Israeli Turkmen

Israeli Turkmen

İsrail Türkmenleri
Flag of Israeli Turkmen, also used to represent ethnic Turks in the Levant as a whole
Total population
Turkish minority: unknown Turkish citizens only: 22,000 (2007)
Regions with significant populations
Historically: Jezreel Valley region Golan Heights
Languages
Turkish
Religion
Majority Sunni Islam and Minority Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Syrian Turkmen, Lebanese Turkmen, Turkish Jews in Israel

The Israeli Turkmen, neutrally referred to as the Turks in Israel are the descendants of ethnic Turkish and other Oghuz Turkic peoples who have had a long-established presence in the region.

Migration of Turkish settlers to the Levant began in the 12th century, and continued throughout the Mamluk and Ottoman rule.

In the early 2000s, Turkish workers from the Republic of Turkey settled in Israel, working predominantly on construction projects.

Diaspora

During and after the 1947–1949 Palestine war, some Turkmen fled the region and settled in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

During the British mandate of Palestine, the Turk tribes like Bani-Saidan and Bani Alaqama lived mostly in the Jezreel Valley region; and, up until the Israeli conquest in 1967, Turkmen tribes lived in the Golan Heights.

See also

• Arkadaş Association
• Circassians in Israel
• History of the Jews in Turkey
• Israel–Turkey relations
• Turkish Jews in Israel
• Turkish minorities in the former Ottoman Empire
• Turks in Palestine

Bibliography

• Council of Europe (2007), Parliamentary Assembly: Working Papers 2007 Ordinary Session 22–26 January 2007, Council of Europe, ISBN 978-92-871-6191-8.
• Drori, Israel (2009), Foreign Workers in Israel: Global Perspectives, SUNY Press, ISBN 978-0-7914-7689-5.
• Suwaed, Muhammad (2015), "Turkmen, Israeli", Historical Dictionary of the Bedouins, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 978-1442254510.