 On municipal level  On settlement level | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 70,961 (2021 census)[1] 3.86% of total population | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam |
| Part ofa series of articles on |
| Turkish people |
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Traditional Areas of Turkish Settlement Turkish majorities:
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Turks in North Macedonia, also known asTurkish Macedonians andMacedonian Turks, (Macedonian:Македонски Турци,romanized: Makedonski Turci,Turkish:Makedonya Türkleri) are the ethnicTurks who constitute the third largest ethnic group in theRepublic of North Macedonia.[1] According to the 2021 census, there were 70,961 Turks living in the country, forming a minority of some 3.86% of the population. The community forms a majority inCentar Župa andPlasnica.[2][3]
Macedonia came under the rule of theOttoman Turks in 1392, remaining part of theOttoman Empire for more than 500 years up to 1912 and theBalkan wars.[4]Ali Rıza Efendi -Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's father comes fromKodžadžik,[5][6] inCentar Župa Municipality, where there is a memorial house.[7] There is a sizeable amount ofTurkified Albanians in Ohrid who originate from the cities ofElbasan,Durrës andUlcinj.[8] A significant part of the Muslim Albanian population of Kumanovo and Bitola was also Turkified during Ottoman rule.[9]
A sizeable part of the Turkish community inPrilep was of Albanian origin. Serbian historiographerJovan Hadži-Vasiljević writes that:[10]
The Bulgarian researcherVasil Kanchov wrote in 1900 that many Albanians declared themselves as Turks. In Skopje, Bitola, Resen, Ohrid, Struga, Tetovo and Gostivar, the population that declared itself Turkish "was of Albanian blood", but it "had been Turkified after the Ottoman invasion, including Skanderbeg", referring to Islamization. Jordan Ivanovi, professor at the University of Sofia, wrote in 1915 that Albanians, since they did not have their own alphabet, due to a lack of consolidated national consciousness and influenced by foreign propaganda, declared themselves as Turks, Greeks and Bulgarians, depending on which religion they belonged to. Albanians were losing their mother tongue in Bitola, Ohrid, Struga and Skopje. The researcher Dimitar Gađanov wrote in 1916 that Gostivar was populated by 4,000 Albanians "who were Turkified", 100 Orthodox Albanians and 3,500 Bulgarians, while the surrounding area was predominantly Albanian.[11]
German linguistGustav Weigand describes the process ofTurkification of the Albanian urban population in his 1923 workEthnographie Makedoniens (Ethnography of Macedonia). He writes that in the cities, especially notingSkopje andBitola, many of the Turkish inhabitants are in fact Albanians, being distinguished by the difference in articulation of certain Turkish words, as well as their clothing and tool use. They speak Albanian at home, however use Turkish when in public. They refer to themselves asTurks, the term at the time also being asynonym forMuslim, with ethnic Turks referring to them asTurkoshak, a derogatory term for someone portraying themselves as Turkish.[12]
Once theOttoman Empire fell at the beginning of the 20th century, many of the Turks fled toTurkey. Many left underYugoslav rule, and more left afterWorld War II. Others intermarried or simply identified themselves asMacedonians orAlbanians to avoidstigma andpersecution.[citation needed]
During the Skopje communist party conference held on August 12-13 1945, Kemal Sejfula, a representative of the Turkish minority and future mayor of Skopje (1951-54), although himself of Albanian origin from Kaçanik, declared that: "In the cities there are some regroupings - differentiations between Turks and Albanians. As it is known that the great Serbian policy towards the Albanian masses was a policy of physical liquidations. While the policy towards the Turks - was more tolerant, for which a very large part of the Albanians became Turks - were assimilated."[13] A policy of Turkification of the Albanian population was employed by the Yugoslav authorities in cooperation with the Turkish government, stretching the period of 1948–1959. A commission was created to tour Albanian communities in Macedonia, visitingTetovo,Gostivar,Debar,Kičevo,Struga,Kumanovo,Gjorče Petrov andResen. Starting in 1948, six Turkish schools were opened in areas with large Albanian majorities, such asTearce,Gorna Banjica,Dolna BanjicaVrapčište as well as in the outskirts ofTetovo andGostivar. In 1951-52, a total of 40 Turkish schools were opened in Debar, Kičevo, Kumanovo, Struga,Resen,Bitola,Kruševo andPrilep.[14]
Contemporary analysis described cases of resistance to the Turkish schools in the Polog area, with Albanian speaking students and teachers refused to attend Turkish schools. In Tetovo, none of the native teachers wanted to give lessons in Turkish, so substitutes from Skopje were brought in instead. Another notable case happened in Gostivar, where a teacher from Banjica, who according to the committees analysis: "even though he was born in the same village and his mother tongue is Turkish, when the Turkish school was opened he refused to teach in Turkish and had asked to work in Albanian villages ...". Thus the Yugoslav committee characterized the local population as having adopted a "Greater Albanian political worldview". Resistance against the opening of Turkish schools was most prevalent in Tetovo and Gostivar. In 1952, on the night ofEid al-Adha, the local Tetovo political leader Mehmet Riza Gega distributed flyers imploring Albanian parents from sending their children to Turkish speaking schools. In Gostivar the nationalist activist Myrtezan Bajraktari was detained and interrogated by the Yugoslav secret police (UDBA). During his interrogation he stated he openly opposed the Turkish schools, and that he does so "just so Albanians can feel like patriots and not allow themselves to be Turkified."[15]
In the 1953 census, large portions of Albanians declared themselves as ethnic Turks:[16]
After 1953, a large emigration of Turks based on an agreement between the Republic of Turkey andSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia took place— around 80,000 according to Yugoslav data and over 150,000 according to Turkish sources.[17] Of the 203,087 Turks in Macedonia in 1953, 15.88% or 32,392 gave Macedonian as their mother tongue, and 13.28% or 27,086 gave Albanian as their mother tongue.[18] During the 2010s, someTorbeši maintained a strong affiliation toTurkish identity.[19]
| Population of Macedonian Turks according to national censuses[17] | |||||||
| Census | Turks | Total population of North Macedonia | % Turks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 Census | 95,940 | 1,152,986 | 8.3% | ||||
| 1953 Census | 203,938³ | 1,304,514 | 15.6% | ||||
| 1961 Census | 131,484 | 1,406,003 | 9.4% | ||||
| 1971 Census | 108,552 | 1,647,308 | 6.6% | ||||
| 1981 Census | 86,591 | 1,909,136 | 4.5% | ||||
| 1991 Census | 77,080 | 2,033,964 | 3.8% | ||||
| 1994 Census | 78,019 | 1,945,932 | 4.0% | ||||
| 2002 Census | 77,959 | 2,022,547 | 3.9% | ||||
Macedonian Turks speak theTurkish language and secondlyAlbanian in the west andMacedonian in the east. Turkish is spoken withSlavic andGreek admixtures creating a unique Macedonian Turkish dialect.[20] However,Macedonian is also widely used amongst the community.[21] Per the2021 census, 62,623 individuals declared Turkish as their mother tongue, compared to 70,961declaring Turkish ethnicity.[22]
According to the 2002 census, Turks make up 12% of the totalMuslim population in Macedonia.[23]
Turkish population in Macedonia according to the 2002 census (Turkish majority inbold):
| Municipality | Turks 2002 census[2] | % Turkish |
|---|---|---|
| Greater Skopje | 8,595 | 1.7% |
| Gostivar | 7,597 | 12.71% |
| Centar Župa | 2,899 | 77.93% |
| Plasnica | 4,101 | 97.13% |
| Radoviš | 4,013 | 16.64% |
| Strumica | 3,927 | 7.85% |
| Struga | 3,472 | 6.81% |
| Studeničani | 3,231 | 14.71% |
| Vrapčište | 3,099 | 15.62% |
| Kičevo | 2,553 | 6.44% |
| Debar | 2,733 | 17.73% |
| Mavrovo and Rostuša | 1,555 | 30.8% |
| Dolneni | 2,434 | 18.54% |
| Ohrid | 1,831 | 3.56% |
| Vasilevo | 2,251 | 21.33% |
| Tetovo | 1,746 | 2.06% |
| Resen | 1,457 | 10.14% |
| Veles | 1,037 | 2.14% |
| Bitola | 1,174 | 1.38% |
| Valandovo | 1,412 | 13.44% |
| Štip | 1,272 | 2.7% |
| Bogovinje | 1,183 | 4.1% |
| Prilep | 1,060 | 1.54% |
| Karbinci | 857 | 25.06% |
| Konče | 606 | 22.24% |
| Tearce | 382 | 1.66% |
| Bosilovo | 677 | 5.88% |
| Dojran | 211 | 6.84% |
| Čaška | 391 | 5.1% |
| Pehčevo | 357 | 6.5% |
| Demir Kapija | 376 | 9.95% |
| Kočani | 315 | 0.8% |
| Kruševo | 283 | 3.38% |
| Kumanovo | 292 | 0.3% |
| Vinica | 272 | 1.4% |
| Negotino | 349 | 1.92% |
| Sopište | 463 | 6.9% |
| Mogila | 266 | 5.04% |
| Makedonski Brod | 241 | 4.09% |
| Kavadarci | 134 | 0.38% |
| Lozovo | 203 | 8.97% |
| Delčevo | 122 | 0.7% |
| Berovo | 91 | 0.7% |
| Sveti Nikole | 81 | 0.4% |
| Petrovec | 75 | 0.9% |
| Gradsko | 71 | 1.9% |
| Bogdanci | 54 | 0.6% |
| Demir Hisar | 35 | 0.4% |
| Gevgelija | 31 | 0.1% |
| Novaci | 27 | 0.8% |
| Ilinden | 17 | 0.1% |
| Kratovo | 8 | 0.1% |
| Probištip | 6 | <0.1% |
| Jegunovce | 4 | <0.1% |
| Brvenica | 2 | <0.1% |
| Debarca | 2 | <0.1% |
| Kriva Palanka | 2 | <0.1% |
| Želino | 2 | <0.1% |
| Zelenikovo | 1 | <0.1% |
Since the 1960s, Macedonia Turks have migrated to several Western European countries. For example, there is approximately 5,000 Macedonian Turks inSweden; around 90% (or 4,500) live inMalmö.[24] In 1973 they formed theTurkish-SwedishKSF Prespa Birlik football club.[24] There are also Turkish Macedonian communities in other European countries, includingAustria,[25]Belgium,[26]Czech Republic,[25]Germany[27][25]Italy,[25] theNetherlands,[28]Slovakia,[25] andSwitzerland.[27]
In addition, Turkish Macedonian communities have also been formed in North America. In 1960, theMacedonian Patriotic Organization reported that a handful of Turkish Macedonians in theUnited States "have expressed solidarity with the M.P.O.'s aims, and have made contributions to its financial needs."[29]
The Turks in North Macedonia also have an own national day, theDay of Education in Turkish Language. By a decision of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia in 2007, December 21 became a national and non-working day for the Turkish community in the country.[30]
There are bothradio andtelevision broadcasts in Turkish.[31] Since 1945,Macedonian Radio-Television transmits one hour daily Turkish television programs and four and a half hours of Turkish radio programs.[32] Furthermore, the newspaperBirlik is published in Turkish three times a week.[32]
The Turks have 3 political parties in North Macedonia:Democratic Party of Turks (Türk Demokratik Partisi - TDP),Turkish Movement Party (Türk Hareket Partisi - THP) andTurkish National Unity Movement (Türk Millî Birlik Hareketi - TMBH). There is also the Union of Turkish NGOs in Republic of Macedonia (Makedonya Türk Sivil Toplum Teşkilatlar Birliği - MATÜSİTEB).[33]
The first political party of the Turks in Macedonia is the Turkish Democratic Party (TDP). Because of political and economic changes in Macedonia, the Turks, like other communities, have decided to get organized in order to protect and develop their political rights. As a result, a political association named the Turkish Democratic Union was established on 1 July 1990. The association identified its major goal to defend national and moral interests of the Turks in Macedonia and launched activities in this direction. Such developments allowed the Turks to transform their association into a political party. The transformation was completed on 27 June 1992, when the Turkish Democratic Union was renamed the Turkish Democratic Party at the second extraordinary congress under the leadership Avni Engüllü inSkopje. Since its establishment, TDP has been protecting the rights and interests of Turks in Macedonia.[33]
Moreover, several people of Turkish origin serve in high-ranking levels of Macedonian politics. Furkan Çako from the Turkish Democratic Party (TDP) serves as Minister without Portfolio in theMacedonian government. In the parliament, the Turks are represented byKenan Hasip, TDP leader, andEnes Ibrahim (THP). In addition,Salih Murat, an ethnic Turk, is a member of theConstitutional Court of North Macedonia.[33]
The first school in Turkish language in Macedonia was opened in 1944.[34]
Here I want to emphasize once again the fact that in cities, many so-called Turks, especially in Bitola and Skopje, are Albanians, which is also noticed by the emphasis they give to the articulation of Turkish words, such as. kàve instead of kave, mànda instead of mandà etc. In public they speak Turkish, while in families - Albanian; they call themselves "Turks", but in fact they mean Muhammadan, while the real Turks call them "Turkish ushak" (Turkish chimney). In the villages they are easily distinguished by the clothes, by the agricultural tools they use, by the carts (to the Anatolians the wheels are made of wooden washers). In all cases, the importance of Albanians in Northern Macedonia is greatly underestimated. It is difficult to give an accurate figure for their number due to the mix of population, so rightly many well-known countries, which are interested in this, express distrust of statistics. Since I have a trustworthy statistic like Cartes ethnographiques des vilayets de Selonique, Kossovo et Monastir, litographiées par i'Institut cartographique de Sofia, 1907, with some recent elaborations by Prof. Mladenov, as well as the corrections and additions, made under the care of Mr. Mit'hat bej Frashëri, will not hesitate to publish this material. "Of course, recent changes have not been reflected.
Furkan Çako, yurt dışında yaşayan Makedonya Türklerini, ülkedeki nüfus sayımına katılmaya ve kendilerini Türk olarak kaydettirmeye çağırdı. Diplomatımız, Twitter hesabından yaptığı çağrıda şu ifadeleri kullandı: Ülkemizde devam eden #NüfusSayımı2021 sürecine katılmak ve kaydınızı #Türk olarak gerçekleştirmek için yurtdışında yaşayan ve Türkiye, Slovakya, Çek Cumhuriyeti, Almanya, Avusturya, İsviçre, İtalya ve İsveç'te bulunan vatandaşlarımız aşağıdaki bilgilerden yararlanabilirler.
Officieel zijn ze met bijna 500.000 mensen aanwezig in Nederland, meer omdat Turken uit Bulgarije..., Griekenland..., Cyprus..., Macedonie... en bijvoorbeeld Turken die geen Turkse ntionaliteit meer habben of Turken uit Belgie en Duitsland die zich nu gevestigd hebben in Nederland. Hiermee zouden er bijna driekwart miljon tot een miljoen Turken in Nederland wonen.
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