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

edit

Ottoman Libya

edit
 
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 Libyans who their ethnicity as Turkish, or acknowledge their descent from the Ottomans . [2].

Italian Libya

edit

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

edit

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

edit

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

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  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 978-1136784439
  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

edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Turks_in_Libya&oldid=1260364992"