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Languages of Turkey

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Languages of Turkey
OfficialTurkish
RecognisedArmenian, Bulgarian, Greek, Hebrew
MinorityKurdish (Kurmanji), Zazaki, Azerbaijani, Arabic, Neo-Aramaic and Classical Syriac, Pomak Bulgarian, Balkan Gagauz Turkish, Laz, Georgian, Megleno-Romanian, Pontic Greek, Judaeo-Spanish
ImmigrantAdyghe, Albanian, Arabic, Bosnian, Crimean Tatar, Kabardian[1] (in alphabetical order)
ForeignEnglish (17%)
German (4%)
Arabic (2%)
French (1%)[2]
SignedTurkish Sign Language
Mardin Sign Language
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The languages of Turkey, apart from the official language Turkish, include the widespread Kurdish (Kurmanji), Zazaki, and Arabic, and a number of less common minority languages. Four minority languages are officially recognized in the Republic of Turkey by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the Turkey-Bulgaria Friendship Treaty (Türkiye ve Bulgaristan Arasındaki Dostluk Antlaşması) of 18 October 1925: Armenian,[3][4][5] Bulgarian,[6][7][8][3] Greek,[3][9][10] and Hebrew.[11][12] In 2013, the Ankara 13th Circuit Administrative Court ruled that the minority provisions of the Lausanne Treaty should also apply to Assyrians in Turkey and the Syriac language.[13][14][15]

History

[edit]
See also: Languages of the Ottoman Empire

Turkey has historically been the home to many now extinct languages. These include Hittite, the earliest Indo-European language for which written evidence exists (circa 1600 BCE to 1100 BCE when the Hittite Empire existed). The other Anatolian languages included Luwian and later Lycian, Lydian and Milyan. All these languages are believed to have become extinct at the latest around the 1st century BCE due to the Hellenization of Anatolia which led to Greek in a variety of dialects becoming the common language.

Urartian belonging to the Hurro-Urartian language family existed in eastern Anatolia around Lake Van. It existed as the language of the kingdom of Urartu from about the 9th century BCE until the 6th century. Hattian is attested in Hittite ritual texts but is not related to the Hittite language or to any other known language; it dates from the 2nd millennium BCE.

In the post-Tanzimat period French became a common language among educated people, even though no ethnic group in the empire natively spoke French.[16] Johann Strauss, author of "Language and power in the late Ottoman Empire," wrote that "In a way reminiscent of English in the contemporary world, French was almost omnipresent in the Ottoman lands."[17] Strauss also stated that French was "a sort of semi-official language",[18] which "to some extent" had "replaced Turkish as an 'official' language for non-Muslims".[19] Therefore late empire had multiple French-language publications, and several continued to operate when the Republic of Turkey was declared in 1923. However French-language publications began to close in the 1930s.[20] As the Treaty of Lausanne went into effect and was intended to protect languages of instruction for ethnic minorities, French was not included, and so schools for Jewish children teaching in French converted into being Turkish medium schools. The quantity and quality of French instruction declined in those schools for Jewish children, and so many Jewish students began attending other language-medium private schools.[12]

When French-medium schools operated by Alliance Israélite Universelle opened in the 1860s, the position of Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino) began to weaken in the Ottoman Empire areas. In time Judaeo-Spanish became perceived as a low status language.[21] Hebrew was the instructional language of Judaism, and so the Treaty of Lausanne protected instruction in Hebrew, but not in Judaeo-Spanish, a language passed along in families but never used in school instruction.[12] Judaeo-Spanish was still the native language of 85% of Turkish Jews in 1927; there was still relatively low fluency in Turkish in that population, which meant they encountered issues with the Citizen, speak Turkish! campaign.[22] However, as time progressed, Judaeo-Spanish language and culture declined, and in 2017 writer Melis Alphan described Judaeo-Spanish as "dying in Turkey".[21]

Constitutional rights

[edit]

Official language

[edit]

Article 3 of the Constitution of Turkey defines Turkish as the official language of Turkey.[23]

Minority language rights

[edit]

Article 42 of the Constitution explicitly prohibits educational institutions to teach any language other than Turkish as a mother tongue to Turkish citizens.[24]

No language other than Turkish shall be taught as a mother tongue to Turkish citizens at any institutions of training or education. Foreign languages to be taught in institutions of training and education and the rules to be followed by schools conducting training and education in a foreign language shall be determined by law. The provisions of international treaties are reserved.

— Art. 42, Constitution of the Republic of Turkey

Due to Article 42 and its longtime restrictive interpretation, ethnic minorities have been facing severe restrictions in the use of their mother languages.

Concerning the incompatibility of this provision with the International Bill of Human Rights, Turkey signed the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights only with reservations constraining minority rights and the right to education. Furthermore, Turkey hasn't signed either of the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, or the anti-discrimination Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights.[25]

A 1901 postcard depicting Galata in Constantinople (Istanbul), showing signage in Ottoman Turkish, French, Greek, and Armenian

This particular constitutional provision has been contested both internationally and within Turkey. The provision has been criticized by minority groups, notably the Kurdish community. In October 2004, the Turkish State's Human Rights Advisory Board called for a constitutional review in order to bring Turkey's policy on minorities in line with international standards, but was effectively muted.[26] It was also criticized by EU member states, the OSCE, and international human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch who observe that "the Turkish government accepts the language rights of the Jewish, Greek and Armenian minorities as being guaranteed by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. But the government claims that these are Turkey's only minorities, and that any talk of minority rights beyond this is just separatism".[27][28][29][30][31][32] Bulgarian-speakers are also officially recognized by the Turkey-Bulgaria Friendship Treaty (Türkiye ve Bulgaristan Arasındaki Dostluk Antlaşması) of 18 October 1925.[3][6][7][8]

Supplementary language education

[edit]

In 2012, the Ministry of Education included Kurdish (based on both Kurmanji and Zazaki dialects)[33] to the academic programme of the basic schools as optional classes from the fifth year on.[33]

Later, the Ministry of Education also included Abkhaz, Adyghe, Standard Georgian, and Laz languages in 2013, and Albanian as well as Bosnian languages in February 2017.[34]

In 2015, the Turkey’s Ministry of Education announced that as of the 2016-17 academic year, Arabic courses (as a second language) will be offered to students in elementary school starting in second grade. The Arabic courses will be offered as an elective language course like German, French and English. According to a prepared curriculum, second and third graders will start learning Arabic by listening-comprehension and speaking, while introduction to writing will join these skills in fourth grade and after fifth grade students will start learning the language in all its four basic skills.[35][36]

Statistics

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The last publicly published census for languages was 1965 census.

Language Census 1927 Census 1935 Census 1945 Census 1950 Census 1955 Census 1960 Census 1965
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Turkish 11,778,810 86.42 13,899,073 86.02 16,598,037 88.34 18,254,851 87.15 21,622,292 89.85 25,172,535 90.70 28,175,579 89.76
Kurdish 1,184,446 8.69 1,480,246 9.16 1,476,562 7.9 1,680,043 8.02 1,679,265 6.98 1,847,674 6.66 2,219,599 7.07
Zazaki 174,526 0.70 150,644 0.48
Arabic 134,273 0.98 153,687 0.95 247,294 1.3 269,038 1.28 300,583 1.25 347,690 1.25 365,340 1.16
Circassian 95,901 0.70 91,972 0.57 66,691 0.4 75,837 0.36 77,611 0.32 63,137 0.23 58,339 0.19
Greek 119,822 0.88 108,725 0.67 88,680 0.47 89,472 0.43 79,691 0.33 65,139 0.23 48,096 0.15
Armenian 64,745 0.48 57,599 0.36 47,728 0.3 52,776 0.25 56,235 0.23 52,756 0.19 33,094 0.11
Georgian - - 57,325 0.35 40,076 0.21 72,604 0.35 51,983 0.22 32,944 0.12 34,330 0.11
Laz - - 63,253 0.39 39,323 0.21 70,423 0.34 30,566 0.13 21,703 0.08 26,007 0.08
other 251,491 1.85 227,544 1.41 185,783 0.99 207,618 0.99 166,537 0.69 151,242 0.54 280,403 0.89
Total 13,629.488 100 16,157,450 100 18,790,174 100 20,947,188 100 24,064,763 100 27,754,820 100 31,391,421 100
Sources:[37][38][39][40][41]

1927 Census

[edit]

Main article: 1927 Turkish Census

  • Turkish
    Turkish
  • Kurdish
    Kurdish
  • Arabic
    Arabic
  • Circassian
    Circassian
  • Greek
    Greek
  • Armenian
    Armenian
  • Yiddish
    Yiddish

1935 Census

[edit]

Main article: 1935 Turkish Census

1965 Census

[edit]

Main article: 1965 Turkish Census

Languages spoken in Turkey, 1965 census[42]
Language Mother tongue Only language spoken Second best language spoken
Abaza 4,563 280 7,556
Albanian 12,832 1,075 39,613
Arabic 365,340 189,134 167,924
Armenian 33,094 1,022 22,260
Bosnian 17,627 2,345 34,892
Bulgarian 4,088 350 46,742
Pomak 23,138 2,776 34,234
Chechen 7,563 2,500 5,063
Circassian 58,339 6,409 48,621
Croatian 45 1 1,585
Czech 168 25 76
Dutch 366 23 219
English 27,841 21,766 139,867
French 3,302 398 96,879
Georgian 34,330 4,042 44,934
German 4,901 790 35,704
Greek 48,096 3,203 78,941
Italian 2,926 267 3,861
Kurdish (Kurmanji) 2,219,502 1,323,690 429,168
Judæo-Spanish 9,981 283 3,510
Laz 26,007 3,943 55,158
Persian 948 72 2,103
Polish 110 20 377
Portuguese 52 5 3,233
Romanian 406 53 6,909
Russian 1,088 284 4,530
Serbian 6,599 776 58,802
Spanish 2,791 138 4,297
Turkish 28,289,680 26,925,649 1,387,139
Zaza 150,644 92,288 20,413
Total 31,009,934 28,583,607 2,786,610
Languages spoken in Turkey by provinces, 1965 census[43]
Province / Language Turkish Kurdish Arabic Zazaki Circassian Greek Georgian Armenian Laz Pomak Bosnian Albanian Jewish
Adana (including Osmaniye) 866,316 7,581 22,356 332 51 51 0 28 9 0 312 483 29
Adıyaman 143,054 117,325 7 6,705 0 0 0 84 4 0 0 0 0
Afyonkarahisar 499,461 125 19 1 2,172 169 2 2 1 16 14 2 1
Ağrı 90,021 156,316 105 4 2 2 77 5 0 1 103 0 0
Amasya 279,978 2,179 9 2 1,497 6 1,378 208 6 0 10 336 1
Ankara (including Kırıkkale and parts of Aksaray) 1,590,392 36,798 814 21 393 124 41 66 120 7 126 833 64
Antalya 486,697 23 2 0 0 14 0 0 2 0 0 1 0
Artvin 190,183 46 4 0 0 4 7,698 1 12,093 1 1 0 0
Aydın 523,583 168 85 0 112 71 4 1 4 0 26 88 0
Balıkesir 698,679 560 38 8 3,144 236 1,273 9 205 1,707 314 24 4
Bilecik 137,674 5 4 0 736 4 73 1 1 2 6 3 0
Bingöl 62,668 56,881 19 30,878 17 0 1 11 1 0 0 0 3
Bitlis 56,161 92,327 3,263 2,082 205 1 5 16 0 0 0 1 2
Bolu (including Düzce) 375,786 363 0 0 1,593 3 1,541 488 1,791 0 40 6 1
Burdur 194,910 2 7 0 0 3 12 0 0 0 0 1 0
Bursa (including parts of Yalova) 746,633 213 22 0 799 106 2,938 35 517 65 1,169 1,928 69
Çanakkale 338,379 443 0 25 1,604 5,258 4 9 12 3,675 516 6 121
Çankırı (including parts of Karabük) 250,510 158 1 0 0 1 0 3 2 0 0 0 0
Çorum 474,638 8,736 4 0 1,808 12 8 51 3 7 0 0 0
Denizli 462,860 283 28 5 8 97 1 1 0 2 1 3 0
Diyarbakır 178,644 236,113 2,536 57,693 1 1 3 134 3 48 1 5 0
Edirne 290,610 386 104 21 9 18 2 12 3 10,285 329 58 92
Elazığ 244,016 47,446 17 30,921 0 2 0 2 30 12 3 2 0
Erzincan 243,911 14,323 13 298 4 5 0 12 2 3 0 1 0
Erzurum 555,632 69,648 86 2,185 109 8 4 11 24 7 1 5 1
Eskişehir 406,212 327 42 0 1,390 4 3 0 14 23 114 78 0
Gaziantep 490,046 18,954 885 1 4 6 0 4 3 0 1 11 0
Giresun 425,665 305 1 1 2 0 2,029 0 5 0 0 0 0
Gümüşhane (including Bayburt) 260,419 2,189 0 0 91 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 0
Hakkari (including parts of Şırnak) 10,357 72,365 165 0 1 0 1 21 2 0 0 0 0
Hatay 350,080 5,695 127,072 7 780 767 11 376 6 2 8 44 1
Isparta 265,305 688 75 11 8 91 0 1 2 1 1 3 4
Mersin 500,207 1,067 9,430 23 76 137 13 12 19 3 3 9 1
İstanbul (including parts of Yalova) 2,185,741 2,586 2,843 26 317 35,097 849 29,479 128 165 3,072 4,341 8,608
İzmir 1,214,219 863 352 5 1,287 898 15 17 15 1,289 2,349 1,265 753
Kars (including Ardahan and Iğdır) 471,287 133,144 61 992 215 6 8 5 24 1 5 4 1
Kastamonu 439,355 1,090 2 0 3 2 180 849 1 0 0 0 0
Kayseri 509,932 8,454 34 8 17,110 1 1 9 6 9 15 160 1
Kırklareli 252,594 602 136 24 5 3 5 3 7 3,375 1,148 144 11
Kırşehir 185,489 11,309 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
Kocaeli (including 3 villages of İstanbul and parts of Yalova) 320,808 235 0 10 1,467 63 2,755 46 2,264 381 3,827 22 7
Konya (including Karaman) 1,092,819 27,811 67 4 1,139 3 7 1 5 1 11 75 0
Kütahya 397,221 105 13 2 17 4 2 88 9 0 0 34 0
Malatya 374,449 77,794 33 10 14 5 7 148 5 4 0 3 0
Manisa 746,514 241 15 0 488 42 67 2 6 54 116 192 3
Kahramanmaraş 386,010 46,548 21 0 4,185 0 0 13 3 0 0 9 0
Mardin (including parts of Batman and Şırnak) 35,494 265,328 79,687 60 75 11 15 11 0 0 1 6 0
Muğla 334,883 6 4 1 0 28 0 0 0 1 0 0 4
Muş 110,555 83,020 3,575 507 898 0 1 3 103 0 0 0 0
Nevşehir 203,156 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 0
Niğde (including Aksaray) 353,146 8,991 10 0 227 5 0 12 4 0 15 4 0
Ordu 538,978 12 0 0 5 0 4,815 34 0 1 0 1 0
Rize 275,291 11 1 1 0 9 4 0 5,754 1 0 1 0
Sakarya (including 1 village of Düzce) 388,481 2,163 32 3 538 6 4,535 2 2,671 23 2,899 794 1
Samsun 747,115 1,366 3 0 3,401 91 2,350 5 51 319 10 610 0
Siirt (including parts of Batman and Şırnak) 46,722 179,023 38,273 484 1 0 15 98 3 0 10 0 0
Sinop 261,341 2,126 0 0 659 1 1,144 228 3 5 0 7 3
Sivas 649,099 32,284 19 23 2,086 0 0 217 1 0 515 0 0
Tekirdağ (including 1 village of İstanbul) 284,222 548 76 18 5 19 52 8 2 1,627 6 51 102
Tokat 483,948 3,974 7 3 5,934 0 367 45 2 0 0 964 0
Trabzon 590,799 72 12 0 0 4,535 1 11 0 0 0 0 0
Tunceli 120,553 33,431 20 2,370 28 0 0 4 0 18 10 8 0
Şanlıurfa 207,652 175,100 51,090 14,554 3 0 5 2 4 0 2 0 0
Uşak 190,506 16 2 0 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0
Van 118,481 147,694 557 3 1 2 1 1 8 0 1 1 66
Yozgat 433,385 2,424 1 0 1,597 2 0 118 0 0 14 1 0
Zonguldak (including Bartın and parts of Karabük) 649,757 43 26 0 5 17 2 3 15 0 1 1 1

  Provinces with Turkish speakers in majority   Provinces with Turkish speakers in plurality   Provinces with Kurdish speakers in plurality   Provinces with Kurdish speakers in majority

  • Turkish- and Kurdish-speaking pluralities
    Turkish- and Kurdish-speaking pluralities
  • Turkish-speaking population
    Turkish-speaking population
  • Kurdish-speaking population
    Kurdish-speaking population
  • Arabic-speaking population
    Arabic-speaking population
  • Zaza-speaking population
    Zaza-speaking population
  • Circassian-speaking population
    Circassian-speaking population
  • Greek-speaking population
    Greek-speaking population
  • Armenian-speaking population
    Armenian-speaking population
  • Georgian-speaking population
    Georgian-speaking population
  • Laz-speaking population
    Laz-speaking population
  • Pomak-speaking population
    Pomak-speaking population
  • Bosnian-speaking population
    Bosnian-speaking population
  • Albanian-speaking population
    Albanian-speaking population
  • Ladino-speaking population
    Ladino-speaking population

KONDA, 2006

[edit]

The following table lists the mother tongues of people in Turkey by percentage of their speakers.

Mother tongues in Turkey[44]
Mother tongue Percentage
Turkish 84.54
Kurdish (Kurmanji) 11.97
Arabic 1.38
Zazaki 1.01
Other Turkic languages 0.28
Balkan languages 0.23
Laz 0.12
Circassian languages 0.11
Armenian 0.07
Other Caucasian languages 0.07
Greek 0.06
West European languages 0.03
Jewish languages 0.01
Other 0.12

Ethnologue

[edit]

Ethnologue lists many minority and immigrant languages in Turkey some of which are spoken by large numbers of people.

Languages by number of speakers in Turkey (with Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale)[45][46]
Family Language ISO Speakers Status (EGIDS)[a] Notes
Turkic languages
Oghuz Turkish tur 83,440,000 (2019) 1 (National)
South Azerbaijani azb 596,000 (2019) 5 (Dispersed)
Balkan Gagauz Turkish bgx 460,000 (2019) 7 (Shifting)
Turkmen tuk 5 (Dispersed) Non-indigenous
Kipchak Crimean Tatar crh 110,000 (2019) 6b (Threatened) Non-indigenous
Karakalpak kaa 81,700 (2019) Non-indigenous
Tatar tat 28,700 (2019) 5 (Dispersed) Non-indigenous
Kazakh kaz 8,500 (2019) 5 (Dispersed) Non-indigenous
Kyrgyz kir 5 (Dispersed) Non-indigenous
Kumyk kum 1,600 (2021) 6b (Threatened) Non-indigenous
Karluk Southern Uzbek uzs 4,200 (2019) 5 (Dispersed) Non-indigenous
Uyghur uig
Indo-European languages
Iranian Northern Kurdish kmr 9,000,000 Decrease (2019) 6b (Threatened) 3,000,000 monolinguals
Southern Zazaki diq 1,280,000 Decrease (2019)
Northern Zazaki kiu 203,000 (2019)
Persian pes 682,000 (2019) Non-indigenous
Digor Ossetian oss 41,000 (2019) 6b (Threatened) Non-indigenous
Indo-Aryan Balkan Romani rmn 72,900 (2019) 6a (Vigorous) Non-indigenous
Domari rmt 6b (Threatened)
Urdu urd 24,300 (2019) Non-indigenous
Slavic Pomak Bulgarian bul 395,000 (2019) 5 (Dispersed)
Bosnian bos 112,000 (2019) Non-indigenous
Russian rus 600,000 (2012)
Macedonian mkd 35,000 (2019)
Serbian srp 5,000 (2019) 6b (Threatened)
Greek Pontic Greek pnt 5,000 (2015) 7 (Shifting)
Greek ell 4,000 (2019) 5 (Dispersed) Non-indigenous, due to emigration
Albanian Tosk Albanian als 72,900 (2019) 6b (Threatened) Non-indigenous
Gheg Albanian aln 5 (Dispersed)
Armenian Western Armenian hyw 67,300 (2019) 6b (Threatened)
Italic Ladino lad 8,000 (2018) 7 (Shifting) Non-indigenous
Spanish spa 16,000 (2019)
French fra 4,300 (2019)
Germanic English eng 47,000 (2019) Non-indigenous
German deu 6,700 (2019)
Semitic languages
Arabic Levantine Arabic apc 4,250,000 (2021) 6b (Threatened) The vast majority of speakers are Syrian refugees and migrants.
Modern Standard Arabic arb 686,000 (2015) 4 (Educational) Non-indigenous
North Mesopotamian Arabic ayp 574,000 (2019) 6a (Vigorous) Do not read Arabic
Mesopotamian Arabic acm 112,000 (2019) Non-indigenous
Neo-Aramaic Turoyo tru 16,600 (2019) 6b (Threatened)
Hértevin hrt 4 (2012) 8b (Nearly extinct)
Syriac syc 0 9 (Dormant)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic aii 27,600 (2019) Non-indigenous
Northwest Caucasian languages
Circassian Kabardian kbd 1,170,000 (2019) 6b (Threatened) Non-indigenous
Adyghe ady 349,000 (2019) Non-indigenous
Abazgi Abkhaz abk 48,600 (2019) Non-indigenous
Abaza abq 13,200 (2019) Non-indigenous
Ubykh Ubykh uby 0 10 (Extinct) Last speaker died in 1992
Kartvelian languages
Karto-Zan Georgian kat 167,000 (2019) 6b (Threatened)
Lazuri lzz 20,000 (2007)
Northeast Caucasian languages
Lezgic Lezgi lez 1,200 (1996) Non-indigenous
Nakh Chechen che 112,000 (2019) Non-indigenous
Sino-Tibetan languages
Sinitic Mandarin Chinese cmn 42,000 (2019) Non-indigenous
Sign languages
Deaf community Turkish Sign Language tsm 250,000 (2021) 6a (Vigorous)
Mardin Sign Language dsz 40 (2012) 8b

Not included in the report by Ethnologue is the Megleno-Romanian language, spoken by the Megleno-Romanians, who number around 5,000 in the country.[47]

a^ Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS) of Ethnologue:
0 (International): "The language is widely used between nations in trade, knowledge exchange, and international policy."
1 (National): "The language is used in education, work, mass media, and government at the national level."
2 (Provincial): "The language is used in education, work, mass media, and government within major administrative subdivisions of a nation."
3 (Wider Communication): "The language is used in work and mass media without official status to transcend language differences across a region."
4 (Educational): "The language is in vigorous use, with standardization and literature being sustained through a widespread system of institutionally supported education."
5 (Developing): "The language is in vigorous use, with literature in a standardized form being used by some though this is not yet widespread or sustainable."
6a (Vigorous): "The language is used for face-to-face communication by all generations and the situation is sustainable."
6b (Threatened): "The language is used for face-to-face communication within all generations, but it is losing users."
7 (Shifting): "The child-bearing generation can use the language among themselves, but it is not being transmitted to children."
8a (Moribund): "The only remaining active users of the language are members of the grandparent generation and older."
8b (Nearly Extinct): "The only remaining users of the language are members of the grandparent generation or older who have little opportunity to use the language."
9 (Dormant): "The language serves as a reminder of heritage identity for an ethnic community, but no one has more than symbolic proficiency."
10 (Extinct): "The language is no longer used and no one retains a sense of ethnic identity associated with the language."

Ethnologue, 2022

[edit]

The following languages are listed as having 50,000 or more total speakers in Turkey according to the 2022 edition of Ethnologue.[48] Entries identified by Ethnologue as macrolanguages (such as Arabic, Persian, Pashto, Chinese, and Zaza, encompassing all their respective varieties) are not included in this section.

Languages of Turkey, Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)[a][48]
Language Family Branch First-language (L1)
speakers in Turkey 		Second-language (L2)
speakers in Turkey 		Total (L1+L2)
speakers in Turkey
Adyghe Northwest Caucasian Circassian 349,000
Albanian, Tosk Indo-European Albanian 72,900
Mesopotamian Arabic Afro-Asiatic Semitic 112,000
North Levantine Arabic Afro-Asiatic Semitic 4,250,000
North Mesopotamian Arabic Afro-Asiatic Semitic 574,000
Modern Standard Arabic Afro-Asiatic Semitic 686,000
Western Armenian Indo-European Armenian 67,300
South Azerbaijani Turkic Oghuz 596,000
Balkan Gagauz Turkish Turkic Oghuz 460,000
Bosnian Indo-European Slavic 112,000
Bulgarian Indo-European Slavic 395,000
Chechen Northeast Caucasian Nakh 112,000
Crimean Tatar Turkic Kipchak 110,000
Georgian Kartvelian Karto-Zan 167,000
Kabardian Northwest Caucasian Circassian 1,170,000
Karakalpak Turkic Kipchak 81,700
Northern Kurdish Indo-European Iranian 9,000,000
Iranian Persian Indo-European Iranian 682,000
Balkan Romani Indo-European Indo-Aryan 72,900
Turkish Turkic Oghuz 77,600,000 5,840,000 83,440,000
Turkish Sign Language Isolate — 250,000
Northern Zazaki Indo-European Iranian 203,000
Southern Zazaki Indo-European Iranian 1,280,000

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Only languages with at least 50,000 speakers are shown.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld - World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Turkey".
  2. ^ Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (February 2006). "Europeans and their languages Special Eurobarometer 243". Publications Office of the European Union. pp. 152–154.
  3. ^ a b c d Bayır 2013, pp. 88–90, 203–204.
  4. ^ Questions and Answers: Freedom of Expression and Language Rights in Turkey. New York: Human Rights Watch. April 2002. The Turkish government accepts the language rights of the Jewish, Greek and Armenian minorities as being guaranteed by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.
  5. ^ Uzum, Melike; Demir, Nurettin (2017-10-24). "Minority Language Education and Policy in Turkey: The Case of Cankiri Poshas". Journal of Universality of Global Education Issues. 4: 5–6. ISSN 2575-9388. In the Lausanne treaty, people of the republic were defined through a religion based definition, similar to the Ottoman concept of millet (nation). For example, the non-Muslim minorities such as Armenians, Greeks, and Jews were recognized as minorities, and their language rights were identified in articles 39, 40, and 41.
  6. ^ a b Toktaş, Şule; Araş, Bulent (2009). "The EU and Minority Rights in Turkey". Political Science Quarterly. 124 (4): 697–720. doi:10.1002/j.1538-165X.2009.tb00664.x. ISSN 0032-3195. JSTOR 25655744.
  7. ^ a b Köksal, Yonca (2006). "Minority Policies in Bulgaria and Turkey: The Struggle to Define a Nation". Southeast European and Black Sea Studies. 6 (4): 501–521. doi:10.1080/14683850601016390. ISSN 1468-3857.
  8. ^ a b Özlem, Kader (2019). "An Evaluation on Istanbul's Bulgarians as the "Invisible Minority" of Turkey". Turan-Sam. 11 (43): 387–393. ISSN 1308-8041.
  9. ^ Toktaş, Şule (2006). "EU enlargement conditions and minority protection : a reflection on Turkey's non-Muslim minorities". East European Quarterly. 40 (4): 489–519. ISSN 0012-8449. p. 514: This implies that Turkey grants educational right in minority languages only to the recognized minorities covered by the Lausanne who are the Armenians, Greeks and the Jews.
  10. ^ Tsitselikis, Konstantinos (2013). "A Surviving Treaty: The Lausanne Minority Protection in Greece and Turkey". In Henrard, Kristin (ed.). The Interrelation between the Right to Identity of Minorities and their Socio-economic Participation. Leiden and Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 287–288. ISBN 9789004244740.
  11. ^ Yağmur, Kutlay (2001), Extra, G.; Gorter, D. (eds.), "Turkish and other languages in Turkey", The Other Languages of Europe, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp. 407–427, ISBN 978-1-85359-510-3, retrieved 2023-10-06, "Mother tongue" education is mostly limited to Turkish teaching in Turkey. No other language can be taught as a mother tongue other than Armenian, Greek, and Hebrew, as agreed in the Lausanne Treaty [...] Like Jews and Greeks, Armenians enjoy the privilege of an officially recognized minority status. [...] No language other than Turkish can be taught at schools or at cultural centers. Only Armenian, Greek, and Hebrew are exceptions to this constitutional rule.
  12. ^ a b c Zetler, Reyhan (2014). "Turkish Jews between 1923 and 1933 – What Did the Turkish Policy between 1923 and 1933 Mean for the Turkish Jews?" (PDF). Bulletin der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Judaistische Forschung (23): 26 (PDF p. 14/28). OCLC 865002828.
  13. ^ Ankara 13th Circuit Administrative Court, 18 June 2013 (E. 2012/1746, K. 2013/952).
  14. ^ Akbulut, Olgun (2023-10-19). "For Centenary of the Lausanne Treaty: Re-Interpretation and Re-Implementation of Linguistic Minority Rights of Lausanne". International Journal on Minority and Group Rights. -1 (aop): 1–24. doi:10.1163/15718115-bja10134. ISSN 1385-4879.
  15. ^ Erdem, Fazıl Hüsnü; Öngüç, Bahar (2021-06-30). "SÜRYANİCE ANADİLİNDE EĞİTİM HAKKI: SORUNLAR VE ÇÖZÜM ÖNERİLERİ". Dicle Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi (in Turkish). 26 (44): 3–35. ISSN 1300-2929.
  16. ^ Strauss, Johann (2010). "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire: Translations of the Kanun-ı Esasi and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages". In Herzog, Christoph; Malek Sharif (eds.). The First Ottoman Experiment in Democracy. Würzburg: Orient-Institut Istanbul. pp. 21–51. (info page on book at Martin Luther University) // CITED: p. 26 (PDF p. 28): "French had become a sort of semi-official language in the Ottoman Empire in the wake of the Tanzimat reforms.[...]It is true that French was not an ethnic language of the Ottoman Empire. But it was the only Western language which would become increasingly widespread among educated persons in all linguistic communities."
  17. ^ Strauss, Johann (2016-07-07). "Language and power in the late Ottoman Empire". In Murphey, Rhoads (ed.). Imperial Lineages and Legacies in the Eastern Mediterranean: Recording the Imprint of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Rule. Routledge. (ISBN 1317118456, 9781317118459), p. 122.
  18. ^ Strauss, Johann (2016-07-07). "Language and power in the late Ottoman Empire". In Murphey, Rhoads (ed.). Imperial Lineages and Legacies in the Eastern Mediterranean: Recording the Imprint of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Rule. Routledge. (ISBN 1317118448, 9781317118442), Google Books PT192.
  19. ^ Strauss, Johann (2016-07-07). "Language and power in the late Ottoman Empire". In Murphey, Rhoads (ed.). Imperial Lineages and Legacies in the Eastern Mediterranean: Recording the Imprint of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Rule. Routledge. (ISBN 1317118448, 9781317118442), Google Books PT193.
  20. ^ Tanatar Baruh, Lorans; Sara Yontan Musnik. "Francophone press in the Ottoman Empire". French National Library. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
  21. ^ a b Alphan, Melis (2017-12-09). "Ladino: A Judeo-Ottoman language that is dying in Turkey". Hurriyet. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  22. ^ Zetler, Reyhan (2014). "Turkish Jews between 1923 and 1933 – What Did the Turkish Policy between 1923 and 1933 Mean for the Turkish Jews?" (PDF). Bulletin der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Judaistische Forschung (23): 27 (PDF p. 15/28). OCLC 865002828.
  23. ^ "Constitution of the Republic of Turkey". Republic of Turkey. Article 3 . {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  24. ^ "Constitution of the Republic of Turkey". Republic of Turkey. Article 42 . {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  25. ^ European Commission 2005, pp. 35 f..
  26. ^ European Commission 2005, p. 35.
  27. ^ Questions and Answers: Freedom of Expression and Language Rights in Turkey. New York: Human Rights Watch. April 2002.
  28. ^ Kaya, Nurcan (2015-11-24). "Teaching in and Studying Minority Languages in Turkey: A Brief Overview of Current Issues and Minority Schools". European Yearbook of Minority Issues Online. 12 (1): 315–338. doi:10.1163/9789004306134_013. ISSN 2211-6117. Turkey is a nation–state built on remnants of the Ottoman Empire where non-Muslim minorities were guaranteed the right to set up educational institutions; however, since its establishment, it has officially recognised only Armenians, Greeks and Jews as minorities and guaranteed them the right to manage educational institutions as enshrined in the Treaty of Lausanne. [...] Private language teaching courses teach 'traditionally used languages', elective language courses have been introduced in public schools and universities are allowed to teach minority languages.
  29. ^ Uras, Umut. "Vox Pops: Life as an Armenian in Turkey". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-10-07. The population of Armenian Turkish citizens living in Turkey is unclear, with estimates ranging up to 70,000. With a legal minority status in Turkey as defined by the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 for all non-Muslim minority groups, they are entitled to "an equal right to establish, manage and control at their own expense, any charitable, religious and social institutions, any schools and other establishments for instruction and education, with the right to use their own language and to exercise their own religion freely therein".
  30. ^ Toktas, Sule (2006). "EU enlargement conditions and minority protection : a reflection on Turkey's non-Muslim minorities". East European Quarterly. 40: 489–519. ISSN 0012-8449. Turkey signed the Covenant on 15 August 2000 and ratified it on 23 September 2003. However, Turkey put a reservation on Article 27 of the Covenant which limited the scope of the right of ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion or to use their own language. This reservation provides that this right will be implemented and applied in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Turkish Constitution and the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. This implies that Turkey grants educational right in minority languages only to the recognized minorities covered by the Lausanne who are the Armenians, Greeks and the Jews.
  31. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | Turkey: A Minority Policy of Systematic Negation". Refworld. Retrieved 2023-10-07. As mentioned above, the Jews, the Greek Orthodox Christians, and the Armenian Orthodox Christians are the only recognized minorities in Turkey.
  32. ^ Akbulut, Mustafa; Özer, Zeynep Bağlan; Gürses, Reşide; Taşkın, Banu Karababachapter=TÜRKİYE ERMENİLERİNİN KÜLTÜREL KİMLİKLERİNİ KORUMASINI SAĞLAYAN FAKTÖRLER, eds. (2011). 38. ICANAS (Uluslararası Asya ve Kuzey Afrika Çalışmaları Kongresi), 10-15 Eylül 2007, Ankara, Türkiye: bildiriler: kültürel değişim, gelişim ve hareketlilik =: International Congress of Asian and North African Studies 10-15 September 2007: papers: cultural change, growth and mobility (PDF). Atatürk Kültür, Dil ve Tarih Yüksek Kurumu Yayınları. Ankara: Atatürk Kültür, Dil ve Tarih Yüksek Kurumu. ISBN 978-975-16-2433-8. The legal status of Armenians designed by the Treaty of Lausanne gave them the opportunity to establish their own schools, religious and secular organizations, to teach younger generations the Armenian language, to publish books and newspapers in Armenian, to worship in their churches etc. These regulations helped them to live as a community, to maintain their cultural values, i.e. to prolong Armenian identity.
  33. ^ a b "Kürtçe İlk Kez Müfredata Girdi" [Kurdish Is on the Academic Programme for the First Time]. Hürriyet Eğitim. Milliyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Milliyet. 12 September 2012.
  34. ^ "Boşnakça ve Arnavutça Müfredata Girdi" [Bosnian and Albanian Languages Are on the Academic Programme]. Hürriyet Eğitim. Hurriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Hürriyet. 23 February 2017.
  35. ^ Al-Monitor: Turks divided over plans to introduce Arabic-language teaching, 2 November 2015, Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  36. ^ Hürriyet Daily News: Arabic to be offered as second language in Turkish elementary schools, 23 October 2015, Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  37. ^ unstats.un.org https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm. Retrieved 2024-08-29. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  38. ^ Dundar, Fuat. Türkiye Nüfus Sayimlarinda Azinliklar, 2001.
  39. ^ http://kutuphane.tuik.gov.tr/pdf/0015557.pdf
  40. ^ https://cdn.teyit.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/nufustahriri.pdf
  41. ^ Guzgulu, Derya (2019-01-01). "1950 Türkiye genel nüfus sayımının coğrafi analizi". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  42. ^ Heinz Kloss & Grant McConnel, Linguistic composition of the nations of the world, vol,5, Europe and USSR, Québec, Presses de l'Université Laval, 1984, ISBN 2-7637-7044-4
  43. ^ Ahmet Buran Ph.D., Türkiye'de Diller ve Etnik Gruplar, 2012
  44. ^ "Etnik Kimlikler: Anadil [Ethnic Identitites: Mother Tongue]". Toplumsal Yapı Araştırması 2006 [Social Structure Research 2006] (PDF) (Report). KONDA. September 2006. p. 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-15. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
  45. ^ Lewis, M. Paul, ed. (2009). "Ethnologue report for Turkey (Europe)". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. SIL International. Archived from the original on 2010-07-07. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
  46. ^ Lewis, M. Paul, ed. (2009). "Ethnologue report for Turkey (Asia)". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. SIL International. Archived from the original on 2010-07-07. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
  47. ^ Kahl, Thede (2006). "The Islamisation of the Meglen Vlachs (Megleno-Romanians): The Village of Nânti (Nótia) and the "Nântinets" in Present-Day Turkey". Nationalities Papers. 34 (1): 71–90. doi:10.1080/00905990500504871. S2CID 161615853.
  48. ^ a b "Turkey: Languages". Ethnologue. 2022.

Sources

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Further reading

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