The

Abkhazians Abkhazians (russian: Абхазы), or Abkhazs ( ab, Аԥсуаа, Aṕswaа, ), are a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea. A l ...

in Turkey refers to citizens of Turkey who are ethnic

originating from

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

. In 2014, it was estimated that around 600,000 Abkhazians lived in Turkey of which 48,000 spoke Abkhaz.

Numbers

Notable Abkhaz Turks

Statesmans

* Rauf Orbay (Abkhaz surname Ashkharua) - naval officer, statesman and diplomat.

Culture

* Mihri Müşfik Hanım (abkhaz surname Achba) – one of the first and most renowned Turkish female painters. She was recognized especially for her portraits, including popular figures

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

and Pope Benedict XV. * Leyla Achba - Abkhazian princess. She is known for writing memoirs, which give details of the sultan's court life and was the first Ottoman court lady to write memoirs. * İbrahim Süreyya Yiğit – thinker, politician and antisemitic writer, who was directly involved in ratifying the Varlık Vergisi law. *

Keriman Halis Ece Keriman Halis Ece (February 16, 1913 – January 28, 2012) was a Turkish beauty pageant titleholder, pianist, and fashion model who won the Miss Turkey 1932 title. She was also crowned Miss Universe 1932 in Spa, Belgium and thus became Turkey ...

– beauty pageant titleholder, pianist, and fashion model who won the Miss Turkey 1932 title. She was also crowned Miss Universe 1932 in Spa, Belgium and thus became Turkey's first Miss Universe.

Sports people

Adil Atan Adil Atan ( Abkhaz: name Twanba, 1 January 1929 – 18 April 1989) was a Turkish wrestler. He was born in Adapazarı in the Sakarya Province. He was Olympic bronze medalist in Freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of ...

(abkhaz surname Twanba) – Olympic bronze medalist in Freestyle wrestling in 1952. *

Haydar Zafer Haydar Zafer (1916 – 1994) was a Turkish wrestler. He competed in the men's freestyle middleweight at the 1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known ...

– World champion in Freestyle wrestling in 1951. *

Gündüz Kılıç "Baba" Gündüz Kılıç (29 October 1918 – 17 May 1980) was a Turkish football player and coach. He was Ali Kılıç's son and Altemur Kılıç's brother. Biography Born in 1918 in Istanbul, Gündüz Kılıç attended Galatasaray Lycee an ...

– football player and coach. Champion of Turkey with Galatasaray SK like a football player in 1938–1939, and manager in 1954-1955 and 1955–1956. * Altay Bayındır (abkhaz surname Agrba) – professional footballer who plays as goalkeeper im Fenerbahçe S.K. *

Tayfur Havutçu Tayfur Havutçu (born 23 April 1970) is a Turkish football manager and former professional player who was most recently the manager of Süper Lig club Kasımpaşa. He was part of the Turkey national team squad that reached third place at the 2 ...

(abkhaz surname Marshan) – international football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Süper Lig club Kasımpaşa. *

Orkan Çınar Orkan Çınar (born 29 January 1996) is a Turkish footballer who plays as a winger for TFF Third League club İnegöl Kafkas Gençlikspor. Club career Çınar joined SpVgg Greuther Fürth in 2014 from VfL Wolfsburg. He made his 2. Bundesliga ...

- footballer who plays as a winger for MKE Ankaragücü. *

Süleyman Seba Süleyman Seba (; 5 April 1926 – 13 August 2014) was a Turkish football player of Abkhazian origin and was the longest presiding Chairman of the Istanbul based multisports club Beşiktaş J.K. He was also an intelligence officer for National I ...

(abkhaz surname Tsiba) - the longest presiding Chairman of the Istanbul-based multisports club Beşiktaş J.K.

Other

* Muhammed Tokcan - leader of the terrorist group "Shamil's Grandsons".

References

Turkish people of Abkhazian descent European diaspora in Turkey Ethnic groups in Turkey {{Turkey-stub