The Balkan Turks or Rumelian Turks (Turkish: Balkan Türkleri) are the Turkish people who have been living in the Balkans since the Ottoman rule as well as their descendants who still live in the region today. The Turks are officially recognized as a minority in Bosnia and Herzegovina,[1] Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Romania; in Greece the Turkish minority is recognized as "Greek Muslims". Furthermore, the Turkish language has minority language status in Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Romania. The Ottoman Empire conquered parts of the Balkans between the 14th and 16th century.
Turkish communities in the Balkans
State or region
Community
Current status
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnian Turks
The 1991 Bosnian census found that there was a minority of 267 Turks,[2] while the census of 2013 gave a number of 1,108.[3]
Bulgaria
Bulgarian Turks
In the 2011 Bulgarian census, which did not receive a response regarding ethnicity from the total population, 588,318 people, or 8.8% of the self-appointed responders, determined their ethnicity as Turkish;[4] while the latest census which provided answers from the entire population, the 2001 census, recorded 746,664 Turks, or 9.4% of the population.[5] Other estimates suggests that there are 750,000.[6][7]
Albania
Albanian Turks
In the 2011 census in Albania, more than 800 people registered Turkish as their first language.[8]
Croatia
Croatian Turks
According to the 2001 Croatian census the Turkish minority numbered 300.[9] More recent estimates have suggested that there are 2,000 Turks in Croatia.[10]
Rhodes (in Greece) Kos (in Greece)
Dodecanese Turks
Some 5,000 Turks live in the Dodecanese islands of Rhodes and Kos.[11]
Kosovo
Kosovan Turks[12]
There are approximately 30,000 Kosovar Turks living in Kosovo, mostly in Mamusha, Prizren, and Pristina.[13]
North Macedonia
Macedonian Turks[14]
The 2002 Macedonian census stated that there were 77,959 Macedonian Turks, forming about 4% of the total population and constituting a majority in Centar Župa and Plasnica.[15] However, academic estimates suggest that they actually number between 170,000 and 200,000.[6][16] Furthermore, about 200,000 Macedonian Turks migrated to Turkey during World War I and World War II due to persecutions and discrimination.[17]
Serbia
Serbian Turks
There were 647 Serbian Turks living in the country according to the 2011 census.[18]
Montenegro
Montenegrin Turks
There were 104 Montenegrin Turks according to the 2011 census.[19] The majority left their homes and migrated to Turkey in the 1900s.[20]
Northern Dobruja (in Romania)
Romanian Turks[21]
There were 28,226 Romanian Turks living in the country according to the 2011 Romanian census.[22] However, academic estimates suggest that the community numbers between 55,000[13][23] and 80,000.[24]
Western Thrace (in Greece)
Western Thrace Turks
The Greek government refers to the community as "Greek Muslims" or "Hellenic Muslims" and does not specifically mention the ethnicity of the Muslims (including Turks) in Western Thrace.[25] Traditionally, academics have suggested that the Western Thrace Turks number about 120,000–130,000,[25] although more recent estimates suggest that the community numbers 150,000.[26] Between 300,000 and 400,000 immigrated to Turkey since 1923.[27]
Historically, from the Ottoman conquest up to and including the 19th century, ethnically non-Turkish, especially South Slavic Muslims of the Balkans were referred to in the local languages as Turks (term for Muslims). This usage is common in literature, for example in the works of Ivan Mažuranić and Petar II Petrović-Njegoš. However, during the 20th century it gradually fell out of favour. Today, the largest mainly Muslim Slavic ethnic group is known as the Bosniaks.
^OSCE. "National Minorities in BiH". Retrieved 2013-12-29.
^Federal Office of Statistics. "Population grouped according to ethnicity, by censuses 1961–1991". Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
^"1. Stanovništvo prema etničkoj/nacionalnoj pripadnosti - detaljna klasifikacija". Popis.gov.ba.
^National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria (2011). "2011 Census (Final data)". National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria. p. 4.
^National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria (2001). "2001 Census". National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria.
^ abSosyal 2011, 369
^Novinite. "Scientists Raise Alarm over Apocalyptic Scenario for Bulgarian Ethnicity". Retrieved 21 July 2011.
^"Population and Housing Census 2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-12-24. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
^Croatian Bureau of Statistics. "POPULATION BY ETHNICITY, BY TOWNS/MUNICIPALITIES, CENSUS 2001". Croatian Bureau of Statistics.
^Zaman. "Altepe'den Hırvat Müslümanlara moral". Retrieved 9 September 2011.
^Clogg 2002, 84.
^Elsie 2010, 276.
^ abSosyal 2011, 368
^Evans 2010, 11.
^Republic of Macedonia State Statistical Office 2005, 34.
^Abrahams 1996, 53.
^Evans 2010, 228.
^Попис становништва, домаћинстава и станова 2011. у Републици Србији: Становништво према националној припадности - „Остали“ етничке заједнице са мање од 2000 припадника и двојако изјашњени
^Statistical Office of Montenegro. "Population of Montenegro by sex, type of settlement, etnicity, religion and mother tongue, per municipalities" (PDF). p. 7. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
^"Turks in Montenegrin town not afraid to show identity anymore". Today's Zaman. Archived from the original on 22 September 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
^Brozba 2010, 48.
^National Institute of Statistics 2011, 10
^Phinnemore 2006, 157.
^Constantin, Goschin & Dragusin 2008, 59
^ abWhitman 1990, i.
^Ergener 2002, 106.
^Whitman 1990, 2.
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