Turkification

Turkification, Turkization, or Turkicization () describes a shift whereby populations or places receive or adopt Turkic attributes such as culture, language, history, or ethnicity. However, often this term is more narrowly applied to mean specifically Turkish rather than merely Turkic, meaning that it refers more frequently to the Ottoman Empire's policies or the Turkish nationalist policies of the Republic of Turkey toward ethnic minorities in Turkey. As the Turkic states developed and grew, there were many instances of this cultural shift.

The earliest instance of Turkification took place in Central Asia, when by the 6th century AD migration of Turkic tribes from Inner Asia caused a language shift among the Iranian peoples of the area. By the 8th century AD, the Turkification of Kashgar was completed by Qarluq Turks, who also Islamized the population.

The Turkification of Anatolia occurred in the time of the Seljuk Empire and Sultanate of Rum, when Anatolia had been a diverse and largely Greek-speaking region after previously being Hellenized.:"Anatolia had been the homeland of many peoples, the scene of many civilizations, and had served them as a bridge between three continents" "After the battle of Manzikert, there were swift and sudden changes in the ethnic features of Anatolia. Because the great Turkish migration and colonization were neither studied nor understood, the process of Turkification in Anatolia remained an enigma, and some historians ascribed these changes to the annihilation or mass conversion to Islam of the local population. While there were indeed conversions and losses of population on both sides, the inaccuracy of such conjectures, which fail to take about of migration and ethnic changes, is shown even by a general picture of events as drawn above."

Etymology

Prior to the 20th century, Anatolian, Balkan, Caucasian, and Middle Eastern regions were said to undergo Ottomanization. "Turkification" started being used interchangeably with "Ottomanization" after the rise of Turkish nationalism in the 20th century.

The term has been used in the Greek language since the 1300s or late-Byzantine era as "εκτουρκισμός", or "τούρκεμα". It literally translates to "becoming a Turk". Apart from people, it may also refer to cities conquered by the Turks or churches converted to mosques. It is more frequently used in the verb form "τουρκεύω" (''to Turkify'', ''to become Muslim or Turk'').

History

Early examples of Turkification

By 750, the Turkification of Kashgar by the Qarluq Turks was underway. The Qarluqs were ancestors of the Karakhanids, who also Islamized the population. The Iranian language of Khwarezm, a Central Asian oasis region, eventually died out as a result of Turkification.

Turkification of Central Asia

The current population of Central Asia is the result of the long and complex process that started at least 1,400 years ago. Today this region consists of mainly Turkic ethnic groups, barring Persian-speaking Tajiks, although centuries ago its native inhabitants were Iranian peoples. Turkification of the native Iranian population of Central Asia began by the 6th century A.D. partly due to migration of Turkic tribes from Inner Asia. The process of Turkification of Central Asia, besides those parts that constitute the territory of present-day Tajikistan and parts of Uzbekistan with a majority Tajik population, accelerated with the Mongol conquest of Central Asia. Mahmud al-Kashgari writes that the people who lived between Bukhara and Samarkand were Turkified Sogdians, whom he refers to as “Sogdak”.

Tajiks are considered to be the only ethnic group to have survived the process of Turkification in Central Asia. Despite their clear Iranian ethnicity, some arguments attempt to denounce Tajiks' Iranian identity, and instead link them with the descendants of Arabs raised in Iran or Turks who have lost their language under the influence of Persian civilization.

Turkification of Azerbaijan

Turkification of the non-Turkic population derives from the Turkic settlements in the area now known as Azerbaijan, which began and accelerated during the Seljuq period. The migration of Oghuz Turks from present-day Turkmenistan, which is attested by linguistic similarity, remained high through the Mongol period, since the bulk of the Ilkhanate troops were Turkic. By the Safavid period, the Turkic nature of Azerbaijan increased with the influence of the Qizilbash, an association of the Turkmen nomadic tribes that was the backbone of the Safavid Empire.

According to Soviet scholars, the Turkification of Azerbaijan was largely completed during the Ilkhanate period. Turkish scholar Faruk Sumer notes three distinct periods in which Turkification took place: Seljuq, Mongol and Post-Mongol ( Qara Qoyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu and Safavid). In the first two, Oghuz Turkic tribes advanced or were driven to Anatolia and Arran. In the last period, the Turkic elements in Iran (Oghuz, with lesser admixtures of Uyghur, Qipchaq, Qarluq as well as Turkified Mongols) were joined now by Anatolian Turks migrating back to Iran. This marked the final stage of Turkification.

Turkification of Anatolia

Anatolia was home to many different peoples in ancient times who were either natives or settlers and invaders. These different people included the Armenians, Anatolian peoples, Persians, Hurrians, Greeks, Cimmerians, Galatians, Colchians, Iberians, Arabs, Arameans, Assyrians, Corduenes, and scores of others. During the Mycenaean and Classical periods of Greek history, Greeks colonised the Western, Northern and Southern Coasts of Anatolia. Over the course of many centuries a process of Hellenization occurred throughout the interior Anatolia which was aided by the fact that Koine Greek was the ''lingua franca'' in political circles and also later became the primary liturgical language, and the similarity of some of the native languages of Anatolia to Greek (cf. Phrygian). By the 5th century the native people of Asia Minor were entirely Greek in their language and Christian in religion. These Greek-speaking Christian inhabitants of Asia Minor are known as Byzantine Greeks, although at the time they would have considered themselves to be Romans (Rhomaioi), and they formed the bulk of the Byzantine Empire's Greek-speaking population for one thousand years, from the 5th century until the fall of the Byzantine state in the 15th century. In the northeast along the Black Sea these peoples eventually formed their own state known as the Empire of Trebizond, which gave rise to the modern Pontic Greek population. In the east, near the borderlands with the Persian Empire, other native languages remained, specifically Armenian, Assyrian Aramaic, and Kurdish. Byzantine authorities routinely conducted large-scale population transfers in an effort to impose religious uniformity and quell rebellions. After the subordination of the First Bulgarian Empire in 1018, for instance, much of its army was resettled in Eastern Anatolia. The Byzantines were particularly keen to assimilate the large Armenian population. To that end, in the eleventh century, the Armenian nobility were removed from their lands and resettled throughout western Anatolia with prominent families subsumed into the Byzantine nobility, leading to numerous Byzantine generals and emperors of Armenian extraction. These resettlements spread the Armenian-speaking community deep into Asia Minor, but an unintended consequence was the loss of local military leadership along the eastern Byzantine frontier, opening the path for the inroads of Turkish invaders.

Beginning in the eleventh century, war between the Turks and Byzantines led to the deaths of many in Asia Minor, while others were enslaved and removed. As areas became depopulated, Turkic nomads moved in with their herds. However, despite the suffering of the local Christian populations at the hands of the Turks and in particular the Turkoman tribesmen, they were still an overwhelming majority of the population 50 years after the Battle of Manzikert. The Turks seem to have been aware of their numerical inferiority during this time period as evidenced by the fact many Turkish rulers went to lengths to disarm their Christian subjects. There is also evidence that the Turks resorted to kidnapping Christian children and raising them as Turks, as attested by contemporary chronicler Matthew of Edessa. Intermarriage between Turks and Greek, Armenian and Georgian natives of Anatolia was not unheard of, although the majority of these unions were between Turkish men and Christian women. The children of these unions, known as 'Mixovarvaroi', were raised as Turks and were of the Muslim faith (although there were some cases of Mixovarvaroi defecting to the Byzantines). It is likely that these unions played a role in the eventual diminishment of the Christian population in Anatolia and its transition from Greek/Christian to Turkish/Muslim.

Number of pastoralists of Turkic origin in Anatolia

The number of nomads of Turkic origin that migrated to Anatolia is a matter of discussion. According to Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi, there were 200,000 Turkmen tents in Denizli and its surrounding areas, 30,000 in Bolu and its surrounding areas. According to a Latin source, at the end of the 12th century, there were 100,000 nomadic tents in the regions of Denizli and Isparta.

According to Ottoman tax archives, in modern-day Anatolia, in the provinces of Anatolia, Karaman

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