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Reference.org
Romani people in Turkey
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<p>The Romani people in Turkey or Turks of Romani background (<a href="/facts/Turkish_language/C5X56Ijp">Turkish</a>: <i>Roman kökenli Türk</i>) are <a href="/facts/Turkish_citizen/2TaUcn9u">Turkish citizens</a> and the biggest subgroup of the <a href="/facts/Turkish_Roma/tYynyVNd">Turkish Roma</a>. They are <a href="/facts/Sunni_Muslims/WYo0zeq0">Sunni Muslims</a> mostly of <a href="/facts/Sufi/NFcCu5gP">Sufi</a> orientation, who speak <a href="/facts/Turkish_language/C5X56Ijp">Turkish</a> as their first language, in their own accent, and have adopted <a href="/facts/Turkish_culture/xaSXEWmC">Turkish culture</a>. Many have denied their Romani background over the centuries in order to establish a <a href="/facts/Turkish_people/3Rg0k6vU">Turkish</a> <a href="/facts/Identity_(social_science)/hCR165VD">identity</a>, to become more accepted by the host population. </p><p>Since 1996, their official name in Turkey has been <i>Romanlar</i> and not <i>Roma</i>. They are also called <i>Şopar</i> ("Gypsy kid") in <a href="/facts/Rumelian_Romani/8btPKo7T">Rumelian Romani</a> dialect, and <i>Manuş</i> ("Human") or <i>Çingene</i> ("Gypsy") in Turkish, while once in <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Turkish/z17YMfhT">Ottoman Turkish</a> they were named <i>Cingân</i> ("Gypsy"), <i>Kıptî</i> ("Copts") and <i>Mısırlı</i> ("Egyptians"). As <i><a href="/facts/Gastarbeiter/kmrC8scA">Gastarbeiter</a></i> some Turkish Roma came to Germany and Austria and other European countries and fully assimilated in <a href="/facts/Turks_in_Europe/TRXumyym">Turkish European</a> communities. </p><p>There are an estimated 500,000–2,000,000 Romani people in Turkey. </p>