TheTurks in Egypt, also referred to asEgyptian Turks,Turkish-Egyptians andTurco-Egyptians[1] (Arabic:أتراك مصرTurkish:Mısır Türkleri) are Egyptian citizens of partial or fullTurkish ancestry, who are the descendants of settlers that arrived in the region during the rule of several Turkic dynasties, including: theTulunid (868–905),Ikhshidid (935–969),Mamluk (1250–1517), andOttoman (1517–1867 and1867–1914) eras. Today their descendants continue to live in Egypt and still identify as Egyptians of Turkish or mixed origin, though they are also fully integrated in Egyptian society.
During the four centuries of Ottoman rule, Turkish settlers arrived predominately fromAnatolia; however, many also arrived from the Ottoman Isles (such as theAegean islands,Crete, andCyprus), as well as from prominent Ottoman cities (such asIstanbul,Algiers, andTunis).[2]
In 1833 one estimate claimed that the Turkish population in Egypt was 30,000;[3] however, in 1835, theMissionary Herald newspaper claimed that the population [of Ottoman Egypt] is of a mixed character, the great mass being Arabic language speaking Muslims, and a minority of Turkish speakers who belonged to the Ottoman ruling-class.[4] Similarly, in 1840,The Saturday Magazine series claimed that Egypt's population was only about two million and a half, the majority of whom are of Arabic speaking masses and Ottoman ruling class.[5] This study is widely discredited and has no scientific basis.
By 1878 theKarl Baedeker Firm published a census stating that the population of Egypt "hardly exceeds 5 millions" and that the population of Turkish origin numbered barely 100,000 (accounting to approximately 2% of the population), mainly concentrated to the towns.[6]
Foreign-born Ottomans in Egypt: [1907 - 1917] census[7]
Under the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Article 102, former Ottoman (Turkish) subjects resident in Egypt were denaturalized by Turkey and automatically acquired Egyptian nationality unless they were absent from the territory on 18 December 1914.
Prior to theEgyptian revolution in 1919, the ruling elite were mainly Turkish, or of Turkish descent, which was part of the heritage from the Ottoman rule of Egypt.[8] The ethnic affiliation in Egypt at this time was still blurry; however, Amal Talaat Abdelrazek describes the Turkish society in Egypt with the following words:
"This interiorized rejection of things local and Arabic in part derives from the fact that the ruling and upper classes in the years before the revolution were mainly Turkish, or of Turkish descent, part of the heritage from the Ottoman rule in Egypt. If one was not really Western, but belonged to the elite, one was Turkish. Only the masses, the country folk, were quite simply Egyptian in the first place, and possibly Arabs secondarily."[8]
During the Ottoman rule of Egypt, the region was ruled directly by Turkish-speaking elites.[9] Consequently, the lexicalTurkish influence ofEgyptian Arabic has been clearer and more consistent than inLevantine Arabic, especially theformal terms likePasha andBek which are still used till today in daily conversations.[9] Today, many Turkish lexical items (andPersian borrowings through Turkish) have been firmly integrated into Egyptian Arabic.[9]
According to an article byGamal Nkrumah in the EgyptianAl-Ahram Weekly, estimates regarding the population of the Turkish minority vary considerably, ranging from 100,000 to 1,500,000.[10] However, one estimate in 1971 suggested that the population ofCretan Turks alone numbered 100,000 in Egypt.[11] Moreover, another estimate in 1993 claimed that the Turkish minority in Egypt numbered 1.5 million at the time.[12]
^Douin, Georges (1927).La mission du Baron de Boislecomte, l'Egypte et la Syrie en 1833. Cairo: Royal Egyptian Geographical Society. p. 110.ASINB00180UKI8.OCLC1377895.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
^American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Syria and the Holy Land. Extracts from a Communication of Mr.Smith, Dated at Beyroot, vol. xxxi, Missionary Herald, 1835, p. 130
^The church scholar's reading-book, selected from the Saturday magazine,The Saturday Magazine, 1840, p. 297
^"Turks",Egypt: Lower Egypt, with the Fayûm and the peninsula of Sinai, Part 1 of Egypt: Handbook for Travellers, K. Baedeker, 1878, p. 52
^abAbdelrazek, Amal Talaat (2007),Contemporary Arab American women writers: hyphenated identities and border crossings,Cambria Press, p. 37,ISBN978-1-934043-71-4
^abcAl-Wer, Enam (2006), "The Arabic-speaking Middle East", in Ammon, Ulrich (ed.),Sociolinguistics: An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society, Volume 3,Walter de Gruyter, p. 1922,ISBN3110184184
^Gamal, Gamal,Did the Turks sweeten Egypt's kitty?,Al-Ahram Weekly, retrieved1 May 2018,Today, the number of ethnic Turks in Egypt varies considerably, with estimates ranging from 100,000 to 1,500,000. Most have intermingled in Egyptian society and are almost indistinguishable from non-Turkish Egyptians, even though a considerable number of Egyptians of Turkish origin are bilingual.
^Akar, Metin (1993), "Fas Arapçasında Osmanlı Türkçesinden Alınmış Kelimeler",Türklük Araştırmaları Dergisi,7:94–95,Günümüzde, Arap dünyasında hâlâ Türk asıllı aileler mevcuttur. Bunların nüfusu Irak'ta 2 milyon, Suriye'de 3.5 milyon, Mısır'da 1.5, Cezayir'de 1 milyon, Tunus'ta 500 bin, Suudî Arabistan'da 150 bin, Libya'da 50 bin, Ürdün'de 60 bin olmak üzere 8.760.000 civarındadır. Bu ailelerin varlığı da Arap lehçelerindeki Türkçe ödünçleşmeleri belki artırmış olabilir.
Abdelrazek, Amal Talaat (2007),Contemporary Arab American women writers: hyphenated identities and border crossings, Cambria Press,ISBN978-1-934043-71-4
Akar, Metin (1993), "Fas Arapçasında Osmanlı Türkçesinden Alınmış Kelimeler",Türklük Araştırmaları Dergisi,7:91–110
Armes, Roy (2008),Dictionnaire des cinéastes africains de long métrage, KARTHALA Editions,ISBN978-2-84586-958-5
Badawī, Muḥammad Muṣṭafá (1975),A critical introduction to modern Arabic poetry, Cambridge University Press,ISBN0-521-29023-6
Badran, Margot (1996),Feminists, Islam, and nation: gender and the making of modern Egypt, Princeton University Press, p. 97,ISBN0-691-02605-X
Brugman, J. (1984),An introduction to the history of modern Arabic literature in Egypt, BRILL, p. 263,ISBN90-04-07172-5
Carstens, Patrick Richard (2014),The Encyclopædia of Egypt during the Reign of the Mehemet Ali Dynasty 1798-1952: The People, Places and Events that Shaped Nineteenth Century Egypt and its Sphere of Influence, Friesen Press,ISBN978-1460248997
Iggers, Georg G.; Wang, Q. Edward; Mukherjee, Supriya (2008),A global history of modern historiography, Pearson Education, p. 196,ISBN978-0-582-09606-6
Johnson, Amy J. (2004),Reconstructing rural Egypt: Ahmed Hussein and the history of Egyptian development, Syracuse University Press, p. 1,ISBN0-8156-3014-X
Jongerden, Joost (2007),The settlement issue in Turkey and the Kurds: an analysis of spatial policies, modernity and war, BRILL, p. 193,ISBN978-90-04-15557-2
Lababidi, Lesley Kitchen (2008),Cairo's street stories: exploring the city's statues, squares, bridges, gardens, and sidewalk cafés, American University in Cairo Press,ISBN978-977-416-153-7
Manzalaoui, Mahmoud (1986),Arabic short stories, 1945-1965, American University in Cairo Press, p. 193,ISBN977-424-121-5
Moosa, Matti (1997),The origins of modern Arabic fiction, Lynne Rienner Publishers, p. 109,ISBN0-89410-684-8
Nelson, Cynthia (1996),Doria Shafik, Egyptian feminist: a woman apart, American Univ in Cairo Press, p. 27,ISBN977-424-413-3
