View source for Turks in Kazakhstan

{{Infobox Ethnic group
| group    = Turks in Kazakhstan
| image    =
| caption  =
| poptime  = 97,015 (2009 census) <br/> 150,000<ref>{{Harvnb|Aydıngün|Harding|Hoover|Kuznetsov|2006|loc=13}}.</ref> to 180,000<ref name="Al Jazeera">{{cite web|author=Al Jazeera|title=Ahıska Türklerinin 70 yıllık sürgünü|url=http://www.aljazeera.com.tr/al-jazeera-ozel/ahiska-turklerinin-70-yillik-surgunu|work=Al Jazeera|date=2014|accessdate=2016-07-05}}</ref> <br/> Plus 9,593 Turkish nationals<ref>{{cite web |author=Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Labour and Social Security|title=YURTDISINDAKI VATANDASLARIMIZLA ILGILI SAYISAL BILGILER|url=http://www.calisma.gov.tr/article.php?article_id=371|accessdate=2009-10-27}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> 
| popplace = {{hlist|[[Almaty]] | [[South Kazakhstan Province|South Kazakhstan]] | [[Jambyl Province|Zhambil]] | [[Qyzylorda]]}}
| langs    = [[Turkish language|Turkish]], [[Kazakh Language|Kazakh]], [[Russian language|Russian]]
| rels     = [[Islam]]
}}

'''Turks in Kazakhstan''' are ethnic [[Turkish people|Turks]] who live in [[Kazakhstan]].

== History ==
===Ottoman migration===

The [[First All-Union Census of the Soviet Union]] in 1926 recorded 8,570 [[Ottoman Turks]] living in the [[Soviet Union]]. The Ottoman Turks are no longer listed separately in the census, it is presumed that those who were living in Kazakhstan have either been assimilated into Kazakh society or have left the country.<ref>{{Harvnb|Akiner|1983|loc=381}}.</ref>

===Meskhetian Turks migration===
{|class="wikitable" style="float:right; font-size:100%;"
|- bgcolor=#DDDDDD
| colspan=8 align="center" | Turks in Kazakhstan according to official censuses
|- bgcolor=#f0f0f0 align="center"
! Census
! Turks
! % of Kazakh population
|-
| 1939 || 523<ref>{{cite web |author=Демоскоп Weekly|title=Всесоюзная перепись населения 1939 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_39.php?reg=10|accessdate=2011-02-13}}</ref> || 0%
|-
| 1959 || 9,916<ref>{{cite web |author=Демоскоп Weekly|title=Всесоюзная перепись населения 1959 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_59.php?reg=91|accessdate=2011-02-13}}</ref> || 0.1%
|-
| 1970 || 18,397<ref>{{cite web |author=Демоскоп Weekly|title=Всесоюзная перепись населения 1970 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_70.php?reg=5|accessdate=2011-02-13}}</ref> || 0.1%
|-
| 1979 || 25,820<ref>{{cite web |author=Демоскоп Weekly|title=Всесоюзная перепись населения 1979 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_79.php?reg=5|accessdate=2011-02-13}}</ref> || 0.2%
|-
| 1989 || 49,567<ref>{{cite web |author=Демоскоп Weekly|title=Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php?reg=5|accessdate=2011-02-13}}</ref> || 0.3%
|-
| 1999 || 75,950<ref name=Kazakh2009census>{{cite web |author=Агентство РК по статистике|title=ПЕРЕПИСЬ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ РЕСПУБЛИКИ КАЗАХСТАН 2009 ГОДА|url=http://www.stat.kz/p_perepis/Documents/Перепись%20рус.pdf|page=10|accessdate=2011-02-13}}</ref> || 0.5%
|-
| 2009 || 97,015<ref name=Kazakh2009census/> || 0.6%
|}

During [[World War II]], the [[Soviet Union]] was preparing to launch a pressure campaign against [[Turkey]]. [[Vyacheslav Molotov]], then [[Minister of Foreign Affairs]], demanded to the Turkish Ambassador in [[Moscow]] for the surrender of three [[Provinces of Turkey|Anatolian provinces]] ([[Kars Province|Kars]], [[Ardahan]] and [[Artvin]]).<ref name="Bennigsen & Broxup 1983 loc=30">{{Harvnb|Bennigsen|Broxup|1983|loc=30}}.</ref> Thus, war against Turkey seemed possible, and [[Joseph Stalin]] wanted to clear the strategic Turkish population situated in [[Meskheti]], near the Turkish-Georgian border.<ref name="Bennigsen & Broxup 1983 loc=30"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Aydıngün|2002|loc=50}}.</ref> Nationalistic policies at the time encouraged the slogan: "Georgia for Georgians" and that the Meskhetian Turks should be sent to [[Turkey]] "where they belong".<ref name="Kurbanov & Kurbanov 1995 loc=237">{{Harvnb|Kurbanov|Kurbanov|1995|loc=237}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Cornell|2001|loc=183}}.</ref> By 1944, the [[Meskhetian Turks]] were forcefully deported from [[Meskheti]] and accused of smuggling, banditry and espionage in collaboration with their kin across the [[Turkey|Turkish]] border.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tomlinson|2005|loc=107}}.</ref> Thus, large settlements of Meskhetian Turks were formed in Kazakhstan and they were not permitted by the Georgian government of [[Zviad Gamsakhurdia]] to return to their homeland.<ref name="Kurbanov & Kurbanov 1995 loc=237"/> 

In the last [[Soviet Census]], conducted in 1989, there were 207,500 [[Meskhetian Turks]] in the Soviet Union and over 23.8% were registered in Kazakhstan.<ref>{{Harvnb|Babak|Vaisman|Wasserman|2004|loc=252}}.</ref>

== Demographics ==

Although the [[Soviet Census (1989)|last Soviet census]] recorded a low figure of 207,269 Turks, this may have not counted all ethnic Turks, because for many years, Turks were denied the right to register their nationality in legal documents. Thus, in Kazakhstan, only a third of them were recorded as Turks on their passports. The rest had been arbitrarily declared members of other ethnic groups.<ref>{{Harvnb|Khazanov|1995|loc=202}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Babak|Vaisman|Wasserman|2004|loc=253}}.</ref> 

According to academics there are 150,000 Turks who reside in Kazakhstan. 45,000 in [[Almaty]], 40,000 in [[South Kazakhstan Province|South Kazakhstan]], 36,000 in [[Jambyl Province|Zhambil]] and 10,000 in [[Qyzylorda]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Blacklock|2005|loc=7}}.</ref>

== Education ==
Due to historical links between Turkish and Kazakh people, the Turks living in Kazakhstan are well provided. The Hoca Ahmet Yesevi International Kazakh-Turkish University was established in [[Hazrat-e Turkestan|Turkistan]] of Kazakhstan in 1993 and has around 20,000 students. It is one of the leading universities in the country. There is also 28 Kazakh-Turkish high schools, one university and one primary school which are operated by private Turkish foundations. There is also one Turkish Language Teaching Center in [[Almaty]].

== See also ==
*[[Kazakhstan–Turkey relations]]
*[[Turkic Council]]
*[[Turks in the former Soviet Union]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin|2}} 
*{{citation |last=Akiner|first=Shirin|year=1983|title=Islamic Peoples of the Soviet Union|place=|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=0-7103-0025-5}}.
*{{citation |last1=Atabaki|first1=Touraj|last2=Mehendale|first2=Sanjyot|year=2005|title= Central Asia and the Caucasus: transnationalism and diaspora|place=|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-415-33260-5}}.
* {{citation |last=Aydıngün|first=Ayşegül|year=2002|title=Ahiska (Meskhetian) Turks: Source of Conflict in the Caucasus?|journal=The International Journal of Human Rights|publisher=|volume=6|issue=2|pages=49–64}}
*{{citation |last1=Aydıngün|first1=Ayşegül|last2=Harding|first2=Çigğdem Balım|last3=Hoover|first3=Matthew|last4=Kuznetsov|first4=Igor|last5=Swerdlow|first5=Steve|year=2006|title=Meskhetian Turks: An Introduction to their History, Culture, and Resettelment Experiences|url=http://www.cal.org/CO/pdffiles/mturks.pdf|publisher=Center for Applied Linguistics|isbn=}}.
*{{citation |last1=Babak|first1=Vladimir|last2=Vaisman|first2=Demian|last3=Wasserman|first3=Aryeh|year=2004|title= Political Organization in Central Asia and Azerbaijan: Sources and Documents|place=|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-7146-4838-8}}.
*{{citation |last1=Bennigsen|first1=Alexandre|last2=Broxup|first2=Marie|year=1983|title= The Islamic threat to the Soviet state |place=|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=0-7099-0619-6}}.
*{{citation |last=Blacklock|first=Denika|year=2005|title=Finding Durable Solutions for the Meskhetians|url=http://www.ecmi.de/download/Report_56.pdf |publisher=European Centre for Minority Issues|isbn=}}.
*{{citation |last=Cornell|first=Svante E.|year=2001|title= Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus
| place = |publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-7007-1162-7}}.
*{{citation |last=Council of Europe|first=|year=2006|title=Documents: working papers, 2005 ordinary session (second part), 25–29 April 2005, Vol. 3: Documents 10407, 10449-10533|place=|publisher=Council of Europe|isbn=92-871-5754-5}}.
*{{citation |last=Council of Europe|first=|year=2007|title=Parliamentary Assembly: Working Papers 2007 Ordinary Session 22–26 January 2007
| place = |publisher=Council of Europe|isbn=92-871-6191-7}}.
*{{citation |last=Khazanov|first=Anatoly Michailovich|year=1995|title= After the USSR: Ethnicity, Nationalism and Politics in the Commonwealth of Independent States|place=|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|isbn=0-299-14894-7}}.
* {{citation |last1=Kurbanov|first1=Rafik Osman-Ogly|last2=Kurbanov|first2=Erjan Rafik-Ogly|year=1995|chapter=Religion and Politics in the Caucasus|title=The Politics of Religion in Russia and the New States of Eurasia|editor-last=Bourdeaux|editor-first=Michael (ed)|place=|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=1-56324-357-1}}.
*{{citation |last=Minahan|first=James|year=1998|title= Miniature Empires: A Historical Dictionary of the Newly Independent States|place=|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=0-313-30610-9}}.
* {{citation |last=Tomlinson|first=Kathryn|year=2005|chapter=Living Yesterday in Today and Tomorrow: Meskhetian Turks in Southern Russia|title=Writing History, Constructing Religion|editor1-last=Crossley|editor1-first=James G.|editor2-last=Karner|editor2-first=Christian (eds.)|place=|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|isbn=0-7546-5183-5}}.
{{refend}}

== External links ==

{{Kazakhstan topics}}
{{Turkish people by country}}
{{Ethnic groups in Kazakhstan}}

[[Category:Turkish diaspora by country]]
[[Category:Turkish diaspora in Asia|Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Kazakhstan]]