Wikipedia

Turks in Libya

The Turks in Libya, also commonly referred to as Kouloughlis(Arabic: كراغلة) are Libyans who claim partial descent from Ottoman Janissaries in Libya. Quantifiying their presence/population in Libya in the modern day is near impossible, due to them assimilating near entirely in the Libyan population over time. They mainly make up a small fraction of the populations of the cities, Misrata and Tripoli.[1]

Kouloughlis In Libya
Regions with significant populations
Languages
Religion
Sunni Islam

During Ottoman Alleigance/Alliance in Libya (1551–1912), Turkish Janissaries began to migrate to the region.[2] A minimal number of said Turks, and Janissaries intermarried with the native population, and their offspring were referred to as Kouloughlis (Turkish: kuloğlu) due to their mixed heritage.[3][4]

After the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, Turks continued to migrate to Libya from the newly established modern states. However, contrary to popular belief, the large majority of said migrants were Cretan Muslims, who were often referred to as Turks by some Christian Greeks due to their religion; not their ethnic background.

History

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Ottoman Libya

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The Ottoman flag raised in the city of Benghazi
 
Courtyard of the Karamanly House Museum. The historic house was built by Yusuf Karamanli.
See also: Karamanli dynasty and Ottoman Tripolitania

During Ottoman Alleigance/Alliance in Libya (1551–1912), Turkish Janissaries began to migrate to the region.[2] A minimal number of said Turks, and Janissaries intermarried with the native population, and their offspring were referred to as Kouloughlis (Turkish: kuloğlu) due to their mixed heritage.[3][4]

Today there are no Libyans who record their ethnicity as Turkish, or acknowledge their descent from the Ottomans . [2]

Italian Libya

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After Libya fell to the Italians in 1911, most Kouloughlis still remained in the region, They played no role in the Resistance itself, and remained an idle, subservient, minority of the population.

Culture

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As a result of four centuries of Ottoman Presence/Alliance to and within Libya, the Libyans left some of their cultural imprints on the Turks, particularly their language, food, and costumes, which the Kouloughlis adopted from the locals.

Religion

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The Ottoman brought with them the teaching of the Hanafi School of Islam during the Ottoman, However the large majority of the Sunni Muslim Libyan population follows the Maliki school of thought.

Notable people

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Pan 1949, 103.
  2. ^ a b c Malcolm & Losleben 2004, 62.
  3. ^ a b Stone 1997, p. 29.
  4. ^ a b Milli Gazete. "Levanten Türkler". Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
  5. ^ a b c d e Tastekin, Fehim (2019). "Are Libyan Turks Ankara's Trojan horse?". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  6. ^ حسني بي: أنا من ضمن المليون تركماني في ليبيا, Alsaaa24, 2019, retrieved 2 January 2020
  7. ^ Habib, Henry (1981), Libya: Past and Present, Edam Publishing House, p. 42
  8. ^ Hurriyet Daily News. "Turkey's living link to Ottoman Libya: Son of former PM tells father's story". Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  9. ^ First, R. (1974), Libya: The Elusive Revolution, Africana Publishing Company, p. 115, ISBN 0841902119
  10. ^ Ahmida, Ali Abdullatif (2013), Forgotten Voices: Power and Agency in Colonial and Postcolonial Libya, Routledge, pp. 79–80, ISBN 978-113678443979-80&rft.pub=Routledge&rft.date=2013&rft.isbn=978-1136784439&rft.aulast=Ahmida&rft.aufirst=Ali Abdullatif&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Turks in Libya" class="Z3988">
  11. ^ Yeaw, Katrina Elizabeth Anderson (2017), Women, Resistance and the Creation of New Gendered Frontiers in the Making of Modern Libya, 1890-1980, Georgetown University, p. 152

Bibliography

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  • Ahmida, Ali Abdullatif (2009), The Making of Modern Libya: State Formation, Colonization, and Resistance (Print), Albany, N.Y: SUNY Press, ISBN 978-1-4384-2891-8.
  • Dupree, Louis (1958), "The Non-Arab Ethnic Groups of Libya", Middle East Journal, 12 (1): 33–4433-44&rft.date=1958&rft.aulast=Dupree&rft.aufirst=Louis&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Turks in Libya" class="Z3988">
  • Ergener, Reşit (2002), About Turkey: Geography, Economy, Politics, Religion, and Culture, Pilgrims Process, ISBN 0-9710609-6-7.
  • Fuller, Graham E. (2008), The New Turkish Republic: Turkey as a pivotal state in the Muslim world, US Institute of Peace Press, ISBN 978-1-60127-019-1.
  • Harzig, Christiane; Juteau, Danielle; Schmitt, Irina (2006), The Social Construction of Diversity: Recasting the Master Narrative of Industrial Nations, Berghahn Books, ISBN 1-57181-376-4.
  • Koloğlu, Orhan (2007), 500 Years in Turkish-Libyan Relations (PDF), SAM.
  • Malcolm, Peter; Losleben, Elizabeth (2004), Libya, Marshall Cavendish, ISBN 0-7614-1702-8.
  • Pan, Chia-Lin (1949), "The Population of Libya", Population Studies, 3 (1): 100–125, doi:10.1080/00324728.1949.10416359100-125&rft.date=1949&rft_id=info:doi/10.1080/00324728.1949.10416359&rft.aulast=Pan&rft.aufirst=Chia-Lin&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Turks in Libya" class="Z3988">
  • Papademetriou, Demetrios G.; Martin, Philip L. (1991), The Unsettled Relationship: Labor Migration and Economic Development, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0-313-25463-X.
  • Sirageldin, Ismail Abdel-Hamid (2003), Human Capital: Population Economics in the Middle East, American University in Cairo Press, ISBN 977-424-711-6.
  • Stone, Martin (1997), The Agony of Algeria, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, ISBN 1-85065-177-9.
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