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

ethnic minority The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

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

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

when Bosnia and Herzegovina came under

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

rule.

History

When the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

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 were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

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

as "

Muhacir The Muhacirs are estimated to be millions of Ottoman Muslim citizens and their descendants born after the onset of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Muhacirs are primarily consist of Turks but also Albanian, Bosniaks, Circassians, Cri ...

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 known as 'Turkish of Turkey') is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, a member of Oghuz languages, Oghuz branch with around 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and one of two official languag ...

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, t ...

, 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 (; ; ), is one of the ten cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its cantonal seat is the city of Sarajevo, also the capital city of Bosnia and Herzeg ...

, 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 and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

branch of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

but tend to be highly

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

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 (Serbo-Croatian: ''Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine'' / ''Федерација Босне и Херцеговине'') is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities composing Bo ...

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

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

Noble families

* Kadić family

Notable people

Alija Izetbegović Alija Izetbegović (; 8 August 1925 – 19 October 2003) was a Bosnian politician, Islamic philosophy, Islamic philosopher and author, who in 1992 became the first Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, president of the Presidency ...

, president of the presidency of

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

Aldin Mustafić Aldin is a masculine given name and surname. In the Balkans, Aldin is popular among Bosniaks in the former Yugoslav nations. The name is a modification to the suffix component ad-Din, and it holds the same meanings of religion, faith, creed. ...

, 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 (عربٖىڄا ,آرەبـٖٮڄآ; ) is a variant of the Perso-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 literatu ...

", as part of the influence of Turkish culture in the region - i.e. in Bosnia and Herzegovina. * Şükrü Âli Ögel, Turkish Army officer, politician *, painter *, politician * Derviš Korkut, 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. * Senad Hadžifejzović, Bosnian journalist, news anchor and TV host

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turks In Bosnia And Herzegovina

Ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Muslim communities in Europe