| Total population |
|---|
| 750,000 -1,500,000 |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Aleppo · Damascus · Jazira · Hama · Homs · Latakia[1] |
| Languages |
| Religion |
|
Predominately Sunni Islam[4] |
| Related ethnic groups |
|
Iraqi Turkmens · Oghuz Turks (Turks · Azerbaijanis · Iraqi Turkmens), other Turkic peoples |
Syrian Turks (Turks in Syria, Syrian Turkoman or Syrian Turkmen) (Turkish: Suriye Türkleri) are Syrian citizens of Turkish descent, who have been living in the Syrian provinces of the Ottoman Empire before its dissolution and continue to live in the modern country of Syria.[5] Turks are the third largest ethnic group in Syria after the Arabs and Kurds.
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In the late 11th century, Syria was conquered first by the Seljuk Turks and then by the Ottoman Sultan Selim I in 1516 after defeating the Mamlukes at the Battle of Marj Dabiq near Aleppo in northern Syria.
Turkmen came to Syria in several migration waves. Sometimes, the Seljuks and the Mamelukes living in the area adopted the Turkmen in their armies, and some Turkmen became aristocrats. Linda Cichlr wrote about these Turkmen aristocratic families in her book about the city of Damascus.
Turkmen villages were resettled by the Ottoman Empire because of fear of unrest and riots that were caused by the Bedouin tribes during droughts. The instability of the Ottoman Empire made it difficult to control the tribes. Aelkezl Bash was a prominent anti-Ottoman leader. After the Ottomans returned from conquests in Europe however, they were able to put down revolutionary activities in the area and resettled the Turkmen to the villages of Latakia, Aleppo, Homs, and Hama in the Golan.
According to Scott and Taylor (1828), during the Ottoman rule of Syria there were about 3 million Turks living in Syria.[6] However, the population had decreased when Turks began to immigrate to Turkey after the First World War. Today the community is estimated to be between 750,000 and 1,500,0000.[5]
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