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Turks in Saudi Arabia

FieldValue
groupTurks in Saudi Arabia
imageTurkish Pilgrims at Jabal Thawr in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, 4 April 2015.jpg
captionA group of Turkish pilgrims at Jabal Thawr to perform umrah
popplaceRiyadh, Jeddah, Mecca
langs
relsSunni Islam
relatedTurkish diaspora
population{{Plainlist**Turkish Arabian minority** (i.e. Ottoman descendants only):
150,000 (1993 est.)
**Modern-day Turkish immigrants**:
120,000-200,000

150,000 (1993 est.) Modern-day Turkish immigrants: 120,000-200,000

Turks in Saudi Arabia also referred to as Turkish Saudi Arabians, Saudi Arabian Turks or Saudi Turks (, ) refers to ethnic Turkish people living in Saudi Arabia. The majority of Arabian Turks descend from Ottoman settlers who arrived in the region during the Ottoman rule of Arabia. Most Ottoman Turkish descendants in Saudi Arabia trace their roots to Anatolia; however, some ethnic Turks also came from the Balkans, Cyprus, the Levant, North Africa and other regions which had significant Turkish communities. In addition to Ottoman settlement policies, Turkish pilgrims to Mecca and Medina often settled down in the area permanently.

There has also been modern migration to Saudi Arabia from the Republic of Turkey as well as other modern nation-states which were once part of the Ottoman Empire.

History

Ottoman Turkish migration

Turks have had a presence in the western Arabian peninsula for hundreds of years, culminating in the Ottoman conquest of the Hejaz in 1517. After the Great Arab Revolt and the decline of the Ottoman Empire, a Turkish minority remained in the newly founded Saudi Kingdom.

Modern Turkish migration

Starting in the 1970s, economic relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia grew. In 1977, there was 6,500 Turks in Saudi Arabia, 5,000 of which were officially reported workers.

Emigration of Turkish workers to Saudi ArabiaYearPopulation
1961–19734
1974–198026,739
1981–2023986,754
1991–1995150,654
2000-2023925,789

Business

As per argaam, Turkish nationals workers were around 25,000 people, which represents around 0.20% of total population. There are some 8,100 Turkish-operated hairdresser shops, 4,200 restaurants, and 2,900 furniture stores in Saudi Arabia.

Politics

During the 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum, more than 8,000 Turkish expats from Saudi Arabia cast votes whether Turkey should abolish its parliamentary system and become a presidential republic. 58.34% of the Turkish expatriates in Saudi Arabia opted for "No", while 41.66% voted for "Yes". The "Yes" vote was concentrated in Jeddah and the Western Region, while in Riyadh "No" was the dominant choice. The "no" vote was significantly higher compared to votes of several European Turkish expat communities.

Notable people

  • Kamal Adham, businessman
  • Iffat Al-Thunayan, princess and the most prominent wife of King Faisal
    • children:
    • Princess Sara, activist for women and children welfare
    • Prince Mohammed, businessman
    • Princess Latifa
    • Prince Saud, served as Saudi Arabia's foreign minister from 1975 to 2015
    • Prince Abdul Rahman, military officer and businessman
    • Prince Bandar, military officer
    • Prince Turki, chairman of King Faisal Foundation's Center for Research and Islamic Studies
    • Princess Lolowah, prominent activist for women's education
    • Princess Haifa
      • grandchildren:
      • Amr bin Mohammed Al Saud, businessman
      • Reem Al Faisal, photographer
      • Faisal bin Turki Al Faisal Al Saud
      • Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal, racing driver and businessman
      • Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States
      • Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United Kingdom
      • Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, president of the Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronic and Intellectual Sports (SAFEIS) and the Arab eSports Federation
  • Fatima Al-Banawi, is a Saudi Arabian filmmaker and actress
  • Omar Basaad, music producer
  • Muhammad Khashoggi, medical doctor
    • children:
    • Adnan Khashoggi, businessman
    • Samira Khashoggi, author and the owner and editor-in chief of Alsharkiah magazine
    • Soheir Khashoggi, novelist
      • grandchildren
      • Dodi Fayed, film producer
      • Emad Khashoggi, businessman and the head of COGEMAD
      • Jamal Khashoggi, general manager and editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News Channel
      • Nabila Khashoggi, businesswoman, actress, and philanthropist
  • Sahika Inal, is a scientist who is an associate professor and Chair of the Organic Bioelectronics Laboratory at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

References

Bibliography

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  • {{citation |last=Sirageldin|first=Ismail Abdel-Hamid|year=2003|title=Human Capital: Population Economics in the Middle East

References

  1. Akar, Metin. (1993). "Fas Arapçasında Osmanlı Türkçesinden Alınmış Kelimeler". Türklük Araştırmaları Dergisi.
  2. {{Harvnb. Harzig. Juteau. Schmitt. 2006
  3. {{Harvnb. Koslowski. 2004
  4. {{Harvnb. Karpat. 2004
  5. {{Harvnb. Fuller. 2008
  6. {{Harvnb. Hale. 1981
  7. {{Harvnb. Sirageldin. 2003
  8. {{Harvnb. Jung. Piccoli. 2001
  9. {{Harvnb. Unan. 2009
  10. {{Harvnb. Papademetriou. Martin. 1991
  11. {{Harvnb. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 1997
  12. {{Harvnb. Ergener. 2002
  13. (10 April 2017). "More than 1 million Turkish expats vote in charter referendum - Turkey News".
  14. (2017-04-18). "Referendum divides Turkish expats".
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