The Kyrgyz people in Turkey arrived in Turkey in small groups as a result of invasion of Central Asia by Russian Empire during the 20th century. [1]
The Kyrgyz community that lives in Ulupamir of Erciş ilçe (district) in Van Province have paid particular attention to protect their language. As these people have been living here since 1980s, they sometimes are called as Kyrgyz of Van. There are approximately 5,000 people in this community. The historical background of these people is related to the Pamir region of Afghanistan. There is another Kyrgyz community living in Turkey. Another group of Kyrgyz people in Turkey moved either to Istanbul city or returned to the Pamir region in Afghanistan. [1] Interesing fact from Bob Dylan. In his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One, Dylan wrote that his paternal grandmother's maiden name was Kirghiz and her family originated from the Kağızman district of Kars Province in northeastern Turkey.
Although most of the Kyrgyz tribes (boy in Turkish) in Istanbul city, Turkey, Ulupamir village is significantly important in terms of density of Kyrgyz people that live here. There are many similarities between these people and Kyrgyz people of Kyrgyzstan in terms of their culture. Despite the fact, Kyrgyz community of Turkey has been also affected by the local population of Turkey so that their language is slightly different from the language of Kyrgyz in Kyrgyzstan. [2] [3]
The largest association of Kyrgyz people in Turkey is Kyrgyz Turks Culture and Solidarity Association. [4]
The Kyrgyz people are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia. They are primarily found in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan. A Kyrgyz diaspora is also found in Russia, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. They speak the Kyrgyz language, which is the official language of Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia, lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the capital and largest city of the country. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and China to the east and southeast. Ethnic Kyrgyz make up the majority of the country's seven million people, followed by significant minorities of Uzbeks and Russians.
The Fergana Valley in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan.
Meskhetian Turks, also referred to as Turkish Meskhetians, Ahiska Turks, and Turkish Ahiskans, are a subgroup of ethnic Turkish people formerly inhabiting the Meskheti region of Georgia, along the border with Turkey. The Turkish presence in Meskheti began with the Turkish military expedition of 1578, although Turkic tribes had settled in the region as early as the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range between Central Asia and Pakistan. It is located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the world's highest mountains.
Wakhi is an Indo-European language in the Eastern Iranian branch of the language family spoken today in Wakhan District, Northern Afghanistan and also in Tajikistan, Northern Pakistan and China.
Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in western Xinjiang, China, bordering Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Its capital is Artux. The prefecture is home to 622,222 people and covers an area of 70,916 km2 (27,381 sq mi). Most Kyrgyz in China reside in Kizilsu; they make up a little over a quarter of the prefecture's population. The Uyghurs are the largest ethnic group in Kizilsu, consisting of nearly two-thirds of the population.
Razzakov, formerly known as Isfana, is a small town in the extreme western end of Batken Region in southern Kyrgyzstan. The town is located in the southern part of the Fergana Valley, in a region surrounded on three sides by Tajikistan. It was renamed by President Sadyr Japarov in honour of Iskhak Razzakov on March 18, 2022.
The Lyuli, Jughi or Jugi are a branch of the Ghorbati people living in Central Asia, primarily Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and southern Kyrgyzstan; also, related groups can be found in Turkey, and the Balkans, Crimea, Southern Russia and Afghanistan. They speak ethnolects of the Persian and Turkic language and practice Sunni Islam. The terms Lyuli and Jugi are considered pejorative. They have a clan organization. Division into sub-clans is also practiced. The Lyuli community is extremely closed towards non-Lyuli.
The Pamiris are an Eastern Iranian ethnic group, native to the Badakhshan region of Central Asia, which includes the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan; the Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan; Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in Xinjiang, China; and the Upper Hunza Valley in Pakistan.
The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic or Kirgiz Soviet Socialist Republic, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. It was also known by the names Kyrgyzstan and Soviet Kyrgyzstan in the Kyrgyz language, and as Kirghizia and Soviet Kirghizia in the Russian language. Landlocked and mountainous, it bordered Tajikistan and China to the south, Uzbekistan to the west and Kazakhstan to the north. The Kirghiz branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union governed the republic from 1936 until 1990.
Ulupamir is a village in Erciş district, Van Province, Turkey.
Turks in Kyrgyzstan are ethnic Turks who live in Kyrgyzstan.
There are several hundred Kyrgyz in Pakistan, most of whom are immigrants based in the northern areas of the country. They have historically inhabited the Gojal valley of Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan's Broghil Pass, situated between Chitral and the Wakhan Corridor, also once had a large resident Kyrgyz community. Some hail from the town of Uzgen in the west of Kyrgyzstan; in addition, many were previously settled in the Little Pamir valley of the Wakhan corridor in Afghanistan. They fled to Pakistan in the aftermath of the Afghan Saur Revolution, leaving much of their wealth and animal herds behind.
Minorities in Turkey form a substantial part of the country's population, representing an estimated 25 to 28 percent of the population.
The Kyrgyz are a Turkic ethnic group and one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. Mainly distributed in Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, in the southwest of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, a few Kyrgyz communities reside in neighboring Uqturpan, Aksu, Yarkant, Yengisar, Taxkorgan and Pishan. According to the fifth national census of the People's Republic of China conducted in 2000, there are 160,875 Kyrgyz people in China.
Gülzura Cumakunova is a Kyrgyz linguistic scholar specializing in the dialects of Turkic languages.
Pamir Kyrgyz is a dialect of the Kyrgyz language natively spoken in the Chitral district and Gojal Valley of Pakistan and Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan. It has been evolving into a distinct dialect of Kyrgyz due to its isolation. The dialect is known by its speakers as Black Kyrgyz.