Turks in Saudi Arabia also referred to asTurkish Saudi Arabians,Saudi Arabian Turks orSaudi Turks (Turkish:Suudi Arabistan Türkleri,Arabic:الأتراك في السعودية) refers to ethnicTurkish people living inSaudi Arabia. The majority of Arabian Turks descend fromOttoman settlers who arrived in the region during theOttoman rule of Arabia. Most Ottoman Turkish descendants in Saudi Arabia trace their roots toAnatolia; however, some ethnic Turks also came from theBalkans,Cyprus, theLevant,North Africa and other regions which had significantTurkish communities. In addition to Ottoman settlement policies, Turkish pilgrims toMecca andMedina often settled down in the area permanently.
There has also been modern migration to Saudi Arabia from theRepublic of Turkey as well as other modern nation-states which were once part of the Ottoman Empire.
Turks have had a presence in the western Arabian peninsula for hundreds of years, culminating in theOttoman conquest of the Hejaz in 1517. After theGreat Arab Revolt and the decline of theOttoman Empire, a Turkish minority remained in the newly founded Saudi Kingdom.
Starting in the 1970s, economic relations betweenTurkey andSaudi Arabia grew.[5] In 1977, there was 6,500 Turks inSaudi Arabia, 5,000 of which were officially reported workers.[6][7][8][9]
Emigration of Turkish workers to Saudi Arabia[10][11]
As per argaam, Turkish nationals workers were around 25,000 people, which represents around 0.20% of total population. There are some 8,100Turkish-operated hairdresser shops, 4,200 restaurants, and 2,900 furniture stores in Saudi Arabia.[12]
During the2017 Turkish constitutional referendum, more than 8,000 Turkish expats from Saudi Arabia cast votes whether Turkey should abolish itsparliamentary system and become apresidential republic.[13] 58.34% of the Turkish expatriates in Saudi Arabia opted for "No", while 41.66% voted for "Yes". The yes vote was concentrated in Jeddah and the Western Region, while in Riyadh no was the dominant choice. The no vote was significantly higher compared to votes of several European Turkish expat communities.[14]
Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, president of the Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronic and Intellectual Sports (SAFEIS) and the Arab eSports Federation
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Hale, William M. (1981),The Political and Economic Development of modern Turkey, Taylor & Francis,ISBN0-7099-0014-7.
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Immigration to Saudi Arabia