Turkey Table of Contents
In 1995 Turkey's ethnic Arab population was estimated at 800,000 to 1
million. The Arabs are heavily concentrated along the Syrian border,
especially in Hatay Province, which France, having at that time had
mandatory power in Syria, ceded to Turkey in 1939. Arabs then
constituted about two-thirds of the population of Hatay (known to the
Arabs as Alexandretta), and the province has remained predominantly
Arab. Almost all of the Arabs in Turkey are Alevi Muslims, and most have
family ties with the Alevi (also seen as Alawi or Alawite) living in
Syria. As Alevi, the Arabs of Turkey believe they are subjected to
state-condoned discrimination. Fear of persecution actually prompted
several thousand Arab Alevi to seek refuge in Syria following Hatay's
incorporation into Turkey. The kinship relations established as a result
of the 1939-40 emigration have been continually reinforced by marriages
and the practice of sending Arab youths from Hatay to colleges in Syria.
Since the mid-1960s, the Syrian government has tended to encourage
educated Alevi to resettle in Syria, especially if they seem likely to
join the ruling Baath Party.
Source:
U.S. Library of Congress
|