The Yalıboylu are an ethnic group

Ethnic group

An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...

 of Crimean Tatars

Crimean Tatars

Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...

 who have traditionally lived along the southern shore of the Crimean Peninsula, hence their name: Yalıboylu means "coastal dwellers" in the Crimean Tatar language

Crimean Tatar language

The Crimean Tatar language is the language of the Crimean Tatars. It is a Turkic language spoken in Crimea, Central Asia , and the Crimean Tatar diasporas in Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria...

. They lost they traditional settlement during Stalin's ethnic cleansing

Ethnic cleansing

Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....

 of Crimea in 1943-1944 (see Deportation of Crimean Tatars

Deportation of Crimean Tatars

Sürgün refers to the state-organized forcible deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944 to Uzbek SSR and other parts of the Soviet Union...

). The Yalıboylu dialect belongs to Oghuz languages

Oghuz languages

The Oghuz languages, a major branch of the Turkic language family, are spoken by more than 110 million people in an area spanning from the Balkans to China.-Linguistic features:...

 and is very close to 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,...

. According to the Soviet anthropologist of the early 20th century B.Kuftin, spoke "almost pure southern-Turkish". Yaliboyu Tatars are Mediterranean Caucasians that have immigrated from Ancient Anatolia

Anatolia

Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

 in 10th century B.C from Eastern Anatolia of Pontus

Pontus

Pontus or Pontos is a historical Greek designation for a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in modern-day northeastern Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region in antiquity by the Greeks who colonized the area, and derived from the Greek name of the Black Sea: Πόντος...

 Kingdom. Yaliboyu are descendants of Pontiac Greeks, Armenians

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

, and Assyrian people

Assyrian people

The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...

. They were Christians until the 14th century A.D., then converted to Sunni Muslims by Noghai and Turkish Khans. .