 Son of Turkish Gallipoli veteran at theShrine of Remembrance inMelbourne | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 87,164 (by ancestry,2021)[1] (0.3% of theAustralian population) 38,568 (by birth,2021) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Melbourne,Sydney,Wollongong | |
| Languages | |
| Turkish (including theCypriot Turkish dialect) andAustralian English | |
| Religion | |
| PredominantlySunni Islam MinorityAlevism,Christianity, Other religions andIrreligious |
| Part ofa series of articles on |
| Turkish people |
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Traditional Areas of Turkish Settlement Turkish majorities:
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Turkish Australians (Turkish:Türk Avustralyalılar) orAustralian Turks (Turkish:Avustralyalı Türkler) areAustralians who have emigrated fromTurkey or who haveTurkish ancestral origins.
Turks first began to immigrate to Australia fromCyprus for work in the 1940s, and then again whenTurkish Cypriots were forced to leave their homes during theCyprus conflict between 1963 and 1974. Furthermore, many Turkish immigrants arrived in Australia after a bilateral agreement was signed betweenTurkey andAustralia in 1967. Recently, smaller groups of Turks have begun to immigrate to Australia fromBulgaria,Greece,Iraq andNorth Macedonia. There were also many Australians in Turkey duringWorld War I (Gallipoli/ANZAC).
Earliest known short term Turkish migrants in Australia date back to 1860s to 1900 period when small groups of mainly Muslimcameleers were shipped in and out of Australia at three-year intervals, to serviceSouth Australia's inland pastoral industry by carting goods and transportingwool bales bycamel trains, who were commonly referred to as "Afghans" or "Ghans", despite their origin often being mainly fromBritish India, and some even fromAfghanistan andEgypt and Turkey.[2]
The presence of Turkish people in Australia dates back to the early 19th century, although at the time there were only about 20 Turkish settlers. Their number increased to 300 by the 1911 census. Their number declined during the First World War when Australia and Turkey fought on opposite sides.[3]
A notable scale ofTurkish Cypriot migration toAustralia began in the late 1940s;[4] they were the onlyMuslims acceptable under theWhite Australia Policy.[5] Prior to 1940, theAustralian Census recorded only three settlers fromCyprus that spokeTurkish as their primary language. A further 66 Turkish Cypriots arrived in Australia in the late 1940s, marking the beginning of a Turkish Cypriot immigration trend to Australia.[4] By 1947-1956 there were 350 Turkish Cypriot settlers who were living in Australia.[6]
Between 1955 and 1960, the island of Cyprus' independence was approaching; however, Turkish Cypriots felt vulnerable as they had cause for concern about the political future of the island when theGreek Cypriots attempted to overthrow theBritish government and unite Cyprus withGreece (known as "enosis").[6] After a failed attempt by the Greek Cypriots, the right-wing party,EOKA, reformed itself from 1963 to 1974 and launched a series of attacks in a bid to proclaim "enosis". These atrocities resulted in the exodus of Turkish Cypriots in fear for their lives, many migrating to Australia and Britain.[6] Early Turkish Cypriot immigrants found jobs working in factories, out in the fields, or building national infrastructure.[7] However, some Turkish Cypriots became entrepreneurs and established their own businesses once they had saved enough money.[7]
Once theGreek military junta rose to power in 1967, they staged acoup d'état in 1974 against the Cypriot President, with the help ofEOKA B, to unite the island of Cyprus with Greece.[8][better source needed] Thus, there was anexodus of more Turkish Cypriots to Australia due to fears that the island would unite with Greece.[6] The Greek coup led to amilitary invasion byTurkey whichdivided the island.[8][better source needed] In 1983 the Turkish Cypriots declared their own state, theTurkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which has remained internationally unrecognised except by Turkey.[9] The division has led to aneconomic embargo against the Turkish Cypriots by the United States and Greek Cypriot controlled Government of Cyprus,[9][10][11] effectively depriving the Turkish Cypriots of foreign investment, aid and export markets.[9] Thus, theTurkish Cypriot economy has remained stagnant and undeveloped; Turkish Cypriots have continued to leave the island in search of a better life inBritain,Australia, andCanada.[9]
On 5 October 1967, the governments ofAustralia andTurkey signed an agreement to allow Turkish citizens to immigrate to Australia.[12] Prior to this recruitment agreement, there wereless than 3,000 people of Turkish origin in Australia.[13] According to theAustralian Bureau of Statistics, nearly 19,000 Turkish immigrants arrived from 1968 to 1974.[12] The first Turkish immigrants were greeted atSydney International Airport byTurkish Cypriots, whilst Turkish immigrants who moved toMelbourne were greeted atEssendon Airport by members of the Cyprus Turkish Association.[7] They came largely fromrural areas of Turkey; at the time, approximately 30% were skilled and 70% were unskilled workers.[14] However, this changed in the 1980s when the number of skilled Turks applying to enter Australia had increased considerably.[14] Over the next 35 years the Turkish population rose to almost 100,000.[13] More than half of the Turkish community settled inVictoria, mostly in the north-western suburbs ofMelbourne.[13]
There are also ethnic Turks who have immigrated to Australia fromBulgaria, theWestern Thrace area of northernGreece,North Macedonia, as well asGermany and otherWestern European countries.[15]
According to the 2021 Australian census, 38,568 Australian residents were born in Turkey. In addition, 87,164 people born in Australia claimed Turkish ancestry, making up 0.3% of the country's population.[16]
| Number of ethnic Turks in Australia according to the2006 Australian Census[17] | |||||||
| Country of birth | ethnicTurks | Turkish spoken at home | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Turkey[18] | 24,770 | 24,852 | |||||
 Northern Cyprus[19] | 3,290[a] | 3,345 | |||||
 Bulgaria[20] | 270 | 263 | |||||
 Greece[17] | N/A | 313 | |||||
 North Macedonia[17] | N/A | 125 | |||||
| Including ancestry | 59,402[21] | 53,866[22] | |||||
In 1993 a publication from theCouncil of Europe reported that 30,000Turkish Cypriot immigrants were living inAustralia.[23] By 2001 theTRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed to represent 40,000 Turkish Cypriots (i.e.TRNC citizens only) living in Australia.[24] More recently, in 2016, Dr Levent Vahdettin et al. said that the total Turkish Cypriot Australian community was 120,000 - including descendants.[25]
In 1999, Rob White et al. said that there was 75,000 people who were Turkish-born or had a Turkish immigrant background in Australia.[26] By 2011 Dr Liza Hopkins said that within 35 years, between 1967 and 2002, the Turkish-immigrant community and their descendants had risen to 100,000.[13] More recently, the Turkish origin population in Australia (i.e. excluding Turkish Cypriots etc.) was 200,000 in 2017.[27]
There are smaller populations of Turkish ancestry who have immigrated to Australia fromBulgaria, theWestern Thrace area of northernGreece,North Macedonia, as well as some who had migrated viaGermany and otherWestern European countries.[15]
Turkish Australians mainly live inNew South Wales andVictoria, especially in the cities ofMelbourne andSydney. In Melbourne they reside largely in the northern suburbs ofBroadmeadows,Dallas,Roxburgh Park andMeadow Heights.[14] InSydney, they are concentrated inAuburn.[14]
In 2016,Muslim community representing 64% from Turkish Australians population (32,178 people), where 19.1% asNon-Religious, 2.4% asOriental Orthodox, 2.2% asEastern Orthodox, 4.5% as Other religion and 7.3% as Not stated.[28]
In 2021, population of Turkish Australians (38,586 people in 2021) were identifying as Muslim increased to 67.6%, were 20.6% asNon-Religious, 1.7% as Oriental Orthodox, 1.6% asEastern Orthodox and 8.5% as Other religion.[29]
Community bonds remain strong in the Turkish Australian community. They are geographically concentrated in particular areas of Australia which has led to the maintenance of certain cultural traditions across generations.[30] More generally, notions of family loyalty, the social organisation of marriage and traditional segregation of gender roles have shaped the youths' identities in Australia.[31]
Turkish Cypriots are considered to be the first immigrants in Australia who formed a largeMuslim community, followed by immigrants fromTurkey and thenLebanon.[32] According to the 2006 Australian census, 18% of Australian Muslims are ofTurkish origin.[33] Turkish Australian Muslims practice a "moderate Islam" and are significantlysecularised;[34] Turkish Cypriots in particular are not so religious and are brought up asKemalists and are stronglysecular.[35]
The Turkish Australian community favours religious sermons in theTurkish language (rather than in Arabic) and attends Friday prayers in Turkish mosques.[36] There are numerous notable Turkish mosques in Australia; in 1992, the Cyprus Turkish Islamic Society constructed anOttoman-style mosque, known as theSunshine Mosque, which was designed to mirror theSultan Ahmed Mosque inIstanbul.[37] Another important Turkish mosque is theAuburn Gallipoli Mosque,[38] which attracts about 800 worshippers every week and is listed as an Australian heritage building.[39]Thomastown Mosque was built (early 1990s) by the Thomastown Turkish Islamic Society.[40]
According to the2016 Census, a majority (67.1%) of the Turkey-born population inVictoria wasMuslim.[41] Approximately 16.4% of the Turks were not religious, while the largest Christian denominations were theOriental Orthodox Churches (2.4%),Eastern Orthodox Churches (2.0%), theCatholic Church (1.2%) and other churches (1.6%). The rest of the population belong to other religions or did not state their religious affiliation.
TheTurkish language is well maintained in Australia and is seen as very important for the self-identification of Turkish Australians.[31] There are numerous Turkish private schools, including Ilim College, Irfan College, Sirius (previously known as Isik) College, Damla College and Burc College that cater for Turkish Australian students.[42]
There are several Turkish language newspapers produced in Australia and generally available free of charge, includingTurkish News Press,Anadolu,Yeni Vatan,Dünya,Camia,Zaman, and theAustralian Turkish News Weekly.[43]
The Australian Voice of Turkey currently broadcasts 7 days a week through the digital station 2TripleO which is based in Burwood in Sydney. Also, inSydney andMelbourneSBS Radio broadcasts in theTurkish language for an hour a day.[43] Other community stations also broadcast in Turkish, though with less hours of content. For example,3ZZZ currently produces five hours of Turkish programming spread over four days each week.[43]
Turkishsatellite television services are available in Australia. The Australian satellite service providerUBI World TV claims to reach 40,000 Turkish speakers.[44] Furthermore,BRT, the official radio and television broadcasting corporation ofNorthern Cyprus, claims to reach 60,000 Turkish Cypriot Australians.[45]
The number of Turkish Cypriots now living in Turkey is about 300 000 while the number of those who have settled in England is 100 000. There are also approximately 30 000 Turkish Cypriots living in Australia and about 6 000 in Canada and the U.S.A.
Recent estimates suggest that there are now 500,000 Turkish Cypriots living in Turkey, 300,000 in the United Kingdom, 120,000 in Australia, 5000 in the United States, 2000 in Germany, 1800 in Canada, and 1600 in New Zealand with a smaller community in South Africa.
An estimated 200,000 Turks live in Australia with most of them based in Melbourne's northern suburbs.
^ a: The 2006 census recorded a further 4,120 "Cypriots"; however, it is unclear whether these includeGreek Cypriots orTurkish Cypriots.
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