Ossetians The Ossetians or Ossetes (, ; os, ир, ирæттæ / дигорӕ, дигорӕнттӕ, translit= ir, irættæ / digoræ, digorænttæ, label=Ossetic) are an Iranian ethnic group who are indigenous to Ossetia, a region situated across the no ...

in Turkey are citizens and denizens of Turkey who are, or descend from, ethnic

who originate in

Ossetia Ossetia ( , ; os, Ирыстон or , or ; russian: Осетия, Osetiya; ka, ოსეთი, translit. ''Oseti'') is an ethnolinguistic region located on both sides of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, largely inhabited by the Ossetians. ...

in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

History

An estimated 50,000 Ossetes left the Russian

during the early 1860s as part of a greater migration of Muslims from the region to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

due to Russia's activities in the region. Many settled in villages in the eastern district of

Sarıkamış Sarıkamış or Sarikamish ( ku, Zerqamîş, ) is a town and district of Kars Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Its population was 17,860 in 2010. The town sits in a valley and is surrounded by mountains, many of which are covered ...

, but moved further west following the Russo-Ottoman war of 1877-78. While up to the 1960s there were as many as 60 Ossetian villages in central and eastern

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, due to massive migration to the major cities at present there remain only three: Boyalık, Karabacak and Poyrazlı, all of which are located in the

Yozgat Yozgat is a city and the capital district of Yozgat Province in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. According to 2019 census, population of the district is 421,200 of which 106,280 live in the city of Yozgat. History The first surveys were s ...

district some 200km east of

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. Boyalık has about 30 households, Karabacak 15, and Poyrazlı some 200. The residents of Boyalık and Karabacak speak the

Iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

dialect of Ossetian, while those of Poyrazlı speak Digor. The Alan Cultural and Aid Foundation (Alan Kültür ve Yardım Vakfı) was founded in 1989 by Ossetes in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

and Ankara “to secure social solidarity among the Ossetians living in Turkey and… to protect and develop their cultural values”. In 2017 the Alan Vakfı created memorial groves in each of the three remaining Ossetian villages to commemorate the lives of the 186 school children killed in the Beslan massacre in 2004. At present there are an estimated 60,000 people in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

who can claim Ossetian descent, but of these only a few thousand identify as such. Ossetians & Abkhazians in Turkey

Religion

Ossetians in Turkey are predominantly

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. Due to Islamic influence they have largely abandoned many of the traditions which are maintained in

. Foltz, "Ossetians in Turkey", pp. 367-8.

References

{{Demographics of Turkey Ossetian people European diaspora in Turkey +

History

Religion

See also

References