Turks in Algeria
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| ~1,740,000 - 5% of Algeria's 34.8 million inhabitants of Turkish descent (2008 Oxford Business Group estimate) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam |
The Turks in Algeria, or Algerian Turks, (Arabic: أتراك الجزائر French: Turcs d'Algérie; Turkish: Cezayir Türkleri) are ethnic Turks who constitute a minority group in Algeria. During Ottoman rule, Turkish settlers began to migrate to the region predominately from Anatolia and many intermarried with the native population; the male offspring's in these marriages were referred to as "Kouloughlis" (Turkish: kuloğlu) due to their mixed Turkish and central Maghrebis blood.
In the late nineteenth century the French colonisers in North Africa classified the populations under their rule as "Arab" and "Berber", despite the fact that these countries had diverse populations, which were also composed of ethnic Turks and Kouloughlis (the male offspring of Turkish men and North African women).
Today, Algerians of Turkish descent still represent 5% of the country's population. They have formed the Association des Turcs algériens ("The Association of Algerian Turks"), and continue to practice the Hanafi school of Islam (in contrast to the ethnic Arabs who mostly practice the Maliki school). Moreover, there are many Turkish-origin surnames in Algeria which mostly express a provenance or ethnic origin from Anatolia.
The foundation of Ottoman Algeria was directly linked to the establishment of the Ottoman province (beylerbeylik) of the Maghreb at the beginning of the 16th century. At the time, fearing that their city would fall into Spanish hands, the inhabitants of Algiers called upon Ottoman corsairs for help. Headed by Oruç Reis and his brother Hayreddin Barbarossa, they took over the rule of the city and started to expand their territory into the surrounding areas. Sultan Selim I (r. 1512-20) agreed to assume control of the Maghreb regions ruled by Hayreddin as a province, granting the rank of governor-general (beylerbey) to Hayreddin. In addition, the Sultan sent 2,000 janissaries, accompanied by about 4,000 volunteers to the newly established Ottoman province of the Maghreb, whose capital was to be the city of Algiers. These Turks, mainly from Anatolia, called each other "yoldaş" (a Turkish word meaning "comrade") and called their sons born of unions with local women "Kuloğlu’s", implying that they considered their children's status as that of the Sultan's servants. Likewise, to indicate in the registers that a certain person is an offspring of a Turk and a local woman, the note "ibn al-turki" (or "kuloglu") was added to his name.
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Wikipedia