The Turks in Bosnia and Herzegovina ( tr, , Bosnian: Turci u Bosni i Hercegovini / Турци у Босни и Херцеговини) also known as Bosnian Turks, are ethnic Turks who form the oldest

ethnic minority The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

. The Turkish community began to settle in the region in the 15th century under Ottoman rule, however, many Turks immigrated to

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

when Bosnia and Herzegovina came under

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...

rule.

History

When 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 ...

conquered the Bosnian kingdom in 1463, a significant Turkish community arrived in the region. The Turkish community grew steadily throughout the Ottoman rule of Bosnia; however, after the Ottomans were defeated in the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and def ...

(1912–13), the majority of Turks, along with other Muslims living in the region, left their homes and migrated to

as "

Muhacir Muhacir or Muhajir (from ar, مهاجر, translit=muhājir, lit=migrant) are the estimated 10 million Ottoman Muslim citizens, and their descendants born after the onset of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, mostly Turks but also Albanians ...

s" (Muslim refugees from non-Muslim countries).

Culture

In 2003 the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Law on the Protection of Rights of Members of National Minorities. According to the Law, the Turkish minority's cultural, religious, educational, social, economic, and political freedoms are protected by the State.

Language

The

Turkish language Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant sma ...

is officially recognized as a minority language of Bosnia and Herzegovina in accordance with the

European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) is a European treaty (CETS 148) adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe. However, th ...

, under Article 2, paragraph 2, of the 2010 ratification. According to the 2013 census, 1,233 people (817 males, 416 females), 990 of whom lived in the

Sarajevo Canton The Sarajevo Canton, officially the Canton of Sarajevo ( bs, Kanton Sarajevo; hr, Sarajevska županija; sr-Cyrl, Сарајевски кантон), is one of 10 cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It ...

, declared Turkish as their mother tongue whereas 1,108 (738 males, 370 females), 970 of whom lived in the Sarajevo Canton, declared themselves as ethnic Turks.

Religion

The Turkish minority practice the

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 dis ...

branch of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

but tend to be highly

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

Community

Turkish community in Bosnia is well provided, due to historical strong bond between both countries. Stari Most viewed from North

Demographics

According to the 1991 population census 267 Turks were living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the 2013 Bosnian census gave a number of 1,108, almost all in the

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of 10 autonomous cantons with their own gove ...

(1,097 people). More than eighty percent of all Turks in Bosnia and Herzegovina live in the capital

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

Noble families

Kadić family The Kadić family ( sh, Kadići) is a family of Ottoman Bosnian noble heritage (a "bey family" or sh, begovska porodica) that historically possessed land in the Bihać Municipality (a part of the historic Bosanska Krajina), especially in Golubić ...

Notable people

* Alija Izetbegović, president of

(Turkish grandmother) **children: ** Bakir Izetbegović, politician *

Aldin Mustafić Aldin is an English surname, derived from the Anglo-Saxon elements ''eald'', meaning "old", and ''wine'', meaning "friend". It may also appear as a representation of the second half of Muslim names ending in ad-Din. Probably arising from this, it ...

, a member of the Turkish minority in Bosnia and Herzegovina - wrote a book on the Bosnian language in Arabic script entitled "The Epochs of Arabic phonetic thoughts and

Arebica Arebica () is a variant of the Arabic script used to write the Serbo-Croatian language. It was used mainly between the 15th and 19th centuries and is frequently categorized as part of Aljamiado literature. Before World War I there were unsucce ...

", as part of the influence of Turkish culture in the region - i.e. in Bosnia and Herzegovina. *

Şükrü Âli Ögel Şükrü Âli Ögel (1886–1973) was a Turkish career officer, politician and the first director of the former Turkish governmental intelligence agency Milli Emniyet Hizmeti (MAH) (National Security Service), the predecessor of Milli İstihbara ...

, Turkish Army officer, politician *, painter *, politician *

Derviš Korkut Derviš Korkut (5 May 1888 – 28 August 1969) was a Bosnian Muslim scholar — a librarian, teacher, humanist and orientalist. He is the brother of the famous Bosnian translator of the Quran, Besim Korkut. Derviš Korkut is remembered ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina librarian, teacher, humanist and orientalist, he comes from a well-known family of ulema who emigrated from Turkey to Bosnia in the 16th century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turks In Bosnia And Herzegovina

Ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Muslim communities in Europe