Turkic Christians

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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]

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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[5]

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.[6] 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.[7] It even revived in Gaochang and expanded in Xinjiang in the Yuan dynasty period.[8][9][10] 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.[11][12]

## Christian-Turkic peoples

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Saint John the Baptist Cathedral in Gagauzia

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][13][2] 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,[13] 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.[14]

Kryashens are a sub-group of the Volga Tatars, with the vast majority being Orthodox Christians.[15] The Nağaybäk, an indigenous Turkic people in Russia, are predominantly Christian, having been largely converted to Christianity during the 18th century.[16] Many Volga Tatars were Christianized by Ivan the Terrible during the 16th century, and continued to Christianized under subsequent Russian rulers and Orthodox clergy up to the mid-eighteenth century.[17]

### Turkophone Christian groups

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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[18][19][20] 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,[18][21][22] 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.[23] 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.[24]

## Christian Turkic churches

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Main article: Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate

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.[25]

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[26] representing a genuine movement among the Turkish-speaking, Eastern Orthodox Christian population of Anatolia[25] who wished to remain both Eastern Orthodox and Turkish.[27] There were calls to establish a new Patriarchate with Turkish as the preferred language of Christian worship.[28]

## See also

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

## References

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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. ^ Gi︠u︡zelev, Vasil (1979). The Proto-Bulgarians: Pre-history of Asparouhian Bulgaria text. pp. 15, 33, 38.
4. ^ 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.
5. ^ a b Waldman, Carl; Mason, Catherine (2006). Encyclopedia of European Peoples. Infobase Publishing. p. 108\. ISBN 9781438129181.
6. ^ 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.
7. ^ "景教艺术在西域之发现". Retrieved 18 March 2015.
8. ^ 高昌回鹘与环塔里木多元文化的融合 Archived 17 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
9. ^ "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.
10. ^ "景教在西域的传播". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
11. ^ "新闻_星岛环球网". Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
12. ^ "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.
13. ^ a b Cole, Jeffrey (2011). Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 74\. ISBN 978-1-59884-302-6.
14. ^ Guide to Russia:Chuvash Archived 1 May 2005 at the Wayback Machine
15. ^ 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.<
16. ^ Akiner, Shirin (1986). Islamic Peoples Of The Soviet Union. Routledge. p. 100\. ISBN 978-1-136-14274-1.
17. ^ Yemelianova, Galina M. (2002). Russia and Islam: A Historical Survey. Palgrave. pp. 36–41. ISBN 0-333-68354-4.
18. ^ 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."
19. ^ 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."
20. ^ 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."
21. ^ 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."
22. ^ 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."
23. ^ Mackridge, Peter (2010). Language and National Identity in Greece, 1766-1976. OUP Oxford. p. 64\. ISBN 978-0-19-959905-9.
24. ^ Skopeteas, Stavros (2013). The Caucasian Urums and the Urum Language. Bielefeld University.
25. ^ a b "The Political Role of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate (so-called)". www.atour.com. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
26. ^ 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.
27. ^ 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.
28. ^ 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.