Turks in South Africa ( tr, ) refers to the ethnic Turkish community living in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

History

Ottoman era

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

began immigrating to

during the 19th century.. In 1889, 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) ...

sent and maintained Honorary Consulates in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

and

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. By April 1914, Mehmet Remzi Bey was assigned as Consul General of the Ottoman Empire to Johannesburg; he died in 1916 and was buried in the Braamfontein cemetery in Johannesburg. On 21 November 2011, his remains were transferred to a memorial garden at the Nizamiye Mosque in Johannesburg. At the request of the members of the sizeable community of Muslim Cape Malays living in the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

, the Ottoman government sent Abu Bakr Effendi of

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

descent to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

to teach as well as preach Islam and help settle religious matters among Muslims. His descendants still live in various parts of South Africa.

Modern era

At the end of the 1980s, Turkey and South Africa signed some business deals. In 2008, they invested in energy issues to South Africa.

Notable people

* Karin Melis Mey *

Esmé Emmanuel Esmé Emmanuel Berg (born 14 June 1947) is a former professional tennis player from South Africa. Emmanuel was the girls' singles champion at the 1965 French Championships (tennis), 1965 French Championships. She won a doubles gold medal at the 1 ...

Tatamkhulu Afrika Ismail Joubert (7 December 1920 – 23 December 2002), commonly known as Tatamkhulu Afrika, which is Xhosa for ''Grandfather Africa'', was a South African poet and writer. His first novel, ''Broken Earth'' was published when he was seventeen (u ...

* Abu Bakr Effendi

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Turkish Embassy in South Africa

One of the new competitors in Africa: Turkey
{{Turkish people by country

Ethnic groups in South Africa Islam in South Africa