Turks in Kyrgyzstan
Encyclopedia
History
The majority of Turks were deported from south-western GeorgiaMeskheti
Meskheti is in a mountainous area of Moschia and is a former province in southwestern Georgia. The ancient Georgian tribes of Meskhi and Mosiniks were the indigenous population of this region. A majority of the modern Georgian population of Meskheti are descendants of these ancient tribes...
to Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
in 1944, where they were employed largely in the agricultural sector in grain and livestock production. Of the 207,500 Meskhetian Turks registered in the 1989 Soviet census
Soviet Census (1989)
The 1989 Soviet census, conducted between January 12-19 of that year, was the last one conducted in the former USSR. It resulted in a total population of 286,730,819 inhabitants...
there were 21,294 Turks in Kyrgyzstan.
| Turks in Kyrgyzstan according to the Soviet Census's Soviet Census Soviet Census may refer to:*Russian Census , which was incomplete*Soviet Census , which only covered urban population*First All Union Census of the Soviet Union *Soviet Census *Soviet Census *Soviet Census... and 1999, 2009 National Censuses |
|||||||
| Year | Population | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 3,076 | ||||||
| 1979 | 5,160 | ||||||
| 1989 | 21,294 | ||||||
| 1999 | 33,327 | ||||||
| 2009 | 39,133 | ||||||
Demographics
Turks in Kyrgyzstan are often called Fergana Turks due to their large presence in the Fergana valleyFergana Valley
The Fergana Valley or Farghana Valley is a region in Central Asia spreading across eastern Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Divided across three subdivisions of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse, and in the early 21st century was the scene of ethnic conflict...
.
Organisations
The Turk-Ata (Turkish fatherland) national cultural centre was established in November 1993 to represent the interests of the Meskhetian Turks. The Turk Ata Organisation has adopted to press the authorities to adopt a law making it easier for ethnic Turks residing in Kyrgyzstan to obtain new documents specifying their true nationality- TurkishTurkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
. They are also trying to persuade the authorities to open new schools in areas of dense ethnic Turkish population, in which instruction would be in the Turkish language
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
and students would be taught Kyrgyz
Kyrgyz language
Kyrgyz or Kirgiz, also Kirghiz, Kyrghiz, Qyrghiz is a Turkic language and, together with Russian, an official language of Kyrgyzstan...
and a foreign language.
Education
The Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University was established in Jal district of BishkekBishkek
Bishkek , formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan.Bishkek is also the administrative centre of Chuy Province which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the province but rather a province-level unit of Kyrgyzstan.The name is thought to...
in 1995 and has around 2,000 students. It is one of the leading universities in the country. The Krygyz-Turkish Anatolian High School, Krygyz-Turkish Anatolian Girls Vocational School, Bishkek Turkish Primary School and Turkish Language Teaching Center are run by the Turkish Ministry of Education.