Turkic Christians

Gravestone from Kirgistan (thirteenth/fourteenth century) with Syriac Christian inscriptions

The Christian Turkic peoples represent an intersection of Turkic and Christian cultural and historical dynamics, particularly within the context of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Historically, the most prominent group within this category were the Bulgars. Currently, The major Christian-Turkic peoples include the Chuvash of Chuvashia, and the Gagauz (Gökoğuz) of Moldova and Yakuts of the Sakha Republic. The vast majority of Chuvash and the Gagauz are Eastern Orthodox Christians.[1][2][3]

The Bulgars were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between the 5th and 7th centuries.[4] They became known as nomadic equestrians in the Volga-Ural region, but some researchers believe that their ethnic roots can be traced to Central Asia.[5] The Bulgars converted to Christianity during the early medieval period, around the 10th century. Under Khan Boris I (reigned 852–889), they officially adopted Christianity in 865 and embraced Eastern Orthodoxy in 879.[6] Their Christian identity was shaped by a blend of Byzantine and local Eastern Christian traditions, which significantly influenced their cultural and political relations with neighboring states.[6]

Between the 9th and 14th centuries, the Church of the East, often referred to as the Nestorian Church, had a notable presence among Turkic peoples, including the Naimans, a prominent Turkic tribe. Between the 9th and 14th centuries, it represented the world's largest Christian denomination in terms of geographical extent, and in the Middle Ages was one of the three major Christian powerhouses of Eurasia alongside Latin Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy.[7] It established dioceses and communities stretching from the Mediterranean Sea and today's Iraq and Iran, to India (the Saint Thomas Syrian Christians of Kerala), the Mongol kingdoms and Turkic tribes in Central Asia, and China during the Tang dynasty (7th–9th centuries). This period marked a significant expansion of the Church's influence into Central Asia and beyond.[8] It even revived in Gaochang and expanded in Xinjiang in the Yuan dynasty period.[9][10][11] The rise of Islam in the region and the decline of Mongol power contributed to the persecution and eventual disappearance of the Church of the East from Central Asia.[12][13]

## Christian-Turkic peoples

[edit]

Currently, The major Christian-Turkic peoples include the Chuvash of Chuvashia, and the Gagauz (Gökoğuz) of Moldova and Yakuts of the Sakha Republic. The vast majority of Chuvash and the Gagauz are Eastern Orthodox Christians.[1][14][2]

#### Gagauz people

[edit]

Main article: Gagauz people

Saint John the Baptist Cathedral in Gagauzia serves as a central church for the Gagauz community

The Gagauzare a Turkic ethnic group[15] native to southern Moldova (Gagauzia, Taraclia District, Basarabeasca District) and southwestern Ukraine (Budjak).[16] Gagauz are mostly Eastern Orthodox Christians.[17] The term Gagauz is also often used as a collective naming of Turkic people living in the Balkans, speaking the Gagauz language, a language separated from Balkan Gagauz Turkish. The Turkic thesis is divided into two main subgroups. The first posits that the Gagauz are descendants of the Pechenegs and Kumans, who migrated south from the north into Bulgaria, where they mingled with the Oghuz Turks. This theory could explain their Christian faith; however, it is important to note that there are no signs of a Kipchak origin in the Gagauz language, which is exclusively Western Oghuz and classified as a Turkish dialect.[18] The second subgroup suggests a purely Oghuz origin. It argues that a group of Seljuk Turks from Anatolia migrated to the Byzantine Empire in the 13th century, adopted Christianity, and were settled by the Byzantine Emperor in Dobruja, an area that is now part of Bulgaria and Romania.[19]

Most of Orthodox Gagauzs belong to the Moldovan Orthodox Church (formally known as Metropolis of Chișinău and All Moldova), which is subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church. There have been a number of attempts from the 1930s into the 21st century to tie the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate with the ethnically Turkic, Greek Orthodox Gagauz minority in Bessarabia.[20]

#### Chuvash people

[edit]

Main article: Chuvash people

Vvedensky Cathedral, is a key church for the Chuvash community

The Chuvash people are a Turkic ethnic group, a branch of the Ogurs, native to an area stretching from the Idel-Ural (Volga-Ural) region to Siberia.[21] Most of them live in Chuvashia and the surrounding areas, although Chuvash communities may be found throughout the Russian Federation. They speak Chuvash, a Turkic language that diverged from other languages in the family more than a millennium ago. Among the Chuvash believers, the majority are Eastern Orthodox Christians although a minority follow Sunni Islam or Vattisen Yaly. The traditional religion of the Chuvash of Russia, while containing many ancient Turkic concepts, also shares some elements with Zoroastrianism, Khazar Judaism, and Islam. Most Chuvash converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the latter half of the 19th century,[14] leading to the alignment of their festivals and rites with Orthodox Christian observances and the replacement of traditional practices with Christian ones. Despite this, a minority of Chuvash continue to practice their ancestral faith.[22]

#### Kryashen people

[edit]

Main article: Kryashens

Tikhvinskaya church Kazan, is a key church for the Kryashen community

Kryashens are a sub-group of the Volga Tatars, with the vast majority being Orthodox Christians.[23] A policy of Christianization of the Muslim Tatars was enacted by the Russian authorities, beginning in 1552, resulting in the emergence of Kryashens (keräşen / keräşennär), also known as "Christianized Tatars".[24] During the 16th century, Ivan the Terrible Christianized many Volga Tatars, leading to further baptisms and conversions under later Russian rulers and Orthodox clergy until the mid-eighteenth century.[25] Kryahsen Tatars live in much of the Volga-Ural area. Today, they tend to be assimilated among the Russians and other Tatar groups.[26]

During Soviet times, an alternative version for the ethnogenesis of Kryashens emerged, which suggested that their ancestors adopted Christianity voluntarily during times of Volga Bulgaria. Historian Maxim Glukhov connected their roots to Keraites.[27][28]

The Kryashens had little religious and educational infrastructure in the 16th and 17th centuries. However, during the 18th century they were given many privileges and facilities were built or accommodated for the Kryashens. The first Tatar school for converts was established in 1863 while the first seminary was founded in 1872.

#### Other Christian-Turkic peoples

[edit]

The Nağaybäk, an indigenous Turkic people in Russia, are predominantly Christian, having been largely converted to Christianity during the 18th century.[29] During the 19th century, many Khakas accepted the Russian ways of life, and most were converted en masse to Russian Orthodox Christianity.[30]

### Turkophone Christian groups

[edit]

An inscription in Karamanli Turkish on the entrance of the former Greek Orthodox church of Agia Eleni in Sille, near Konya

The Karamanlides (Greek: Καραμανλήδες, romanized: Karamanlídes; Turkish: Karamanlılar), also known as Karamanli Greeks[31][32][33] or simply Karamanlis, are a traditionally Turkish-speaking Greek Orthodox people native to the region of Karaman in Anatolia. Some scholars traditionally regard Karamanlides as Turkish-speaking Greeks,[31][34][35] though their exact ethnic origin is disputed; they could either be descendants of Byzantine Greeks who were linguistically Turkified, or of Christian Turkic soldiers who settled in the region after the Turkic conquests, or even both.[36] The Karamanlides were forced to leave Anatolia during the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey. Today, a majority of the population live in Greece and have fully integrated into Greek society.

The Urums (/ʊəˈruːm/, /ʊˈruːm/; Greek: Ουρούμ, Urúm; Turkish and Crimean Tatar: Urum, IPA: [uˈɾum]) are several groups of Turkic-speaking Greek Orthodox people native to Crimea. The emergence and development of the Urum identity took place from 13th to the 17th centuries. Bringing together the Crimean Greeks along with Greek-speaking Crimean Goths, with other indigenous groups that had long inhabited the region, resulting in a gradual transformation of their collective identity.[37]

### Minorities

[edit]

#### In Turkey

[edit]

Main articles: Christianity in Turkey and Protestantism in Turkey

St. John the Evangelist's Anglican Church in İzmir, is a key church for the ethnic Christian Turkish community

There is an ethnic Turkish Protestant Christian community in Turkey numbering around ~10,000,[38][39] mostly adherents, and most of them coming from a Muslim Turkish background.[40][41][42][43] In 2003, the Milliyet newspaper claimed that 35,000 Turkish Muslims had converted to Christianity.[44] A 2015 study estimates about 4,500 Christians are from a previous Muslim background in the country.[45] While other sources estimated the number of the Turkish who converted to Christianity (most of them secret worshippers) between 4,000–6,000, or more than those numbers.[46][47] Though, there are several significant and major Protestant churches and worship sites in Turkey protected legally, most of them are located in the 4 large cities of Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara and Bursa.

#### In Azerbaijan

[edit]

Main article: Christianity in Azerbaijan

Some Azerbaijanis of the Republic of Azerbaijan are believed to be descended from the inhabitants of Caucasian Albania, an ancient country located in the eastern Caucasus region, and various Iranian peoples which settled the region.[48] They claim there is evidence that, due to repeated invasions and migrations, the aboriginal Caucasian population may have gradually been culturally and linguistically assimilated, first by Iranian peoples, such as the Persians,[49] and later by the Oghuz Turks. Considerable information has been learned about the Caucasian Albanians, including their language, history, early conversion to Christianity, and relations with the Armenians and Georgians, under whose strong religious and cultural influence the Caucasian Albanians came in the coming centuries.[50][51] Christian Azerbaijanis number around 5,000 people in the Republic of Azerbaijan and consist mostly of recent converts.[52][53]

#### In Central Asia

[edit]

According to 2009 national census 39,172 ethnic Kazakhs are Christians (0.38% of all Kazakhstani Kazakhs).[54] A 2015 study estimates some 19,000 Christians from a Muslim background residing in Kyrgyzstan, though not all are necessarily citizens of Kyrgyzstan.[55] While other scholars estimated the total number of Muslim Kyrgyz converts to Christianity between 25,000[56] to 50,000, although the government disputes that figure.[57] Exact numbers of Muslim Kyrgyz converts to Christianity vary but an estimate of around 20,000 is generally accepted among scholars.[58] A 2015 study estimates some 10,000 Muslim Uzbek converted to Christianity, most of them belonging to some sort of evangelical or charismatic Protestant community.[59] According to 2009 national census 1,794 Uzbeks in Kazakhstan are Christians.[60] In Russia there are some long-term Uzbek workers who have converted to Eastern Orthodoxy through missionaries.[61]

#### In Iraq

[edit]

A small minority of the Iraqi Turkmens are Catholics,[62][63][64] it is estimated their number at about 30,000.[65] They are not to be confused with the Citadel Christians. The Turkmen Bible Partnership translated the New Testament into the Iraqi Turkmen dialect and printed and distributed 2,000 copies of it in 2021.[66]

## Christian Turkic churches

[edit]

Main article: Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate

Ahmet the Calligrapher a Christian saint

The Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate (Turkish: Bağımsız Türk Ortodoks Patrikhanesi), also referred to as the Turkish Orthodox Church (Turkish: Türk Ortodoks Kilisesi), is an unrecognized autocephalous Eastern Orthodox organisation based in Turkey, descending from Turkish-speaking Eastern Orthodox Christians. It was founded in Kayseri by Pavlos Karahisarithis, who became the patriarch and took the name of Papa Eftim I, in 1922.[67]

The start of the Patriarchate can be traced to the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922). In 1922 a pro-Turkish Eastern Orthodox group, the General Congregation of the Anatolian Turkish Orthodox (Turkish: Umum Anadolu Türk Ortodoksları Cemaatleri), was set up with the support from the Orthodox bishop of Havza, as well as a number of other congregations[68] representing a genuine movement among the Turkish-speaking, Eastern Orthodox Christian population of Anatolia,[67] who wished to remain both Eastern Orthodox and Turkish.[69] There were calls to establish a new Patriarchate with Turkish as the preferred language of Christian worship.[70] Unlike most Greek Orthodox Christians in Turkey, they identified themselves as Turkish rather than Greek and supported Kemal Atatürk.[71]

On 15 September 1922 the Autocephalous Orthodox Patriarchate of Anatolia was founded in Kayseri by Pavlos Karahisarithis, a supporter of the General Congregation of the Anatolian Turkish Orthodox.[67] On 6 June 1924, in a conference in the Church of the Virgin Mary (Meryem Ana in Turkish) in Galata, it was decided to transfer the headquarters of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate from Kayseri to Istanbul. In the same session it was also decided that the Church of Virgin Mary would become the headquarter of the new Patriarchate of the Turkish Orthodox Church.[67]

There have been a number of attempts from the 1930s into the 21st century to tie the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate with the ethnically Turkic, Greek Orthodox Gagauz minority in Bessarabia.[72] A similar project was put into motion in October 2018, when the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited the Republic of Moldova and toured the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia.[73]

## See also

[edit]

* Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate
* General Congregation of the Anatolian Turkish Orthodox
* Karamanlides
* Turkic peoples

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Menz, Astrid. (2007). The Gagauz Between Christianity and Turkishness. 10.5771/9783956506925-123.
2. ^ a b Lipka, Michael (22 May 2022). "The Gagauz: 'Christian Turks' between two worlds". TRT World.
3. ^ "The Gagauz Between Christianity and Turkishness" (PDF). Georgia State University. "What makes the Gagauz different from the other Turkish groups in the Balkan countries is the fact that they are Orthodox Christians."
4. ^ Gi︠u︡zelev, Vasil (1979). The Proto-Bulgarians: Pre-history of Asparouhian Bulgaria text. pp. 15, 33, 38.
5. ^ Hyun Jin Kim (2013). The Huns, Rome and the Birth of Europe. Cambridge University Press. pp. 58–59, 150–155, 168, 204, 243. ISBN 9781107009066.
6. ^ a b Waldman, Carl; Mason, Catherine (2006). Encyclopedia of European Peoples. Infobase Publishing. p. 108\. ISBN 9781438129181.
7. ^ Winkler, Dietmar (2009). Hidden Treasures And Intercultural Encounters: Studies On East Syriac Christianity In China And Central Asia. LIT Verlag Münster. ISBN 978-3-643-50045-8.
8. ^ "景教艺术在西域之发现". Retrieved 18 March 2015.
9. ^ 高昌回鹘与环塔里木多元文化的融合 Archived 17 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
10. ^ "唐代中围景教与景教本部教会的关系" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 November 2011.
11. ^ "景教在西域的传播". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
12. ^ "新闻_星岛环球网". Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
13. ^ "7–11 世紀景教在陸上絲綢之路的傳播" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 December 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
14. ^ a b Cole, Jeffrey (2011). Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 74\. ISBN 978-1-59884-302-6.
15. ^ Menz, Astrid (2006). "The Gagauz". In Kuban, Doğan (ed.). The Turkic speaking peoples. Prestel. ISBN 978-3-7913-3515-5.
16. ^ "Searching for the Origin of Gagauzes: Inferences from Y-Chromosome Analysis" (PDF). Medgenetics.ru. 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
17. ^ "The Gagauz Between Christianity and Turkishness" (PDF). Georgia State University. "What makes the Gagauz different from the other Turkish groups in the Balkan countries is the fact that they are Orthodox Christians."
18. ^ "The Gagauz Between Christianity and Turkishness" (PDF). Georgia State University. "What makes the Gagauz different from the other Turkish groups in the Balkan countries is the fact that they are Orthodox Christians."
19. ^ "The Gagauz Between Christianity and Turkishness" (PDF). Georgia State University. "What makes the Gagauz different from the other Turkish groups in the Balkan countries is the fact that they are Orthodox Christians."
20. ^ The Political Role of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate (so-called) by Dr. Racho Donef
21. ^ "Chuvash". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020.
22. ^ Guide to Russia:Chuvash Archived 1 May 2005 at the Wayback Machine
23. ^ Akiner, Shirin (1986). Islamic peoples of the Soviet Union: with an appendix on the non-Muslim Turkic peoples of the Soviet Union: an historical and statistical handbook (2nd ed.). London: KPI. pp. 431–432. ISBN 0-7103-0188-X.<
24. ^ Danier R. Brower; Edward J. Lazzerini (2001). Russia's Orient: Imperial Borderlands and Peoples, 1700-1917. Indiana University Press. p. 271\. ISBN 0-253-21113-1.
25. ^ Yemelianova, Galina M. (2002). Russia and Islam: A Historical Survey. Palgrave. pp. 36–41. ISBN 0-333-68354-4.
26. ^ Bennigsen, Alexandre (1986). Muslims of the Soviet empire : a guide. Wimbush, S. Enders. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 234\. ISBN 0-253-33958-8.
27. ^ Татары / Отв. ред. Р. К. Уразманова, С. В. Чешко. — М.: Наука, 2001. — 583 с. — (Народы и культуры).
28. ^ Глухов М. С. Tatarica. Энциклопедия. — Казань: Ватан, 1997. С.328.
29. ^ Akiner, Shirin (1986). Islamic Peoples Of The Soviet Union. Routledge. p. 100\. ISBN 978-1-136-14274-1.
30. ^ Stepanoff, Charles (January 2013). "Drums and virtual space in Khakas shamanism". Gradhiva. 17 (1): 144–169. doi:10.4000/gradhiva.2649.
31. ^ a b Ilıcak & Varjabedian 2021, p. 23 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFIlıcakVarjabedian2021 (help): "Turkophone Greeks are called Karamanli Greeks or Karamanlides, and their language and literature is called Karamanli Turkish or Karamanlidika, but the scholarly literature has no equivalent terms for Turkophone Armenians."
32. ^ Erol, Merih (2015). Greek Orthodox Music in Ottoman Istanbul: Nation and Community in the Era of Reform. Indiana University Press. p. 6\. ISBN 978-0-253-01842-7. "In the bilingual and bi-musical song anthologies published by the Karamanli Greeks of Anatolia, Turkish melodies were transcribed in the reformed Byzantine notation, and Turkish texts were printed in Greek script."
33. ^ Yildirim, Onur (2007). Diplomacy and Displacement: Reconsidering the Turco-Greek Exchange of Populations, 1922–1934. Routledge. p. 62\. ISBN 978-1-136-60010-4. "Here the term "Christians" should be read as referring specifically to the remaining Armenian groups and perhaps Karamanli Greeks in the interior of Anatolia, who had not yet been displaced."
34. ^ Nagel Publishers (1968). Turkey. Nagel. p. 615\. OCLC 3060049. "The Karaman region was for a long time inhabited by Turkish-speaking Orthodox Greeks who wrote Turkish in the Greek script. These Greeks are called Karamanians."
35. ^ Daly, Michael (1988). "The Turkish legacy: an exhibition of books and manuscripts to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the death of the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk". Bodleian Library: 40. ISBN 978-1-85124-016-6. "… a large number of works were printed in Turkish using the Greek and Armenian alphabets. These were intended for those ethnic Greeks and Armenians who, while retaining their religious allegiance to their respective churches, had lost all knowledge of their own languages and had been assimilated linguistically by their Muslim Turkish neighbours. Turcophone Greeks were known as Karamanlides, after the province of Karaman where many of them lived, although there were also large communities in Istanbul and in the Black Sea region, and printed or manuscript works in Turkish using the Greek alphabet are known as Karamanlidika."
36. ^ Mackridge, Peter (2010). Language and National Identity in Greece, 1766-1976. OUP Oxford. p. 64\. ISBN 978-0-19-959905-9.
37. ^ Skopeteas, Stavros (2013). The Caucasian Urums and the Urum Language. Bielefeld University.
38. ^ "Carlos Madrigal Türkiye'deki Protestanların Sorunu - YouTube". YouTube.
39. ^ "Christian Converts Live In Fear in Intolerant Turkey". Der Spiegel. 23 April 2007. "The liberal newspaper Radikal estimates that there are about 10,000 converts in Turkey, expressing surprise that they could be seen as a "threat" in a country of 73 million people, 99 percent of whom are Muslim."
40. ^ Turkish Protestants still face "long path" to religious freedom (2011)
41. ^ Christians in eastern Turkey worried despite church opening (2011)
42. ^ Muslim Nationalism and the New Turks
43. ^ TURKEY: Protestant church closed down
44. ^ "Fearing a new holy empire: Just when Turks are worried about Christians, here comes the Pope". Maclean's. 4 December 2006. "More tangibly, figures published in January 2004 in Turkey's mainstream Milliyet newspaper claimed that 35,000 Muslims, the vast majority of them in Istanbul, had converted to Christianity in 2003. While impossible to confirm (the Turkish government does not release these figures), the rate of conversion, according to Christian leaders in Turkey, is on the rise."
45. ^ Johnstone, Patrick; Miller, Duane Alexander (2015). "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census". IJRR. 11 (10): 1–19. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
46. ^ report, MRG international (2007). A Quest for Equality: Minorities in Turkey. Minority Rights Group International. p. 13\. ISBN 9781904584636. "The estimated number of Protestants in Turkey is 4,000-6,000, most of whom live in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Protestantism has been a part of Turkey's history for 200 years, first spreading among the non-Muslim minorities. Conversion from Islam to Protestantism was very rare until the 1960s, but Muslim converts currently constitute the majority of Protestants.."
47. ^ White, Jenny (2014). Muslim Nationalism and the New Turks: Updated Edition. Princeton University Press. p. 82\. ISBN 9781400851256. "a number that vastly exceeds the size of present-day Turkish-speaking Protestant churches, of whose 3,000 members are converts from Islam"
48. ^ Sourdel, D. (1959). "V. MINORSKY, A History of Sharvan and Darband in the 10th–11th centuries, 1 vol. in-8°, 187 p. et 32 p. (texte arabe), Cambridge (Heffer and Sons), 1958". Arabica. 6 (3): 326–327. doi:10.1163/157005859x00208. ISSN 0570-5398.
49. ^ Istorii︠a︡ Vostoka : v shesti tomakh. Rybakov, R. B., Kapit︠s︡a, Mikhail Stepanovich., Рыбаков, Р. Б., Капица, Михаил Степанович., Institut vostokovedenii︠a︡ (Rossiĭskai︠a︡ akademii︠a︡ nauk), Институт востоковедения (Rossiĭskai︠a︡ akademii︠a︡ nauk). Moskva: Izdatelʹskai︠a︡ firma "Vostochnai︠a︡ lit-ra" RAN. 1995–2008. ISBN 5-02-018102-1. OCLC 38520460.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: others (link)
50. ^ Weitenberg, J.J.S. (1984). "Thomas J. SAMUELIAN (ed.), Classical Armenian Culture. Influences and Creativity. Proceedings of the first Dr. H. Markarian Conference on Armenian culture (University of Pennsylvania Armenian Texts and Studies 4), Scholars Press, Chico, CA 1982, xii and 233 pp., paper $ 15,75 (members $ 10,50), cloth $ 23,50 (members $ 15,75)". Journal for the Study of Judaism. 15 (1–2): 198–199. doi:10.1163/157006384x00411. ISSN 0047-2212.
51. ^ Suny, Ronald G.; Stork, Joe (July 1988). "Ronald G. Suny: What Happened in Soviet Armenia?". Middle East Report (153): 37–40. doi:10.2307/3012134. ISSN 0899-2851. JSTOR 3012134.
52. ^ "5,000 Azerbaijanis adopted Christianity" (in Russian). Day.az. 7 July 2007. Archived from the original on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
53. ^ "Christian Missionaries Becoming Active in Azerbaijan" (in Azerbaijani). Tehran Radio. 19 June 2011. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
54. ^ Итоги национальной переписи населения 2009 года (Summary of the 2009 national census) (in Russian). Agency of Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Archived from the original on 12 June 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
55. ^ Johnstone, Patrick; Miller, Duane Alexander (2015). "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census". IJRR. 11 (10): 1–19. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
56. ^ Religion and the Secular State in Kyrgyzstan
57. ^ Kyrgyzstan keeps a tight grip on religion
58. ^ Akçalı, Pınar (2013). Politics, Identity and Education in Central Asia: Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. Routledge. ISBN 9781135627676.
59. ^ Johnstone, Patrick; Miller, Duane Alexander (2015). "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census". IJRR. 11 (10): 1–19. Archived from the original on 13 March 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
60. ^ Итоги национальной переписи населения 2009 года. Национальный состав, вероисповедание и владения языками в Республике Казахстан[permanent dead link]
61. ^ Kemper, Michael (2019). Russia's Islam and Orthodoxy beyond the Institutions: Languages of Conversion, Competition and Convergence. Routledge. ISBN 9781351022408.
62. ^ al-Lami, Mina (July 21, 2014). "Iraq: The minorities of Nineveh". BBC. Archived from the original on May 14, 2020.
63. ^ Shams, Alex. "Iraq's Turkmen mobilise for a post-ISIL future". Al Jazeera.
64. ^ www.fildisiajans.com.tr, Fildişi Ajans, Danışmanlık ve Yazılım. "ORSAM-Center for Middle Eastern Studies". ORSAM-Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Retrieved 2023-09-19.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
65. ^ Hann, Geoff (2015). Iraq: The ancient sites and Iraqi Kurdistan. Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 9781841624884. "There are estimated to be some three million Turkmen in Iraq, but despite ... There are also about 30,000 Christian 'Catholic'Turks and some Jews living in Iraq..."
66. ^ "Home | Turkmen Bible Partnership". Turkmen Bible Partne. Retrieved 2023-09-19.
67. ^ a b c d "The Political Role of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate (so-called)". www.atour.com. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
68. ^ Özdalga, Elisabeth (2006-03-07). The Last Dragoman: Swedish Orientalist Johannes Kolmodin as Scholar, Activist, and Diplomat. I. B. Tauris. p. 152\. ISBN 978-91-86884-14-7.
69. ^ Luffin, Xavier (2000). "Baba Eftim et l'Église orthodoxe turque: De l'usage politique d'une institution religieuse". Journal of Eastern Christian Studies. 52 (1–2): 73–95. doi:10.2143/JECS.52.1.565615.
70. ^ Özdalga, Elisabeth (2006-03-07). The Last Dragoman: Swedish Orientalist Johannes Kolmodin as Scholar, Activist, and Diplomat. I. B. Tauris. p. 153\. ISBN 978-91-86884-14-7.
71. ^ Page 58, The last dragoman: the Swedish orientalist Johannes Kolmodin as scholar, Elisabeth Özdalga
72. ^ The Political Role of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate (so-called) by Dr. Racho Donef
73. ^ Abdullah Bozkurt (5 February 2019). "Turkish intel agency-linked bogus Orthodox church campaigns against ecumenical patriarch". NordicMonitor.com. Retrieved 2 June 2020.

* v
* t
* e

Turkic topics

Languages|

* Afshar
* Altai
* Northern
* Southern
* Äynu
* Azerbaijani
* Bashkir
* Bulgar
* Chagatai
* Chulym
* Chuvash
* Crimean Tatar
* Cuman
* Dolgan
* Fuyü Gïrgïs
* Gagauz
* Ili Turki
* Karachay-Balkar
* Karaim
* Karakalpak
* Karamanli Turkish
* Kazakh
* Khakas
* Khalaj
* Khazar
* Khorasani Turkic
* Kipchak
* Krymchak
* Kumyk
* Kipchak languages
* Kyrgyz
* Nogai
* Old Turkic
* Ottoman Turkish
* Pecheneg
* Qashqai
* Sakha/Yakut
* Salar
* Shor
* Siberian Tatar
* Tatar
* Tofa
* Turkish
* Turkmen
* Tuvan
* Urum
* Uyghur
* Uzbek
* Western Yugur

| Alphabets|

* Old Turkic
* Common Turkic
* Cyrillic
* Old Uyghur
* Persian

|

Peoples|

* Afshars
* Altaians
* Chelkans, Kumandins, Telengits, Teleuts, Tubalars
* Azerbaijanis
* in Iran, Armenia, Georgia1
* Balkars
* Bashkirs
* Chulyms
* Chuvash
* Crimean Karaites
* Crimean Tatars
* Dolgans
* Gagauz
* Karachays
* Karakalpaks
* Kazakhs
* in China1
* Khakas
* Khalaj
* Khorasani Turks
* Krymchaks
* Kyrgyz
* in China1
* Kumyks
* Naimans
* Nogais
* Qarai Turks
* Qashqai
* Salar
* Shors
* Siberian Tatars
* Baraba Tatars
* Tatars
* Astrakhan, Chinese, Lipka, Kryashens, Mishar, Nağaybäk, Volga
* Tofalar
* Turkmens
* Afghan, Iranian1
* Turkish
* in Abkhazia, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Crete, Cyprus, Dodecanese, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya, North Macedonia, Meskhetia (Ahiska), Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Syria, Tunisia, Western Thrace, Yemen1
* Tuvans
* Uyghurs
* Uzbeks
* in Afghanistan1
* Yakuts (Sakha)
* Yugurs

| Extinct Turkic groups|

* Bulaqs
* Bulgars
* Cumans
* Dughlats
* Göktürks
* Karluks
* Khazars
* Kimek
* Kipchaks
* K'o-sa
* Oghuz Turks
* Shatuo
* Türgesh
* Uzes

|

Politics|

* Grey Wolves
* Kemalism
* Burkhanism
* Jadid
* Pan-Turkism
* Turkesism
* Turanism (Hungarian)

Origins|

* Turkestan
* Mongolia
* History
* Timeline of the Göktürks
* Timeline 500–1300
* Migration
* Turkification
* Nomadic empire
* Turco-Mongol
* Tian Shan / Altai Mountains
* Otuken
* Oğuz

Locations|

| Sovereign states|

* Azerbaijan
* Kazakhstan
* Kyrgyzstan
* Northern Cyprus2
* Turkey
* Turkmenistan
* Uzbekistan

|

Autonomous areas|

* Altai Republic
* Bashkortostan
* Chuvashia
* Crimea
* Gagauzia
* Kabardino-Balkaria
* Karachay-Cherkessia
* Karakalpakstan
* Khakassia
* Nakhchivan
* Sakha
* Tatarstan
* Tuva
* Xinjiang

Studies|

* Old Turkic script
* Proto-Turkic language
* Turkology

Religions|

* Turkic mythology
* Tengrism
* Shamanism
* Aiyy Faith
* Tibetan Buddhism
* Islam
* Alevism
* Batiniyya
* Bayramiye
* Bektashi Order
* Burkhanism
* Christianity
* Hurufism
* Khalwati order
* Malamatiyya
* Qadiri
* Qalandariyya
* Rifaʽi*
* Safaviyya
* Zahediyeh
* Vattisen Yaly

Traditional sports|

* Kyz kuu
* Jereed
* Kokpar
* Jigit
* Chovgan

Organizations|

* Organization of Turkic States
* International Organization of Turkic Culture (TÜRKSOY)
* Parliamentary Assembly (TURKPA)
* Turkic Academy
* Organization of the Eurasian Law Enforcement Agencies with Military Status (TAKM)
* World Turks Qurultai

1These are traditional areas of settlement; the Turkic group has been living in the listed country/region for centuries and should not be confused with modern diasporas.
2State with limited international recognition.

* v
* t
* e

Eastern Christianity

Cultural area of Christian traditions that developed since Early Christianity in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, North and East Africa, Asia Minor, South India, and parts of the Far East.

Main
divisions|

| Communions|

* Eastern Orthodox Church
* Oriental Orthodox Churches
* Eastern Catholic Churches
* Assyrian Church of the East
* Ancient Church of the East

|

Independent Churches/Communions|

* Old Believers
* Spiritual Christianity
* True Orthodox churches
* Tolstoyans

Protestantism|

* Eastern Protestantism

Christ Pantocrator (circa 1261) in Hagia Sophia

History|

* Christianization of Armenia
* Christianization of Georgia
* Roman Empire/Byzantine Empire
* Copts
* Proto-orthodoxy
* Ecumenical council
* Heresies
* Nestorianism
* Iconoclasm
* Paulicianism
* Bogomilism
* Church of the East
* China
* India
* Mongols
* Oriental Orthodox Churches
* Council of Chalcedon
* Saint Thomas Christians/Malankara Church
* Arab Christians
* Antiochian Greek Christians
* Melkite
* Ghassanids
* Christianization of Bulgaria
* Christianization of Kievan Rus'
* Turkic Christians
* Eastern Orthodox Church
* East–West Schism
* Raskol
* Moscow–Constantinople schisms
* 15th–16th centuries schism
* 1996 schism
* 2018 schism

Scriptures|

* Canon
* Old Testament
* New Testament
* Deuterocanon
* Septuagint
* Peshitta

Theology|

* Hesychasm
* Icon
* Apophaticism
* Filioque clause
* Miaphysitism
* Dyophysitism
* Nestorianism
* Theosis
* Theoria
* Phronema
* Philokalia
* Praxis
* Theotokos
* Hypostasis
* Ousia
* Essence–energies distinction
* Metousiosis

Worship|

* Sign of the cross
* Divine Liturgy
* Iconography
* Asceticism
* Omophorion

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template