turkish Natives)
People who, from Central Asia, have not come to Anatolia (Turkish people in Central Asia)
People who have migrated to other countries as (Turkish diaspora)

In the Republic of Turkey, an early history text provided the definition of being a Turk as "any individual within the Republic of Turkey, whatever his faith who speaks Turkish, grows up with Turkish culture and adopts the Turkish ideal is a Turk." This ideal came from the beliefs of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk^[3].

History of the Turkish diaspora

The main migration of Turkish people to Anatolia occurred at the same time of Turkic migration between the 6th and 11th centuries (the Early Middle Ages), when they spread across most of Central Asia and into Europe and the Middle East. The Seljuk Turks (Selçuk Türkleri) were the first Turkish power to arrive in the 11th century as conquerors, who proceeded to gradually conquer the land of existing Byzantine Empire. In the following centuries the local population began to be assimilated from the emerging Turkic migrants. Over time, as word spread regarding the victory of the Turks in Anatolia, more Turkic migrants began to intermingle with the local inhabitants, which helped to bolster the Turkish-speaking population.

Turks in Europe

As a legacy of the Ottoman Turkish Empire there are significant Turkish minorities in Europe such as the Turks in Bulgaria, Turks in the Republic of Macedonia, Turks in Kosovo and the Turks of Western Thrace.

The post-war migration of Turks to Europe began with ‘guest workers’ who arrived under the terms of a Labour Export Agreement with Germany in October 1961, followed by a similar agreement with the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria in 1964; France in 1965 and Sweden in 1967. As one Turkish observer noted, ‘it has now been over 40 years and a Turk who went to Europe at the age of 25 has nearly reached the age of 70. His children have reached the age of 45 and their children have reached the age of 20’ ^[4]. Due to the high rate of Turks in Europe, the Turkish language is now home to one of the largest group of pupils after the German-speakers. Turkish in Germany is often used not only by members of its own community but also by people with a non-Turkish background. Especially in urban areas, it functions as a peer group vernacular for children and adolescents ^[5]. The increasing Turkish population of Europe can be explained by the continuation of migration through marriages and by the high birth rate of the Turkish population. This high rate has as a consequence that Turkish migrant population is very young (1/3 is under 18 years old); more than 80% of these young people have been born and schooled in Europe.

Turks in North America

In the United States, there are over 500,000 Turkish Americans whose ancestors came from Turkey but the ethnonational category includes those of ethnic Greek, Armenian and Kurdish background. The largest Turkish communities are found in Paterson, New York City, Boston (esp. the suburbs of Peabody and Watertown), Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Detroit and Philadelphia. Since the 1970s, the number of Turkish immigrants has risen to more than 2,000 per year.

There is also a growing Turkish population in Canada, Turkish immigrants have settled mainly in Montreal and Toronto, although there are small Turkish communities in Calgary, Edmonton, London, Ottawa, Windsor and Vancouver. The population of Turkish Canadians in Metropolitan Toronto may be as large as 5,000 ^[6].

Turkish nationality

Citizenship is defined in Article 66 of the Constitution of Turkey as:

Everyone bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship is a Turk.

The child of a Turkish father or a Turkish mother is a Turk.

Citizenship can be acquired under the conditions stipulated by law, and shall be forfeited only in cases determined by law.

No Turk shall be deprived of citizenship, unless he commits an act incompatible with loyalty to the motherland.

Recourse to the courts in appeal against the decisions and proceedings related to the deprivation of citizenship, shall not be denied.

— 1982 constitution., Article 66 (as amended on October 17, 2001)