Afro-Turks ( tr, Afrikalı Türkler) are

Turkish people The Turkish people, or simply the Turks ( tr, Türkler), are the world's largest Turkic ethnic group; they speak various dialects of the Turkish language and form a majority in Turkey and Northern Cyprus. In addition, centuries-old ethnic ...

of African

Zanj Zanj ( ar, زَنْج, adj. , ''Zanjī''; fa, زنگی, Zangi) was a name used by medieval Muslim geographers to refer to both a certain portion of Southeast Africa (primarily the Swahili Coast) and to its Bantu inhabitants. This word is al ...

(

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

) descent, who trace their origin to the Ottoman slave trade like the Afro-Abkhazians. Afro-Turk population is estimated to be between 5,000 and 20,000 people. Afro-Turks are different from African immigrants in Turkey, which are around 100,000 individuals.

History

Beginning several centuries ago, a number of Africans, usually via

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

and from places such as

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesArabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

and Sudan, came 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) ...

settled by the

Dalaman Dalaman is a district, as well as the central town of that district, situated on the southwestern coast of Turkey, in the Muğla Province. Dalaman Stream (''Dalaman çayı'') forms much of the western border of the district, where its neighbo ...

, Menderes and Gediz valleys,

Manavgat Manavgat is a city in the district of the Antalya Province in Turkey, from the city of Antalya. The Manavgat River has a waterfall near the city. The population of the district is 242,490 (2020 census). Geography Between the Taurus Mountains ...

and Çukurova. African quarters of 19th-century

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...

, including Sabırtaşı, Dolapkuyu, Tamaşalık, İkiçeşmelik and Ballıkuyu, are mentioned in contemporary records. Ottoman_eunuch,_1912

Some came from

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

following the

population exchange between Greece and Turkey The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey ( el, Ἡ Ἀνταλλαγή, I Antallagí, ota, مبادله, Mübâdele, tr, Mübadele) stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at ...

in 1923. They settled on the Aegean coast, mainly around İzmir. Africans in

Ayvalık Ayvalık () is a seaside town on the northwestern Aegean coast of Turkey. It is a district of Balıkesir province. The town centre is connected to Cunda Island by a causeway and is surrounded by the archipelago of Ayvalık Islands, which fac ...

declare that their ancestors from Crete spoke

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

when they came to Turkey and learned Turkish later. Afro-Turks living in İzmir celebrated the traditional spring festival ''Dana Bayramı'' ("Calf Festival") until the 1960s. ''Dana Bayramı'' has currently been revived among the younger generation of Afro-Turks. Ahmet Ali Celikten in flight suit

Ahmet Ali Çelikten, was an Ottoman warpilot during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Today

Areas with significant populations of Afro-Turks are in Turkey's Aegean and

Marmara Region The Marmara Region ( Turkish: ''Marmara Bölgesi'') is a geographical region of Turkey. Located in northwestern Turkey, it is bordered by Greece and the Aegean Sea to the west, Bulgaria and the Black Sea to the north, the Black Sea Region to th ...

, especially

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, Aydın and Muğla provinces. People of African ancestry also live in some villages and municipalities of

Antalya la, Attalensis grc, Ἀτταλειώτης , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 07xxx , area_code = (+90) 242 , registration_plate = 07 , blank_name = Licence plate ...

and Adana provinces. Some of the descendants of the African settlers remain, mixed with the rest of the population in these areas and many migrated to larger cities. Migration and assimilation make it difficult to estimate the number of Afro-Turks.Afrika'nın kapıları İzmir'e açılıyor
, ''Yeni Asır'', 21 November 2008, retrieved 25 January 2009.

Notable Afro-Turks

Arts *

Esmeray Esmeray Diriker (25 February 1949 – 25 March 2002) was an Afro-Turkish singer. Biography Esmeray, who was of Afro-Turkish descent was born in the Emirgan district of Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code ...

(1949–2002), singer * Tuğçe Güder (born 1984), adopted by Turkish parents, model and actress * Kuzgun Acar (1928–1976), sculptor * Mansur Ark, musician *

Safiye Ayla Safiye Ayla (14 July 1907 – 14 January 1998) was one of the most famous singers of Turkish classical music. Early life She was born on 14 July 1907 in Istanbul. Her father, Mısırlı Hicazîzade Hafız Abdullah Bey of Egypt, died before her ...

(1907–1998), musician * Yasemin Esmergül, actress *

Ahmet Kostarika Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

, actor * Dursune Şirin, actress * İbrahim Şirin, classical Ottoman musician * Cenk Sökmen, musician * Melis Sökmen, actress, musician ( Guinean grandmother) * Sait Sökmen, ballet dancer, choreographer (Guinean mother) * Sibel Sürel, ballerina * Ali Tınaz, actor, television presenter * Tuncay Vural, choreographer * Defne Joy Foster (1975–2011), actress, presenter (

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

father) * Mert Güler, academician, yoga instructor, wellness trainer * Tansel Öngel (born 1976), actor * Selami Şahin (born 1948), musician, singer, songwriter Sports * Fercani Şener, footballer * Ömer Besim Koşalay (1898–1956), athlete, journalist *

Vahap Özaltay Vahap Özaltay or Vehâb Özaltay (born, Beşir oğlu Vahap; in 1907, 1908 or 1909 – 10 June 1965) was a Turkish international footballer and track and field athlete. He is most notably for his service at Altay S.K., being the first professi ...

(1908–1965), footballer * Hadi Türkmen, former vice-president of the

Turkish Football Federation The Turkish Football Federation (; TFF) is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and UEFA in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team, the Turkish Footba ...

* Sadri Usluoğlu (1908–1987), basketball player and manager * Mustafa Yıldız, ''known as "Arap Mustafa"'', 1972 and 1981 Kırkpınar champion * Colin Kazim-Richards * Nazım Sangaré (born 1994), footballer *Paul Dawkins (1957-2019), basketball player *Murat Salar (born 1976), footballer, manager of SV Arminia Hannover *Bilal Başaçıkoğlu (born 1995), footballer * Erol Erdal Alkan * Muhaymin Mustafa *Kerim Frei (born 1993), footballer *Zeki Amdouni (born 2000), footballer Literature * Mustafa Olpak (1953–2016), writer and activist * Tarık Dursun K. (Kakınç), writer * Mine Söğüt, writer and columnist Politics *Ayse Bircan (born 1954), activist and writer Military * Ahmet Ali Çelikten (1883–1969), Aviation Squadrons (Ottoman Empire), Ottoman aviator * Black Musa (1880–1919), volunteer soldier at Special Organization (Ottoman Empire), Special Organization

Notes

External links

*
''Afro-Turk''
Website of the Afro-Turks' association in Ayvalık *
''Sessiz Bir Geçmişten Sesler''
Website of a research project on Afro-Turks *

''Today's Zaman'', 25 June 2008 *

article published on 27 August 2012 about the Calf Fest, the Afro-Der Association and recent developments. *

Qantara by Ekrem Eddy Güzeldere, 27.08.2012 *

Turkey's little-known African community, BBC, 07-09-2016 {{Immigration to Turkey African diaspora in Turkey, People of African descent, Turks Ethnic groups in Turkey Turkish people of African descent, African diaspora in the Middle East

History

Today

Notable Afro-Turks

See also

Notes

External links