View source for Turkic peoples

{{Short description|Family of ethnic groups of Eurasia}}
{{Distinguish|Turkish people}}
{{Pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| image            = Turkic Languages distribution map.png
| caption          = The distribution of the [[Turkic languages]]
| population       = Over 170 million{{sfn|Yunusbayev et al.|2015|p=}}
| region1          = Turkey
| pop1             = 60,000,000–65,000,000<ref name=Garibova2011>{{citation|last=Garibova|first=Jala|year=2011|chapter=A Pan-Turkic Dream: Language Unification of Turks|title=Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity: The Success-Failure Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts|editor1-last=Fishman|editor1-first=Joshua|editor2-last=Garcia|editor-first2=Ofelia|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oUydX_3rG0AC&dq=60+million+ethnic+Turks+living+in+its+territories&pg=PA268|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|page=268|quote=Approximately 200 million people,... speak nearly 40 Turkic languages and dialects. Turkey is the largest Turkic state, with about 60 million ethnic Turks living in its territories.|isbn=978-0-19-983799-1}}</ref><ref name=Hobbs2017>{{citation|last=Hobbs|first=Joseph J.|year=2017|title=Fundamentals of World Regional Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0rUaCgAAQBAJ&dq=The+greatest+are+the+65+million+Turks+of+Turkey&pg=PA223|publisher=[[Cengage]]|quote=The greatest are the 65 million Turks of Turkey, who speak Turkish, a Turkic language...|page=223|isbn=978-1-305-85495-6}}</ref>
| region2          = Uzbekistan
| pop2             = 31,900,000<ref name="cia2">{{cite web|url=https://www.gazeta.uz/oz/2021/08/19/population/ 
|title=Uzbekistan 
|work=Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan |date=19 August 2021 |access-date=13 February 2022}} "Population: 34,600,000 (January 2021 est.)" "Ethnic groups: Uzbek 84.6%, Russian 2.1%, Tajik 4.9%, Kazakh 2.4%, Karakalpak 2.2%, other 4.1% (2021 est.)" Assuming Uzbek, Kazakh and Karakalpak are included as Turks, 84.6% + 2.4% + 2.2% = 89.2%. 89.2% of 34.6m = 31.9m</ref>{{Additional citation needed|date=August 2018|reason=derived data not explicitly mentioning Turkic ethnicity}}
| region3          = Iran
| pop3             = 15,000,000–20,000,000<ref name="eb">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/46833/Azerbaijani|title=Azerbaijani (people)|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=24 January 2012}} (15 million)</ref><ref>[[Egbert Jahn]], (2009). ''Nationalism in Late and Post-Communist Europe'', p. 293 (20 mil)</ref> (18% of population<ref>Library of Congress – Federal Research Division – Country Profile: Iran, May 2008, page 5 [https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/cs/profiles/Iran.pdf]</ref>)
| region4          = Russia
| pop4             = 12,751,502{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}
| region5          = Kazakhstan
| pop5             = 12,300,000<ref name="cia4">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/kazakhstan/ |title=Kazakhstan |work=The World Factbook |access-date=21 December 2014}} "Population: 17,948,816 (July 2014 est.)" "Ethnic groups: Kazakh (Qazaq) 63.1%, Russian 23.7%, Uzbek 2.9%, Ukrainian 2.1%, Uighur 1.4%, Tatar 1.3%, German 1.1%, other 4.4% (2009 est.)" Assuming Kazakh, Uzbek, Uighur and Tatar are included as Turks, 63.1% + 2.9% + 1.4% + 1.3% = 68.7%. 68.7% of 17.9m = 12.3m</ref>{{Additional citation needed|date=August 2018|reason=derived data not explicitly mentioning Turkic ethnicity}}
| region6          = China
| pop6             = 13,500,000<ref name="cia5">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/china/ |title=China |work=The World Factbook |access-date=13 May 2014}}</ref>{{Additional citation needed|date=August 2018|reason=derived data not explicitly mentioning Turkic ethnicity}}
| region7          = Azerbaijan
| pop7             = 10,000,000<ref name="cia6">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/azerbaijan/ |title=Azerbaijan |work=The World Factbook |access-date=30 July 2016}} "Population: 9,780,780 (July 2015 est.)"</ref>{{Additional citation needed|date=August 2018|reason=derived data not explicitly mentioning Turkic ethnicity}}
| region8          = European Union
| pop8             = 5,876,318{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} ([[Bulgaria]] 508,375<ref name="2021 census">{{Cite web |url=https://sofiaglobe.com/2022/11/24/nsi-84-6-of-population-define-themselves-as-bulgarians-8-4-turks-4-4-roma/ |title=Census 2021: 84.6% of population define themselves as Bulgarians, 8.4% Turks, 4.4% Roma|date=24 November 2022 }}</ref>)
| region9          = Afghanistan
| pop9             = 4,600,000–5,300,000 (2017)<ref name="cia9">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/afghanistan/|title=Afghanistan |work=The World Factbook |access-date=13 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Uzbeks and Turkmens – Minorities and indigenous peoples in Afghanistan|date=19 June 2015 |url=https://minorityrights.org/minorities/uzbeks-and-turkmens/|publisher=World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples}}</ref>
| region10         = Turkmenistan
| pop10            = 4,233,600<ref>{{cite book |last1=Turner |first1=B. |title=The Statesman's Yearbook 2007: The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World |date=7 February 2017 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-27135-7 |page=1238 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzQUDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA1238 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Leitner |first1=Gerhard |last2=Hashim |first2=Azirah |last3=Wolf |first3=Hans-Georg |title=Communicating with Asia: The Future of English as a Global Language |date=11 January 2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-06261-0 |page=241 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ib0wCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA241 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Dresser |first1=Norine |title=Multicultural Manners: Essential Rules of Etiquette for the 21st Century |date=7 January 2011 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-118-04028-7 |page=270 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BTqGEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT270 |language=en}}</ref>{{NoteTag|Figure combines population of Turkmen and Uzbeks only. Population estimates of Turkmenistan's minority groups often widely vary. Some sources have cast doubt on the reliability of official government data for minority population figures.<ref>{{cite news |title=Unpublished Census Provides Rare and Unvarnished Look at Turkmenistan |url=https://jamestown.org/program/unpublished-census-provides-rare-and-unvarnished-look-at-turkmenistan/ |website=Jamestown}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=First (actual) demographic data for Turkmenistan released |url=https://www.asianews.it/news-en/First-(actual)-demographic-data-for-Turkmenistan-released-33436.html |work=www.asianews.it |language=en}}</ref>}}
| region11         = Kyrgyzstan
| pop11            = 4,500,000<ref name="cia8">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/kyrgyzstan/ |title=Kyrgyzstan |work=The World Factbook |access-date=13 May 2014}}</ref>{{Additional citation needed|date=August 2018|reason=derived data not explicitly mentioning Turkic ethnicity}}
| region12         = Iraq
| pop12            = 3,000,000<ref name="Triana">{{citation |last=Triana|first=María|year=2017|title=Managing Diversity in Organizations: A Global Perspective|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|isbn=978-1-317-42368-3|page=168}}</ref><ref name=Bassem2016>{{cite web|last=Bassem|first=Wassim|year=2016|title=Iraq's Turkmens call for independent province|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/10/turkmens-iraq-mosul-tal-afar.html|publisher=[[Al-Monitor]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017222707/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/10/turkmens-iraq-mosul-tal-afar.html|archive-date=17 October 2016}}</ref>
| region13         = Tajikistan
| pop13            = 1,200,000<ref name="cia11">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/tajikistan/ |title=Tajikistan |work=The World Factbook |access-date=13 May 2014}}</ref>{{Additional citation needed|date=August 2018|reason=derived data not explicitly mentioning Turkic ethnicity}}
| region14         = Syria
| pop14            = 800,000–1,000,000+<ref name="Deutsches Orient Institut">Nahost-Informationsdienst ({{ISSN|0949-1856}}): Presseausschnitte zu Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft in Nordafrika und dem Nahen und Mittleren Osten. Autors: Deutsches Orient–Institut; Deutsches Übersee–Institut. Hamburg: Deutsches Orient–Institut, 1996, seite 33.</ref>
| region15         = Ukraine
| pop15            = 398,600<ref>{{cite web|url=http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/|title=All-Ukrainian population census 2001 – General results of the census – National composition of population|work=State Statistics Committee of Ukraine|year=2003|access-date=2 September 2017}}</ref>
| region16         = Northern Cyprus
| pop16            = 313,626<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160108225108/http://www.devplan.org/Ecosos/BOOK/SEG-2014.pdf TRNC] SPO, Economic and Social Indicators 2014, pages=2–3</ref>
| region17         = Mongolia
| pop17            = 135,618<ref name="cia16">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mongolia/ |title=Mongolia |work=The World Factbook |access-date=13 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=2020 POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS OF MONGOLIA /summary/|url=https://www.1212.mn/BookLibraryDownload.ashx?url=Census2020_Mongolia_Eng.pdf&ln=En|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715110250/https://www.1212.mn/BookLibraryDownload.ashx?url=Census2020_Mongolia_Eng.pdf&ln=En |archive-date=15 July 2021 }}</ref>
| region19         = Lebanon
| pop19            = 200,000<ref name=Al-Akhbar>{{cite web|author=Al-Akhbar|title=Lebanese Turks Seek Political and Social Recognition|work=Al Akhbar English |url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanese-turks-seek-political-and-social-recognition|access-date=2 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620232105/https://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanese-turks-seek-political-and-social-recognition|archive-date=20 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=Today's Zaman|title=Tension adds to existing wounds in Lebanon|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action;jsessionid=9D641F96F47DDD54F28B8F8B07FFF815?newsId=233911|access-date=6 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111231644/http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action%3Bjsessionid%3D9D641F96F47DDD54F28B8F8B07FFF815?newsId=233911|archive-date=11 January 2012}}</ref><ref name=Ahmed2015>{{citation|last=Ahmed|first=Yusra|year=2015|title=Syrian Turkmen refugees face double suffering in Lebanon|url=https://en.zamanalwsl.net/news/11837.html|publisher=Zaman Al Wasl|access-date=11 October 2016|archive-date=23 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823204755/https://en.zamanalwsl.net/news/11837.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=Syrian Observer|year=2015|title=Syria's Turkmen Refugees Face Cruel Reality in Lebanon|url=http://syrianobserver.com/EN/Features/29920/Syria_Turkmen_Refugees_Face_Cruel_Reality_Lebanon|access-date= 10 October 2016}}</ref>
| region20         = Moldova
| pop20            = 126,010<ref>{{cite web |url=https://statistica.gov.md/public/files/publicatii_electronice/Anuar_Statistic/2017/Anuar_statistic_2017.pdf |title=2017 Anuarul Statisitc al Republicii Moldova |language=ro |publisher=Biroul Național de Statistică al Republicii Moldova |access-date=23 April 2022}}</ref>
| region21         = North Macedonia
| pop21            = 81,900<ref name="cia17">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/north-macedonia/ |title=North Macedonia |work=The World Factbook |access-date=13 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stat.gov.mk/pdf/kniga_13.pdf |title=Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Macedonia, 2002 |publisher=Republic of Macedonia State Statistical Office |access-date=23 April 2022}}</ref>
| langs            = [[Turkic languages]]
| rels             = Mostly [[Islam]] ([[Sunni Islam|Sunni]]{{·}}[[Shia Islam|Shia]])<br />
Minorities:<br />[[Irreligion|Irreligious]]{{·}}[[Christianity]]{{·}}[[Buddhism]]{{·}}[[Judaism]]{{·}}[[Turkic mythology|Turkic shamanism]] ([[Tengrism]])
| group            = Turkic peoples
| native_name      = 
| native_name_lang = 
| related_groups   = 
}}

'''Turkic peoples''' are a collection of diverse [[ethnic group]]s of [[West Asia|West]], [[Central Asia|Central]], [[East Asia|East]], and [[North Asia]] as well as parts of [[Europe]], who speak [[Turkic languages]].<ref name="Britannica_Definition">{{harvnb|Encyclopedia Britannica. Turkic peoples}}. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members speak languages belonging to the Turkic subfamily..."</ref><ref name="Yunusbayev_Definition">{{harvnb|Yunusbayev et al.|2015|p=1}}. "The Turkic peoples represent a diverse collection of ethnic groups defined by the Turkic languages."</ref>

According to historians and linguists, the [[Proto-Turkic language]] originated in Central-East Asia,<ref>{{harvnb|Uchiyama|Gillam|Savelyev|Ning|2020}}: "Most linguists and historians agree that Proto-Turkic, the common ancestor of all ancient and contemporary Turkic languages, must have been spoken somewhere in Central-East Asia (e.g. Róna-Tas, Reference Róna-Tas1991, p. 35; Golden, Reference Golden1992, pp. 124–127; Menges, Reference Menges1995, pp. 16–19)."</ref> potentially in the [[Altai-Sayan region]], [[Mongolia]] or [[Tuva]].{{sfn|Golden|2011|pp=37–38}}<ref name="Uchiyama 2020">{{harvnb|Uchiyama|Gillam|Savelyev|Ning|2020}}: "The ultimate Proto-Turkic homeland may have been located in a more compact area, most likely in Eastern Mongolia"</ref><ref name="Lee 2017">{{harvnb|Lee|Kuang|2017}}: "The best candidate for the Turkic Urheimat would then be northern and western Mongolia and Tuva, where all these haplogroups could have intermingled, rather than eastern and southern Mongolia..."</ref> Initially, Proto-Turkic speakers were potentially both hunter-gatherers and farmers; they later became [[nomadic]] [[Pastoralism|pastoralists]].<ref>{{harvnb|Uchiyama|Gillam|Savelyev|Ning|2020}}:"To sum up, the palaeolinguistic reconstruction points to a mixed subsistence strategy and complex economy of the Proto-Turkic-speaking community. It is likely that the subsistence of the Early Proto-Turkic speakers was based on a combination of hunting–gathering and agriculture, with a later shift to nomadic pastoralism as an economy basis, partly owing to the interaction of the Late Proto-Turkic groups with the Iranian-speaking herders of the Eastern Steppe."</ref> Early and [[Post-classical history|medieval]] Turkic groups exhibited a wide range of both East Asian and West-Eurasian physical appearances and genetic origins, in part through long-term contact with neighboring peoples such as [[Iranian peoples|Iranic]], [[Mongolic peoples|Mongolic]], [[Tocharians|Tocharian]], [[Uralic people|Uralic]] and [[Yeniseian people|Yeniseian]] peoples.<ref>
* {{harvnb|Lee|2023|p=4}}: "It should also be noted that even the early Turkic peoples, including the Tiele and the Türks, were made up of heterogeneous elements. Importantly, DNA studies demonstrate that the expansion process of the Turkic peoples involved the Turkicization of various non-Turkic-speaking groups. The "Turks" intermixed with and Turkicized various indigenous groups across Eurasia: Uralic hunter-gatherers in northern Eurasia; Mongolic nomads in Mongolia; Indo-European-speaking nomads and sedentary populations in Xinjiang, Transoxiana, Iran, Kazakhstan, and South Siberia; and Indo-European elements (the Byzantine subjects, among others) in Anatolia and the Balkans.11"
* {{harvnb|Findley|2005|p=18}}: "Moreover, Turks do not all physically look alike. They never did. The Turks of Turkey are famous for their range of physical types. Given the Turks' ancient Inner Asian origins, it is easy to imagine that they once presented a uniform Mongoloid appearance. Such traits seem to be more characteristic in the eastern Turkic world; however, uniformity of type can never have prevailed there either. Archeological evidence indicates that Indo-Europeans, or certainly Europoid physical types, inhabited the oases of the Tarim basin, Dzungaria, and even parts of Mongolia in ancient times. In the Tarim basin, persistence of these former inhabitants' genes among the modern Uyghurs is both observable and scientifically demonstrable.32 Early Chinese sources describe the Kirghiz as blue-eyed and blond or red-haired. The genesis of Turkic ethnic groups from earliest times occurred in confederations of diverse peoples. As if to prove the point, the earliest surviving texts in Turkic languages are studded with terms from other languages."
* {{Cite journal |last=Golden |first=Peter B. |date=25 July 2018|title=The Ethnogonic Tales of the Türks |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0971945818775373 |journal=The Medieval History Journal |language=en |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=291–327 |doi=10.1177/0971945818775373 |s2cid=166026934 |issn=0971-9458|url-access=subscription }}"Some DNA tests point to the Iranian connections of the Ashina and Ashide,133 highlighting further that the Turks as a whole 'were made up of heterogeneous and somatically dissimilar populations'.134 Geographically, the accounts cover the regions of Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Xinjiang, the Yenisei zone and the Altay, regions with Turkic, Indo-European (Iranian [Saka] and Tokharian), Yeniseic, Uralic and other populations. Wusun elements, like most steppe polities of an ethno-linguistic mix, may have also played a substratal role."
* {{harvnb|Lee|Kuang|2017}}: "Both Chinese histories and modern dna studies indicate that the early and medieval Turkic peoples were made up of heterogeneous populations"</ref>

Many vastly differing [[ethnic group]]s have throughout history become part of the Turkic peoples through [[language shift]], [[acculturation]], [[conquest]], [[Interracial marriage|intermixing]], [[adoption]], and [[religious conversion]].{{sfn|Yunusbayev et al.|2015}} Nevertheless, Turkic peoples share, to varying degrees, non-linguistic characteristics like cultural traits, ancestry from a common [[gene pool]], and historical experiences.{{sfn|Yunusbayev et al.|2015}} Some of the most notable modern Turkic ethnic groups include the [[Altai people]], [[Azerbaijanis]], [[Chuvash people]], [[Gagauz people]], [[Kazakhs]], [[Kyrgyz people]], [[Turkmens]], [[Turkish people]], [[Tuvans]], [[Uyghurs]], [[Uzbeks]], and [[Yakuts]].

== Etymology ==
[[File:Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk (original).jpg|thumb|Map from [[Mahmud al-Kashgari|Kashgari]]'s ''[[Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk|Diwan]]'' (11th century), showing the distribution of Turkic tribes.]]
[[File:Turkic Head of Koltegin Statue (35324303410).jpg|thumb|[[Bust of Kul Tigin]] (AD 684–731), prince of the [[Second Turkic Khaganate]], found in [[Khashaat]], [[Arkhangai Province]], [[Orkhon River]] valley. [[National Museum of Mongolia]].]]

The first known mention of the term ''Turk'' ([[Old Turkic]]: 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰰 ''Türük'' or 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰰:𐰜𐰇𐰛 ''Kök Türük'', {{langx|zh|突厥}}, [[Pinyin]]: Tūjué < [[Middle Chinese]] *''tɦut-kyat'' < *''dwət-kuɑt'', [[Old Tibetan]]: ''drugu'')<ref name="KulteginMC">{{cite web| url = http://irq.kaznpu.kz/?lang=e&mod=1&tid=1&oid=15&m=1| title = Kultegin's Memorial Complex, TÜRIK BITIG}} [[Orkhon inscriptions]]</ref><ref name="TonyukukMC">{{cite web| url = http://irq.kaznpu.kz/?lang=e&mod=1&tid=1&oid=17&m=1| title = Tonyukuk's Memorial Complex, TÜRIK BITIG}} [[Bain Tsokto inscriptions]]</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Golden|first= Peter B.|title=The Ethnogonic Tales of the Türks|journal=The Medieval History Journal |doi=10.1177/0971945818775373|pages= 291–327|date=25 July 2018|volume= 21|issue= 2|s2cid= 166026934 | issn = 0971-9458}}</ref>{{sfn|Golden|2011|loc=''Ethnogenesis in the tribal zone: The Shaping of the Turks''}} applied to only one Turkic group, namely, the [[Göktürks]],<ref>{{cite journal|first= Joo-Yup|last= Lee|title= The Historical Meaning of the Term Turk and the Nature of the Turkic Identity of the Chinggisid and Timurid Elites in Post-Mongol Central Asia|journal= Central Asiatic Journal |volume=59 |issue=1–2|pages= 103–108|year= 2016}}</ref> who were also mentioned, as ''türüg'' ~ ''török'', in the 6th-century [[Inscription of Hüis Tolgoi|Khüis Tolgoi inscription]], most likely not later than 587 AD.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/34589694|title=The Khüis Tolgoi inscription – signs and sounds|first=Dieter |last=Maue|website=Academia.edu|access-date=4 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/34550816|title=Interpretation of the Hüis Tolgoi Inscription|first=Alexander|last=Vovin|website=Academia.edu|access-date=4 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/39716045|last= Vivin|first=Alexander|title= A Sketch of the Earliest Mongolic Language: the Brāhmī Bugut and Khüis Tolgoi Inscriptions|journal= International Journal of Eurasian Linguistics|issue= 1|year= 2019|volume= 1|pages= 162–197|doi= 10.1163/25898833-12340008|s2cid= 198833565}}</ref> A letter by [[Ishbara Qaghan]] to [[Emperor Wen of Sui]] in 585 described him as "the Great Turk Khan".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&q=Chinese+texts+from+585+mentioning+Ishbara+as+%E2%80%9Cthe+Great+Turk+Khan%E2%80%9D.+828+Turkic+peoples&pg=PA828|access-date=24 June 2020|title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania, p. 826|isbn=978-1-4381-1913-7|last1=West|first1=Barbara A.|date=19 May 2010|publisher=Infobase }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://newasia.proj.hkedcity.net/resources/25/beishi/index.phtml?section_num=099|title=新亞研究所 – 典籍資料庫|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221113517/http://newasia.proj.hkedcity.net/resources/25/beishi/index.phtml?section_num=099|archive-date=21 February 2014}}</ref> The [[Bugut inscription|Bugut]] (584 CE) and [[Orkhon inscriptions]] (735 CE) use the terms ''Türküt'', ''Türk'' and ''Türük''.<ref>Moriyasu & Ochir 1999, p. 123</ref>

During the first century CE, [[Pomponius Mela]] refers to the ''Turcae'' in the forests north of the [[Sea of Azov]], and [[Pliny the Elder]] lists the ''Tyrcae'' among the people of the same area.<ref>Pliny, ''Natural History'' – Harvard University Press, vol. II (Libri III-VII); reprinted 1961, p. 351</ref><ref>Pomponius Mela's Description of the World, Pomponius Mela, University of Michigan Press, 1998, p. 67</ref><ref>Ercümend Kuran, Türk Adı ve Türklük Kavramı, Türk Kültürü Dergisi, Yıl, XV, S. 174, Nisan 1977. s. 18–20.</ref> However, English archaeologist [[Ellis Minns]] contended that ''Tyrcae'' Τῦρκαι is "a false correction" for ''[[Iyrcae]]'' Ἱύρκαι, a people who dwelt beyond the [[Thyssagetae]], according to [[Herodotus]] ([[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]], iv. 22), and were likely [[Ugric peoples|Ugric]] ancestors of [[Magyars]].<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Iyrcae |page= 102 |volume= 15 |last= Minns|first= Ellis Hovell}}</ref> There are references to certain groups in antiquity whose names might have been foreign transcriptions of ''Tür(ü)k'', such as [[Togarmah#Turkic history|''Togarma'']], ''Turukha''/''Turuška'', [[Turukkaeans|''Turukku'']] and so on; but the information gap is so substantial that any connection of these ancient people to the modern Turks is not possible.<ref>Peter B. Golden, Introduction to the History of the Turkic People, p. 12: "... source (Herod.IV.22) and other authors of antiquity, Togarma of the Old Testament, Turukha/Turuska of Indic sources, Turukku of Assyrian..."</ref><ref>German Archaeological Institute. Department Teheran, ''Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran'', Vol. 19, Dietrich Reimer, 1986, p. 90</ref>

The Chinese ''[[Book of Zhou]]'' (7th century) presents an etymology of the name ''Turk'' as derived from 'helmet', explaining that this name comes from the shape of a mountain where they worked in the [[Altai Mountains]].<ref>Sinor, Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Page 295</ref> Hungarian scholar [[András Róna-Tas]] (1991) pointed to a Khotanese-Saka word, ''tturakä'' 'lid', semantically stretchable to 'helmet', as a possible source for this folk etymology, yet Golden thinks this connection requires more data.<ref name="Golden2006">{{cite journal|last = Golden|first= Peter B.|title= Türks and Iranians: Aspects of Türk and Khazaro-Iranian Interaction|journal= Turcologica|issue= 105|page= 25}}</ref>

It is generally accepted that the name ''Türk'' is ultimately derived from the [[Old Turkic language|Old-Turkic]] migration-term<ref>(Bŭlgarska akademii︠a︡ na naukite. Otdelenie za ezikoznanie/ izkustvoznanie/ literatura, Linguistique balkanique, Vol. 27–28, 1984, p. 17</ref> 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰰 ''Türük''/''Törük'',<ref name="Nisanyan">[http://www.nisanyansozluk.com/?k=Türk "Türk"] in ''Turkish Etymological Dictionary'', Sevan Nişanyan.</ref> which means 'created, born'<ref>Faruk Suümer, Oghuzes (Turkmens): History, Tribal organization, Sagas, Turkish World Research Foundation, 1992, p. 16)</ref> or 'strong'.<ref>''[[American Heritage Dictionary]]'' (2000). [http://www.bartleby.com/ ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition'' – "Turk""]. bartleby.com. Retrieved 7 December 2006.</ref> Turkologist Peter B. Golden agrees that the term ''Turk'' has roots in [[Old Turkic]],<ref>Golden, Peter B. "Some Thoughts on the Origins of the Turks and the Shaping of the Turkic Peoples". (2006) In: [https://books.google.com/books?id=8-OilJCX1moC ''Contact and Exchange in the Ancient World'']. Ed. Victor H. Mair. University of Hawaiʻi Press. p. 143.</ref> yet is not convinced by attempts to link ''Dili'', ''Dingling'', ''Chile'', ''Tele'', and ''Tiele'', which possibly transcribed *''tegrek'' (probably meaning '[[cart]]'), to ''Tujue'', which transliterated to ''Türküt''.<ref>Golden, Peter B. (1992), ''An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples'', p. 93-95</ref>

Scholars, including Toru Haneda, Onogawa Hidemi, and Geng Shimin believed that ''Di'', ''Dili'', ''Dingling'', ''Chile'' and ''Tujue'' all came from the Turkic word ''Türk'', which means 'powerful' and 'strength', and its plural form is ''Türküt''.<ref>T. Allsen, P. B. Golden, R. K. Kovalev, and A. P. Martinez (2012), ''ARCHIVUM EURASIAEMEDII AEV'', p. 85</ref> Even though [[Gerhard Doerfer]] supports the proposal that ''türk'' means 'strong' in general, [[Gerard Clauson]] points out that "the word ''türk'' is never used in the generalized sense of 'strong'" and that ''türk'' was originally a noun and meant "'the culminating point of maturity' (of a fruit, human being, etc.), but more often used as an [adjective] meaning (of a fruit) 'just fully ripe'; (of a human being) 'in the prime of life, young, and vigorous'".<ref>Clauson, G. ''An Etymological Dictionary of Pre-13th Century Turkish'' (1972). p. 542-543</ref> Hakan Aydemir (2022) also contends that ''Türk'' originally did not mean "strong, powerful" but "gathered; united, allied, confederated" and was derived from the Pre-[[Proto-Turkic]] verb *''türü'' "heap up, collect, gather, assemble".<ref>{{cite book|first= Hakan|last= Aydemir|date= 2–3 December 2022|chapter= TÜRK Adının Kökeni Üzerine (On the origin of the ethnonym TÜRK 'Turkic, Turkish') + an English abstract|title= Türk Dunyası Sosyal Bilimler - Sempozyumu|publisher= Ege University|location= İzmir|editor-last1= Şahin|editor-first1= İbrahim|editor-last2= Akgün|editor-first2= Atıf|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/100924309|language= tr}}</ref>

The earliest Turkic-speaking peoples identifiable in Chinese sources are the [[Yenisei Kyrgyz]] and [[Xueyantuo|Xinli]], located in South Siberia.<ref>The Peoples of the Steppe Frontier in Early Chinese Sources, Edwin G. Pulleyblank, page 35</ref>{{sfn|Golden|2011|p=27}}{{NoteTag|The Xueyantuo were first known as ''Xinli'' 薪犁, later ''[[Xueyantuo|Xue]]'' 薛 in the 7th century;<ref name="Pulleyblank p. VII">Pulleyblank, "Central Asia and Non-Chinese Peoples of Ancient China", p. VII 21–26.</ref><ref name="Duan p. 370">Duan, "Dingling, Gaoju and Tiele", p. 370.</ref> the Yenisei Kyrgyz were first known as ''Gekun'' (鬲昆) or ''Jiankun'' (堅昆), later known as ''Jiegu'' (結骨), ''Hegu'' (紇骨), ''Hegusi'' (紇扢斯), ''Hejiasi'' (紇戛斯), ''Hugu'' (護骨), ''Qigu'' (契骨), ''Juwu'' (居勿), and ''Xiajiasi'' (黠戛斯), all being transcriptions of [[Yenisei Kyrgyz|Kyrgyz]].<ref>Theobald, Ulrich (2012). [http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/kirgizes.html "Xiajiasi 黠戛斯, Qirqiz"] for ''ChinaKnowledge.de – An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art''</ref><ref>Pulleyblank, Edwin G. "The Name of the Kirghiz" in ''Central Asiatic Journal'', Vol. 34, No. 1/2 (1990). Harrassowitz Verlag. page 98-99 of 98–108.</ref>}} Another example of an early Turkic population would be the [[Dingling]].<ref>Hyun Jin Kim: [https://books.google.com/books?id=fX8YAAAAQBAJ ''Huns, Rome and the Birth of Europe'']. Cambridge University Press, 2013. pp.175–176.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=200|ps= "Historians know with certainty that the Dingling [...] were a Turkic people"}}</ref><ref>Xu Elina-Qian, [https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/19205 ''Historical Development of the Pre-Dynastic Khitan''], University of Helsinki, 2005. p. 176.</ref>

In Late Antiquity itself, as well as in and the [[Middle Ages]], the name "Scythians" was used in [[Greco-Roman]] and [[Byzantine literature|Byzantine]] literature for various groups of nomadic "[[barbarian]]s" living on the Pontic-Caspian Steppe who were not related to the actual Scythians.<ref name="Application">{{harvnb|Dickens|2018|p=1346}}: "Greek authors [...] frequently applied the name Scythians to later nomadic groups who had no relation whatever to the original Scythians"</ref>{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}} Medieval European chroniclers subsumed various Turkic peoples of the Eurasian steppe as "Scythians". Between 400 CE and the 16th century, Byzantine sources use the name Σκύθαι (''Skuthai'') in reference to twelve different Turkic peoples.<ref name="G. Moravcsik, p. 236-39">G. Moravcsik, ''Byzantinoturcica'' II, p. 236–39</ref>

In the modern Turkish language as used in the Republic of Turkey, a distinction is made between "Turks" and the "Turkic peoples" in loosely speaking: the term ''Türk'' corresponds specifically to the "Turkish-speaking" people (in this context, "Turkish-speaking" is considered the same as "Turkic-speaking"), while the term ''[[Turki|Türki]]'' refers generally to the people of modern "Turkic Republics" (''Türki Cumhuriyetler'' or ''Türk Cumhuriyetleri''). However, the proper usage of the term is based on [[Turkic languages|the linguistic classification]] in order to avoid any [[political]] sense. In short, the term ''Türki'' can be used for ''Türk'' or vice versa.<ref>[[Jean-Paul Roux]], ''Historie des Turks – Deux mille ans du Pacifique á la Méditerranée''. [[Fayard|Librairie Arthème Fayard]], 2000.</ref>

== List of ethnic groups ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of modern Turkic peoples
|-
! Ethnonym || Population || Region(s) || Religion
|-
|[[Turkish people|Turks]]|| 60,000,000–65,000,000 || {{flag|Turkey}}, {{Flag|Northern Cyprus}}  || [[Sunni Islam]], [[Alevism]]
|-
|[[Azerbaijanis]]|| 31,300,000 || {{flagicon|Iran}} [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]] (Iran), {{flag|Azerbaijan}}, {{flagcountry|Dagestan}} (Russian Federation) ||[[Shia Islam]], [[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Uzbeks]]|| 30,700,000 || {{flag|Uzbekistan}} || [[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Kazakhs]]|| 15,193,000 || {{flag|Kazakhstan}}, {{flagicon|Mongolia}} [[Bayan-Ölgii]], {{flagicon|China}} [[Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture]], [[Barköl Kazakh Autonomous County]], [[Mori Kazakh Autonomous County]], {{flagcountry|Altai Republic}}||[[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Uyghurs]]|| 11,900,000 || {{flagicon|China}} [[Xinjiang]] Uyghur Autonomous Region (PRC) ||[[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Turkmens]]|| 8,000,000 || {{flag|Turkmenistan}} || [[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Volga Tatars]]|| 6,200,000 || {{flagcountry|Tatarstan}} (Russian Federation)|| [[Sunni Islam]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]]
|-
|[[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]]|| 6,000,000 || {{flag|Kyrgyzstan}}, {{flagicon|China}} [[Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture]]||[[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Bashkirs]]|| 1,700,000 || {{flagcountry|Bashkortostan}} (Russian Federation)|| [[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Chuvash people|Chuvashes]]|| 1,500,000 || {{flagcountry|Chuvashia}} (Russian Federation)|| [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]], [[Vattisen Yaly]]
|-
|[[Khorasani Turks]]|| 1,000,000 || rowspan="2" | N/A || [[Shia Islam]]
|-
|[[Qashqai people|Qashqai]]|| 949,000 || [[Shia Islam]]
|-
|[[Karakalpaks]]|| 796,000 || {{flag|Karakalpakstan}} (Uzbekistan)|| [[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Kumyks]]|| 520,000 || {{flagcountry|Dagestan}} (Russian Federation)|| [[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Crimean Tatars]]|| <500,000 ||
{{flagcountry|Crimea}} (Ukraine)
|| [[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Yakuts]] (Sakha)|| 482,000 || {{flagicon|Sakha Republic}} [[Sakha Republic]] or Yakutia (Russian Federation) || [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]], [[Tengrism]]
|-
|[[Karachays]]|| 346,000 || {{flagcountry|Karachay-Cherkessia}} (Russian Federation) || [[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Tuvans]]|| 273,000 || {{flagcountry|Tuva}} (Russian Federation)
|| [[Tibetan Buddhism]], [[Tengrism]]
|-
|[[Gagauz people|Gagauz]]|| 126,000 || {{flagicon|Gagauzia}} [[Gagauzia]] (Moldova)|| [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]]
|-
|[[Balkars]]|| 112,000 || {{flagcountry|Kabardino-Balkaria}} (Russian Federation) || [[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Nogais]]|| 110,000 || {{flagcountry|Dagestan}} and {{flagcountry|Karachay-Cherkessia}} (Russian Federation) || [[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Salar people|Salar]]|| 104,000 || {{flagicon|China}} [[Xunhua Salar Autonomous County]], [[Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar Autonomous County]]
|| [[Sunni Islam]], [[Tibetan Buddhism]]
|-
|[[Khakas people|Khakas]]|| 75,000 || {{flagcountry|Khakassia}} (Russian Federation)
|| [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]], [[Tengrism]]
|-
|[[Altai people|Altaians]]|| 74,000 || {{flagcountry|Altai Republic}} (Russian Federation)
|| [[Burkhanism]], [[Tengrism]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]]
|-
|[[Äynu people|Äynu]]|| >60,000 || rowspan="2" | N/A || [[Alevism]]
|-
|[[Khalaj people|Khalaj]]|| 42,000 || [[Shia Islam]]
|-
|[[Yugur]]s|| 13,000 ||
{{flagicon|China}} [[Sunan Yugur Autonomous County]]
|| [[Tibetan Buddhism]], [[Tengrism]]
|-
|[[Dolgans]]|| 13,000 ||
[[File:Flag of Taymyr Autonomous Okrug.svg|border|22px]] [[Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District]] (Russian Federation)
|| [[Tengrism]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]]
|-
|[[Khotons]]|| 10,000 || rowspan="17" | N/A || [[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Nağaybäk]] || 8,000 || [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]]
|-
|[[Shors]]|| 8,000 || [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]], [[Tengrism]]
|-
|[[Siberian Tatars]]|| 6,000 || [[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Telengits]] || 3,700 || [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]], [[Burkhanism]], [[Shamanism in Siberia|shamanism]]
|-
|[[Soyot]]s|| 3,600 
|| [[Tibetan Buddhism]], [[Tengrism]]
|-
|[[Kumandins]]|| 2,900 || [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]], [[Tengrism]]
|-
|[[Teleuts]]|| 2,700 || [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]], [[Tengrism]]
|-
|[[Crimean Karaites]]|| 2,000 || [[Karaite Judaism]]
|-
|[[Tubalar]] || 1,900 || [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]], [[Shamanism in Siberia|shamanism]]
|-
|[[Fuyu Kyrgyz people|Fuyu Kyrgyz]]|| 1,400 || [[Sunni Islam]]
|-
|[[Chelkans]] || 1,100 || [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]], [[Burkhanism]], [[Shamanism in Siberia|shamanism]]
|-
|[[Krymchaks]]|| 1,000 || [[Orthodox Judaism]]
|-
|[[Tofalar]]s|| 800 || [[Tengrism]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]]
|-
|[[Chulyms]]|| 355 || [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]]
|-
|[[Dukha people|Dukha]]||282 || [[Tengrism]]
|-
|[[Ili Turk People|Ili Turks]]|| 177 || [[Sunni Islam]]
|}

; Historical Turkic groups
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Az (people)|Az]]
* [[Dingling]]
* [[Bulgars]]
* [[Esegel]]
* [[Barsils]]
* [[Alat tribe|Alat]]
* [[Basmyl]]
* [[Onogurs]]
* [[Saragurs]]
* [[Sabirs]]
* [[Shatuo]]
* [[Ongud]] (from Shatuo)
* [[Göktürks]]
* [[Oghuz Turks]]
* [[Kangly]]s
* [[Kabar]]
* [[Khazars]]
* [[Kipchaks]]
* [[Kurykans]]
* [[Cumans|Kumans]]
* [[Pechenegs]]
* [[Karluks]]
* [[Tiele people|Tiele]]
* [[Turgesh]]
* [[Tukhsi]]
* [[Yenisei Kirghiz]]
* [[Chigils]]
* [[Toquz Oghuz]]
* [[Uyghur Khaganate|Orkhon Uyghurs]]
* [[Yagma]]
* [[Nushibi]]
* [[Duolu]]
* [[Kutrigurs]]
* [[Utigurs]]
* [[Yabaku]]
* [[Yueban]]{{NoteTag|[[Book of Wei]] [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%AD%8F%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7102#%E7%83%8F%E5%AD%AB-%E7%96%8F%E5%8B%92-%E6%82%85%E8%88%AC vol. 102.] quote: "悅般國 [...] 其風俗言語與高車同" translation: "Yueban nation [...] Their customs and language are the same as the Gaoche['s]"; Gaoche (高車; lit. "High-Carts") was another name of the Turkic-speaking Tiele}}
* [[Bulaqs]]
* [[Xueyantuo]]
* [[Torks]]
* [[Chorni Klobuky]]
* [[Berendei]]
* [[Yemek]]s
* [[Naimans]] (partly)
* [[Keraites]] (partly)<ref name="grousset">
R. Grousset, ''The Empire of the Steppes'', New Brunswick, NJ, Rutgers University Press, 1970, p191.
</ref><ref>
Moffett, ''A History of Christianity in Asia'' pp. 400-401.
</ref> 
* [[Merkits]] (partly){{NoteTag|Merkits were always counted as a part of the Mongols within the Mongol Empire, however, some scholars proposed additional Turkic ancestry for Merkits; Christopher P. Atwood – ''Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire'' {{ISBN|978-0-8160-4671-3}}, Facts on File, Inc. 2004.}}
* [[Uriankhai]] (partly){{NoteTag|Refers to forest peoples of the North, including the Turkic-speaking [[Tuvans]] and [[Yakuts]], and also Mongolic-speaking [[Altai Uriankhai]]. The ethnonym Uriankhai is etymologically Mongolic, compare [[Khalkha Mongolian|Khalkha]] ''uria(n)'' "war motto" and ''khai'', [[Alternation (linguistics)|alternation]] of ''[[Khan (title)|khan]]''. Uriankhai people are possibly linked to the Wuluohun tribe of the [[Shiwei people]], who were predominantly Mongolic-speaking.}}

{{div col end}}

Possible Proto-Turkic ancestry, at least partial,{{sfn|Encyclopedia Britannica. Turkic peoples}}<ref name="Pritsak O 1982">[[Omeljan Pritsak|Pritsak O.]] & [[Norman Golb|Golb. N]]: ''Khazarian Hebrew Documents of the Tenth Century'', Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, 1982.</ref><ref>"[http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/Timur Timur] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922063332/http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/Timur |date=2013-09-22 }}", The ''[[Columbia Encyclopedia]]'', Sixth Edition, 2001–05, [[Columbia University Press]].</ref><ref>''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' article: [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-26937/Islamic-world Consolidation & expansion of the Indo-Timurids], Online Edition, 2007.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Walton|first1=Linda|title=World History: Journeys from Past to Present|page=210|date=2013|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-08828-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Os-g5vLFfBcC&dq=tabgach+turkic&pg=PA210}}</ref><ref>Peter Benjamin Golden, (1992), ''An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples'', p. 110</ref> has been posited for [[Xiongnu]], [[Huns]] and [[Pannonian Avars]], as well as [[Tuoba]] and [[Rouran Khaganate|Rouran]], who were of [[Proto-Mongols|Proto-Mongolic]] [[Donghu people|Donghu]] ancestry.<ref>*Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (2000). [https://web.archive.org/web/20171118181857/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~earlychina/docs/2008/ec25_pulleyblank.pdf "Ji 姬 and Jiang 姜: The Role of Exogamic Clans in the Organization of the Zhou Polity"], ''Early China''. p. 20</ref><ref>[[Wei Shou]]. ''[[Book of Wei]]''. Vol. 1</ref><ref>{{cite thesis|type= PhD|last= Tseng|first= Chin Yin|title= The Making of the Tuoba Northern Wei: Constructing Material Cultural Expressions in the Northern Wei Pingcheng Period (398–494 CE)|year= 2012|publisher= University of Oxford|page= 1}}</ref><ref>[[Wei Shou]]. ''[[Book of Wei]]''. vol. 91 "蠕蠕，東胡之苗裔也，姓郁久閭氏。" tr. "Rúrú, offsprings of Dōnghú, surnamed Yùjiŭlǘ"</ref> as well as [[Tatar confederation|Tatars]], Rourans' supposed descendants.<ref>''[[Book of Song]]''. vol 95. "芮芮一號大檀，又號檀檀，亦匈奴別種" tr. "Ruìruì, one appellation is Dàtán, also called Tántán, likewise a Xiōngnú splinter stock"</ref><ref>Xu Elina-Qian, [https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/19205 ''Historical Development of the Pre-Dynastic Khitan''], University of Helsinki, 2005. p. 179-180</ref>{{NoteTag|Even though Chinese historians routinely ascribed Xiongnu origin to various nomadic peoples, such ascriptions do not necessarily indicate the subjects' exact origins; for examples, Xiongnu ancestry was ascribed to Turkic-speaking Göktürks and Tiele as well as Para-Mongolic-speaking Kumo Xi and Khitan.<ref>{{cite journal|first= Joo-Yup|last= Lee|title= The Historical Meaning of the Term Turk and the Nature of the Turkic Identity of the Chinggisid and Timurid Elites in Post-Mongol Central Asia|journal= Central Asiatic Journal |volume=59 |issue=1–2|page= 105|year= 2016}}</ref>}}

=== Remarks ===
{{NoteFoot}}

== Language ==
{{Main|Turkic languages|Proto-Turkic language}}
{{Further|List of alphabets used by Turkic languages}}

=== Distribution ===
[[File:Carte peuples turcs.png|thumb|upright=1.15|Descriptive map of Turkic peoples.]]
The Turkic languages constitute a [[language family]] of some 30 languages, spoken across a vast area from [[Eastern Europe]] and the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], to [[Siberia]] and [[Manchuria]] and through to the Middle East. Some 170 million people have a Turkic language as their native language;<ref name=distribution>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=90010 Turkic Language family tree] entries provide the information on the Turkic-speaking populations and regions.</ref> an additional 20 million people speak a Turkic language as a [[second language]]. The Turkic language with the greatest number of speakers is [[Turkish language|Turkish proper]], or [[Anatolia]]n Turkish, the speakers of which account for about 40% of all Turkic speakers.<ref name="LanguagesOfTheWorld">{{cite book|title=Languages of the World, Third Edition|last=Katzner|first=Kenneth|author-link=Kenneth Katzner|date=March 2002|publisher=Routledge, an imprint of Taylor & Francis Books Ltd.|isbn=978-0-415-25004-7}}</ref> More than one third of these are ethnic [[Turkish people|Turks of Turkey]], dwelling predominantly in Turkey proper and formerly [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]]-dominated areas of Southern and Eastern Europe and [[West Asia]]; as well as in Western Europe, Australia and the Americas as a result of immigration. The remainder of the Turkic people are concentrated in Central Asia, Russia, the [[Caucasus]], China, and northern Iraq.

The Turkic language family was traditionally considered to be part of the proposed [[Altaic languages|Altaic language family]].<ref>[http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9073847 Turkic peoples], ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', Online Academic Edition, 2008</ref> Howeover since the 1950s, a majority of linguists have rejected the proposal, after supposed [[cognate]]s were found not to be valid, hypothesized sound shifts were not found, and Turkic and [[Mongolic languages]] were found to be converging rather than diverging over the centuries. Opponents of the theory proposed that the similarities are due to [[language contact|mutual linguistic influences]] between the groups concerned.<ref>Lyle Campbell and Mauricio J. Mixco (2007): ''A Glossary of Historical Linguistics''; University of Utah Press. Page 7.</ref><ref>Johanna Nichols (1992) ''Linguistic Diversity in Space and Time''. Chicago University Press. Page 4.</ref><ref>R. M. W. Dixon (1997): ''The Rise and Fall of Languages''. Cambridge University Press. Page 32.</ref><ref name=perel2012>Asya Pereltsvaig (2012) ''Languages of the World, An Introduction''. Cambridge University Press. Pages 211–216.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=De la Fuente |first=José Andrés Alonso |year=2016 |title=Review of Robbeets, Martine (2015): Diachrony of verb morphology. Japanese and the Transeurasian languages |journal=Diachronica |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=530–537 |doi=10.1075/dia.33.4.04alo |url=https://www.academia.edu/30240029}}</ref>

=== Alphabet ===
[[File:Codex Cumanicus 58.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|right|A page from "[[Codex Cumanicus|Codex Kumanicus]]". The [[Codex]] was designed in order to help [[Catholic]] [[missionaries]] communicate with the [[Cumans|Kumans]].]]
The Turkic alphabets are sets of related alphabets with letters (formerly known as [[runes]]), used for writing mostly [[Turkic languages]]. Inscriptions in Turkic alphabets were found in [[Mongolia]]. Most of the preserved inscriptions were dated to between 8th and 10th centuries CE.

The earliest positively dated and read Turkic inscriptions date from the 8th century, and the alphabets were generally replaced by the [[Old Uyghur alphabet]] in the [[East Asia|East]] and [[Central Asia]], Arabic script in the Middle and Western Asia, [[Cyrillic]] in Eastern Europe and in the Balkans, and [[Latin alphabet]] in Central Europe. The latest recorded use of [[Turkic alphabets (disambiguation)|Turkic alphabet]] was recorded in Central Europe's Hungary in 1699 CE.

The Turkic [[Old Turkic alphabet|runiform]] scripts, unlike other typologically close scripts of the world, do not have a uniform [[palaeography]] as do, for example, the [[Gothic language|Gothic]] runiform scripts, noted for their exceptional uniformity of language and paleography.<ref>Vasiliev D.D. Graphical fund of Turkic runiform writing monuments in Asian areal, М., 1983, p. 44</ref> The Turkic alphabets are divided into four groups, the best known of which is the [[Orkhon script|Orkhon]] version of the Enisei group. The Orkhon script is the alphabet used by the [[Göktürk]]s from the 8th century to record the [[Old Turkic language]]. It was later used by the [[Uyghur Empire]]; a [[Yenisei]] variant is known from 9th-century [[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]] inscriptions, and it has likely cousins in the [[Talas Valley]] of [[Turkestan]] and the [[Old Hungarian script]] of the 10th century. [[Irk Bitig]] is the only known complete manuscript text written in the Old Turkic script.<ref name="tekin-1993-1">{{harvnb|Tekin|1993|p=1}}</ref>

== History ==
{{main|Turkic history}}
{{see also|Timeline of the Turkic peoples (500–1300)|l1=Timeline|Turkic migration|l2=Turkic expansion|Turkic tribal confederations|l3=Confederations|Nomadic empire|l4=Nomadic empire|Genetic history of East Asians|l5=Genetic history|}}

=== Origins ===
[[File:Modern Turkic People PCA Analysis.png|thumb|right|upright=1.5|Modern Turkic People PCA Analysis, and modelled proportions of [[Ancient Northeast Asian]] ancestry (ANA, <small>{{Colorsample|#178257|0.8}}</small>), as well as Chinese Yellow River (YR_NLA, <small>{{Colorsample|#F0E68C|0.8}}</small>) and [[Sintashta]] (<small>{{Colorsample|#1E90FF|0.8}}</small>) ancestry.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Xiaomin |last2=Meng |first2=Hailiang |last3=Zhang |first3=Jianlin |last4=Yu |first4=Yao |last5=Allen |first5=Edward |last6=Xia |first6=Ziyang |last7=Zhu |first7=Kongyang |last8=Du |first8=Panxin |last9=Ren |first9=Xiaoying |last10=Xiong |first10=Jianxue |last11=Lu |first11=Xiaoyu |last12=Ding |first12=Yi |last13=Han |first13=Sheng |last14=Liu |first14=Weipeng |last15=Jin |first15=Li |date=2023-01-09 |title=Ancient Genome of Empress Ashina reveals the Northeast Asian origin of Göktürk Khanate |url=https://www.academia.edu/108616437/Ancient_genome_of_Empress_Ashina_reveals_the_Northeast_Asian_origin_of_G%C3%B6kt%C3%BCrk_Khanate |journal=Journal of Systematics and Evolution |volume=61 |issue=6 |language=en |page=2, Fig. 1 D (Modern) |doi=10.1111/jse.12938 |s2cid=255690237 |issn=1674-4918 }}</ref>]]
The origins of the Turkic peoples has been a topic of much discussion.{{sfn|Yunusbayev et al.|2015|pp=1–2}}<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite journal |last1=Yunusbayev |first1=Bayazit |last2=Metspalu |first2=Mait |last3=Metspalu |first3=Ene |last4=Valeev |first4=Albert |last5=Litvinov |first5=Sergei |last6=Valiev |first6=Ruslan |last7=Akhmetova |first7=Vita |last8=Balanovska |first8=Elena |last9=Balanovsky |first9=Oleg |last10=Turdikulova |first10=Shahlo |last11=Dalimova |first11=Dilbar |last12=Nymadawa |first12=Pagbajabyn |last13=Bahmanimehr |first13=Ardeshir |last14=Sahakyan |first14=Hovhannes |last15=Tambets |first15=Kristiina |date=21 April 2015 |title=The Genetic Legacy of the Expansion of Turkic-Speaking Nomads across Eurasia |journal=PLOS Genetics |language=en |volume=11 |issue=4 |article-number=e1005068 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1005068 |issn=1553-7404 |pmc=4405460 |pmid=25898006 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Peter Benjamin Golden]] proposes two locations for the Proto-Turkic Urheimat: the southern [[Altai-Sayan]] region,{{sfn|Golden|2011|pp=37–38}} and Southern [[Siberia]], from [[Lake Baikal]] to eastern [[Mongolia]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Golden |first=Peter B. |title=Studying the Near and Middle East at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, 1935–2018 |editor-first1=Sabine |editor-last1=Schmidtke |chapter=THE CONSTRUCTION OF ETHNICITY IN MEDIEVAL TURKIC EURASIA |date=27 April 2018 |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.31826/9781463240035-054/html |pages=420–428 |access-date=28 September 2023 |publisher=Gorgias Press |language=en |doi=10.31826/9781463240035-054 |isbn=978-1-4632-4003-5|s2cid=198684158 }}{{Blockquote|text=The ancient Turkic Urheimat appears to have been located in Southern Siberia from the Lake Baikal region to Eastern Mongolia. The "Proto-Turks" in their Southern Siberian-Mongolian "homeland" were in contact with speakers of Eastern Iranian (Scytho-Sakas, who were also in Mongolia), Uralic and Paleo-Siberian languages.}}</ref> Other studies suggested an early presence of Turkic peoples in Mongolia,<ref>{{harvnb|Janhunen|2003|p=203}}: "There is, indeed, reason to assume that Mongolia is primarily the source region of the Turkic language family, while the Mongolic homeland was located further to the east, in western Manchuria."</ref><ref name="Uchiyama 2020"/> or [[Tuva]].<ref name="Lee 2017"/>

A possible genealogical link of the Turkic languages to Mongolic and Tungusic languages, specifically a hypothetical homeland in [[Manchuria]], such as proposed in the [[Altaic languages|Transeurasian hypothesis]], by [[Martine Robbeets]], has received support but also criticism, with opponents attributing similarities to long-term contact.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Chuan-Chao |last2=Yeh |first2=Hui-Yuan |last3=Popov |first3=Alexander N. |last4=Zhang |first4=Hu-Qin |last5=Matsumura |first5=Hirofumi |last6=Sirak |first6=Kendra |last7=Cheronet |first7=Olivia |last8=Kovalev |first8=Alexey |last9=Rohland |first9=Nadin |last10=Kim |first10=Alexander M. |last11=Mallick |first11=Swapan |last12=Bernardos |first12=Rebecca |last13=Tumen |first13=Dashtseveg |last14=Zhao |first14=Jing |last15=Liu |first15=Yi-Chang |date=March 2021 |title=Genomic insights into the formation of human populations in East Asia |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=591 |issue=7850 |pages=413–419 |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-03336-2 |issn=1476-4687 |pmc=7993749 |pmid=33618348|bibcode=2021Natur.591..413W }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fuente |first=José Andrés Alonso de la |date=1 January 2016 |title=Diachrony of verb morphology: Japanese and the Transeurasian languages |url=https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/dia.33.4.04alo |journal=Diachronica |language=en |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=530–537 |doi=10.1075/dia.33.4.04alo |issn=0176-4225|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dybo |first=Anna |date=1 January 2017 |title=New trends in European studies on the Altaic problem |journal=Journal of Language Relationship |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1–2 |pages=71–106 |doi=10.31826/jlr-2017-141-208 |s2cid=212688205 |issn=2219-4029|doi-access=free }}</ref> The proto-Turkic-speakers may be linked to [[Neolithic]] [[East Asian people|East Asian]] agricultural societies in [[Northeastern China]], which is to be associated with the [[Xinglongwa culture]] and the succeeding [[Hongshan culture]], based on varying degrees of specific East Asian genetic substratum among modern Turkic speakers.{{sfn|Nelson et al.|2020}}{{sfn|Li et al.|2020}}{{sfn|Uchiyama|Gillam|Savelyev|Ning|2020}} According to historians, "the Proto-Turkic subsistence strategy included an agricultural component, a tradition that ultimately went back to the origin of millet agriculture in Northeast China".{{sfn|Nelson et al.|2020}}{{sfn|Li et al.|2020}}{{sfn|Uchiyama|Gillam|Savelyev|Ning|2020}} This view is however questioned by other geneticists, who found no evidence for a shared "Neolithic Hongshan ancestry", but in contrary primary [[Ancient Northeast Asian]] (ANA) Neolithic ancestry from the [[Amur|Amur region]], supporting an origin from Northeast Asia rather than Manchuria.<ref name="He 230–250">{{Cite journal |last1=He |first1=Guang-Lin |last2=Wang |first2=Meng-Ge |last3=Zou |first3=Xing |last4=Yeh |first4=Hui-Yuan |last5=Liu |first5=Chang-Hui |last6=Liu |first6=Chao |last7=Chen |first7=Gang |last8=Wang |first8=Chuan-Chao |date=January 2022 |title=Extensive ethnolinguistic diversity at the crossroads of North China and South Siberia reflects multiple sources of genetic diversity |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jse.12827 |journal=Journal of Systematics and Evolution |language=en |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=230–250 |doi=10.1111/jse.12827 |issn=1674-4918 |s2cid=245849003 |quote=All Altaic-speaking populations were a mixture of dominant Siberian Neolithic ancestry and non-negligible YRB ancestry, suggesting that Altaic-people and their language were more likely to originate from the Northeast Asia (mostly likely the ARB and surrounding regions as the primary common ancestry identified here) and further experienced influence from Neolithic YRB farmers. All Altaic people but eastern and southern Mongolic-speaking populations possessed a high proportion of West Eurasian-related ancestry, in accordance with the linguistically documented language borrowing in Turkic language.|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[File:Turkic_origin_and_expansion.png|thumb|upright=1|According to Uchiyama et al. 2020 the "ultimate Proto-Turkic homeland may have been located in a more compact area, most likely in Eastern Mongolia".<ref>{{harvnb|Uchiyama|Gillam|Savelyev|Ning|2020}} the "ultimate Proto-Turkic homeland may have been located in a more compact area, most likely in Eastern Mongolia, that is, close to the ultimate Proto-Mongolic homeland in Southern Manchuria and the ultimate Proto-Tungusic homeland in the present-day borderlands of China, Russia and North Korea. This hypothesis would explain the tight connections of Proto-Turkic with Proto-Mongolic and Proto-Tungusic, regardless of whether one interprets the numerous similarities between the three Altaic families as partly inherited or obtained owing to long-lasting contact."</ref>]]

Around 2,200 BC, the (agricultural) ancestors of the Turkic peoples probably migrated westwards into [[Mongolia]], where they adopted a pastoral lifestyle, in part borrowed from [[Iranian peoples]]. Given nomadic peoples such as [[Xiongnu]], [[Rouran Khaganate|Rouran]] and [[Xianbei]] share underlying genetic ancestry "that falls into or close to the northeast Asian gene pool", the proto-Turkic language likely originated in northeastern Asia.<ref>{{harvnb|Uchiyama|Gillam|Savelyev|Ning|2020}}: "Although current genetic evidence is not adequate to track the exact time and location for the origin of the proto-Turkic language, it is clear that it probably originated somewhere in northeastern Asia given the fact that the nomadic groups, such as the Rouran, Xiongnu and the Xianbei, all share a substratum genetic ancestry that falls into or close to the northeast Asian gene pool (Ning et al., Reference Ning, Li, Wang, Zhang, Li, Wu and Cuiin press; Li et al., Reference Li, Zhang, Zhao, Chen, Ochir, Sarenbilige and Zhou2018)."</ref>

Genetic data found that almost all modern Turkic peoples retained at least some shared ancestry associated with populations in "South Siberia and Mongolia" (SSM), supporting this region as the "Inner Asian Homeland (IAH) of the pioneer carriers of Turkic languages" which subsequently expanded into Central Asia. The main [[Turkic expansion]] took place during the 5th–16th centuries, partially overlapping with the [[Mongol Empire]] period. Based on single-path IBD tracts, the common Turkic ancestral population lived prior to these migration events, and likely stem from a similar source population as [[Mongolic peoples]] further East. Historical data suggests that the Mongol Empire period acted as secondary force of "turkification", as the Mongol conquest "did not involve massive re-settlements of Mongols over the conquered territories. Instead, the Mongol war machine was progressively augmented by various Turkic tribes as they expanded, and in this way Turkic peoples eventually reinforced their expansion over the Eurasian steppe and beyond."<ref name="ReferenceA"/>[[File:Population structure of Turkic-speaking populations in the context of their geographic neighbors across Eurasia.PNG|thumb|Population structure of Turkic-speaking populations in the context of their geographic neighbors across Eurasia. Turkic-speaking populations are shown in red. The upper barplot shows only Turkic-speaking populations.]]

There is increasing evidence for a partial continuity from the [[Scytho-Siberian world|eastern Scythians]] to the Turkic-speakers of the Altai region.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tikhonov |first1=Dmitrii |last2=Gurkan |first2=Cemal |last3=Peler |first3=Gökçe |last4=Dyakonov |first4=Viktor |title=On The Genetic Continuity of the Iron Age Pazyryk Culture: Geographic Distributions of the Paternal and Maternal Lineages from the Ak-Alakha-1 Burial |journal=International Journal of Human Genetics |date=2019 |volume=19 |issue=1 |doi=10.31901/24566330.2019/19.01.709 |s2cid=202015095 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331179436|doi-access=free }} "The substantial presence of the Ak-Alakha-1 mtDNA and Y-STR haplotypes in the contemporary Anatolian populations may be attributed to two major historical events: (a) the less likely being the Scythian invasion of Anatolia around 7th century BCE and settlement for around 30 years near the Aras or Araxes River (Herodotus 1920), and (b) the more likely being the Central Asiatic Turkic migrations into Anatolia from around 11th century CE onwards, keeping in mind the ever growing support for a strong genetic continuity between the ancient eastern Scythians and the proto-Turkic tribes (Unterlander et al. 2017)."</ref> Turkic-speaking Central Asians can be described as having formed from mixture between [[Scytho-Siberian world|Scythian]]-like groups, displaying their highest genetic affinity to modern day [[Tajiks]], and "Eastern Steppe Xiongnu" groups during the [[Iron Age]].<ref name="Dai 2022"/>

A 2018 [[Autosome|autosomal]] [[single-nucleotide polymorphism]] study suggested that the [[Eurasian Steppe]] slowly transitioned from [[Indo European]] and [[Iranian languages|Iranian]]-speaking groups with largely western Eurasian ancestry to increasing East Asian ancestry with Turkic and Mongolian groups in the past 4000 years, including extensive Turkic migrations out of Mongolia and slow assimilation of local populations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Damgaard |first1=Peter de Barros |last2=Marchi |first2=Nina |last3=Rasmussen |first3=Simon |last4=Peyrot |first4=Michaël |last5=Renaud |first5=Gabriel |last6=Korneliussen |first6=Thorfinn |last7=Moreno-Mayar |first7=J. Víctor |last8=Pedersen |first8=Mikkel Winther |last9=Goldberg |first9=Amy |last10=Usmanova |first10=Emma |last11=Baimukhanov |first11=Nurbol |last12=Loman |first12=Valeriy |last13=Hedeager |first13=Lotte |last14=Pedersen |first14=Anders Gorm |last15=Nielsen |first15=Kasper |date=May 2018 |title=137 ancient human genomes from across the Eurasian steppes |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0094-2 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=557 |issue=7705 |pages=369–374 |doi=10.1038/s41586-018-0094-2 |pmid=29743675 |bibcode=2018Natur.557..369D |issn=1476-4687 |hdl=1887/3202709 |s2cid=13670282 |quote= The diversification within the Turkic languages suggests that several waves of migrations occurred35, and on the basis of the impact of local languages gradual assimilation to local populations were already assumed36. The East Asian migration starting with the Xiongnu complies well with the hypothesis that early Turkic was their major language37. Further migrations of East Asians westwards find a good linguistic correlate in the influence of Mongolian on Turkic and Iranian in the last millennium38. As such, the genomic history of the Eurasian steppe is the story of a gradual transition from Bronze Age pastoralists of western Eurasian ancestry, towards mounted warriors of increased East Asian ancestry – a process that continued well into historical times.|hdl-access=free }}</ref>{{sfn|Uchiyama|Gillam|Savelyev|Ning|2020}} A 2022 report suggested that Turkic and Mongolic populations in Central Asia formed via admixture events during the Iron Age between "local [[Indo-Iranians|Indo-Iranian]] and a South-Siberian or Mongolian group with a high East-Asian ancestry (around 60%)". Modern day [[Turkmens]] form an outlier among Central Asian Turkic-speakers with a lower frequency of the Baikal component (c. 22%) and a lack of the Han-like component, being closer to other Indo-Iranian groups.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Guarino-Vignon |first1=Perle |last2=Marchi |first2=Nina |last3=Bendezu-Sarmiento |first3=Julio |last4=Heyer |first4=Evelyne |last5=Bon |first5=Céline |date=14 January 2022 |title=Genetic continuity of Indo-Iranian speakers since the Iron Age in southern Central Asia |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=733 |doi=10.1038/s41598-021-04144-4 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=8760286 |pmid=35031610 |bibcode=2022NatSR..12..733G |quote=Modern DNA studies suggested that the Indo-Iranian group was present in Central Asia before the Turko-Mongol group11, maybe as early as Neolithic times; the Turko-Mongol group emerged later from the admixture between a group related to local Indo-Iranian and a South-Siberian or Mongolian group11,13,14 with a high East-Asian ancestry (around 60%).}}</ref> A subsequent study in 2022 also found that the spread of Turkic-speaking populations into Central Asia happened after the spread of Indo-European speakers into the area.<ref name="Dai 2022">{{Cite journal |last1=Dai |first1=Shan-Shan |last2=Sulaiman |first2=Xierzhatijiang |last3=Isakova |first3=Jainagul |last4=Xu |first4=Wei-Fang |last5=Abdulloevich |first5=Najmudinov Tojiddin |last6=Afanasevna |first6=Manilova Elena |last7=Ibrohimovich |first7=Khudoidodov Behruz |last8=Chen |first8=Xi |last9=Yang |first9=Wei-Kang |last10=Wang |first10=Ming-Shan |last11=Shen |first11=Quan-Kuan |last12=Yang |first12=Xing-Yan |last13=Yao |first13=Yong-Gang |last14=Aldashev |first14=Almaz A |last15=Saidov |first15=Abdusattor |date=25 August 2022 |title=The Genetic Echo of the Tarim Mummies in Modern Central Asians |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=39 |issue=9 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msac179 |issn=0737-4038 |pmc=9469894 |pmid=36006373 |quote=By contrast, the Kyrgyz, together with other Turkic-speaking populations, originated from the admixture since the Iron Age. The Historical Era gene flow derived from the Eastern Steppe with the representative of Mongolia_Xiongnu_o1 made a more substantial contribution to Kyrgyz and other Turkic-speaking populations (i.e., Kazakh, Uyghur, Turkmen, and Uzbek; 34.9–55.2%) higher than that to the Tajik populations (11.6–18.6%; fig. 4A), suggesting Tajiks suffer fewer impacts of the recent admixtures (Martínez-Cruz et al. 2011). Consequently, the Tajik populations generally present patterns of genetic continuity of Central Asians since the Bronze Age. Our results are consistent with linguistic and genetic evidence that the spreading of Indo-European speakers into Central Asia was earlier than the expansion of Turkic speakers (Kuz′mina and Mallory 2007; Yunusbayev et al. 2015).}}</ref> Another 2022 study found that all Altaic‐speaking (Turkic, Tungusic, and Mongolic) populations "were a mixture of dominant Siberian Neolithic ancestry and non-negligible YRB ancestry", suggesting their origins were somewhere in Northeast Asia, most likely the [[Amur river|Amur river basin]]. Except Eastern and Southern Mongolic-speakers, all "possessed a high proportion of West Eurasian-related ancestry, in accordance with the linguistically documented language borrowing in Turkic languages".<ref name="He 230–250"/>

A 2023 study analyzed the DNA of [[Empress Ashina]] (568–578 AD), a Royal Göktürk, whose remains were recovered from a mausoleum in [[Xianyang]], [[China]].<ref name="Yang 2023">{{harvnb|Yang|Meng|Zhang|2023}}</ref> The authors determined that Empress Ashina belonged to the North-East Asian [[mtDNA]] haplogroup [[Haplogroup F (mtDNA)|F1d]], and that approximately 96-98% of her autosomal ancestry was of [[Ancient Northeast Asian]] origin, while roughly 2-4% was of West Eurasian origin, indicating ancient admixture.<ref name="Yang 2023"/> This study weakened the "western Eurasian origin and multiple origin hypotheses".<ref name="Yang 2023"/> However, they also noted that "Central Steppe and early Medieval Türk exhibited a high but variable degree of West Eurasian ancestry, indicating there was a genetic substructure of the Türkic empire."<ref name="Yang 2023"/> The early medieval Türk samples were modelled as having 37.8% West Eurasian ancestry and 62.2% Ancient Northeast Asian ancestry<ref>{{harvnb|Yang|Meng|Zhang|2023}}: "The early Medieval Türk (earlyMed_Turk) derived the major ancestry from ANA at a proportion of 62.2%, the remainder from BMAC (10.7%) and Western Steppe Afanasievo nomad (27.1%) (Figs. 1C, 1D; Table S2E)."</ref> and historic Central Steppe Türk samples were also an admixture of West Eurasian and Ancient Northeast Asian ancestry,<ref>{{harvnb|Yang|Meng|Zhang|2023}}: "Central Steppe Türk (Kyrgyzstan_Turk and Kazakhstan_Turk) could be modeled as an admixture of ANA (Mongolia_N_North), BMAC, and West Steppe pastoralists (Afanasievo) (P = 0.0196)"</ref> while historic Karakhanid, Kipchak and the Turkic Karluk samples had 50.6%-61.1% West Eurasian ancestry and 38.9%–49.4% Iron Age [[Yellow River]] farmer ancestry.<ref>{{harvnb|Yang|Meng|Zhang|2023}}: "In contrast, the early West Xiongnu (earlyXiongnu_west) and late Sarmatian Xiongnu (lateXiongnu_Sarmatian) derived ancestry mainly from West Eurasian; for example, early West Xiongnu exhibited 68.4% Afanasievo‐related ancestry. Among the Central Steppe pastoralists, Wusun, Kangju, and Tianshan Hun derived a majority of their ancestry (62.4%–73%) from Western Steppe nomadic Afanasievo groups with the remainder (37.6%–27%) characterized as BMAC (the Bactria‐Margiana Archaeological Complex) and East Eurasian. The Turkic Karluk, Kipchak, and Karakhanid could be modeled derived 35%–50.6% of ancestry from Afanasievo, 10.5%–21.7% from BMAC, and 38.9%–49.4% from YR_IA."</ref> A 2020 study also found "high genetic heterogeneity and diversity during the Türkic and Uyghur periods" in the early medieval period in [[Eurasian Steppe#Mongolian-Manchurian Steppe (Eastern Steppe)|Eastern Eurasian Steppe]].<ref name=Jeong_et_al_2020>{{cite journal|vauthors=Jeong C, Wang K, Wilkin S, Taylor WT, Miller BK, Bemmann JH | display-authors=etal| title=A Dynamic 6,000-Year Genetic History of Eurasia's Eastern Steppe. | journal=Cell | year= 2020 | volume= 183 | issue= 4 | pages= 890–904.e29 | pmid=33157037 | doi=10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.015 | pmc=7664836 |quote=From the late first millennium BCE onward, a series of hierarchical and centrally organized empires arose on the Eastern Steppe, notably the Xiongnu (209 BCE–98 CE), Türkic (552–742 CE), Uyghur (744–840 CE), and Khitan (916–1125 CE) empires...Genetic data for the subsequent Early Medieval period are relatively sparse and uneven, and few Xianbei or Rouran sites have yet been identified during the 400-year gap between the Xiongnu and Türkic periods. We observed high genetic heterogeneity and diversity during the Türkic and Uyghur periods...}}</ref>

=== Early historical attestation ===
{{History of the Turks pre-14th century}}
The earliest separate Turkic peoples, such as the ''Gekun'' (鬲昆) and ''Xinli'' (薪犁), appeared on the peripheries of the late [[Xiongnu]] confederation about 200 BCE<ref name="Sima Qian 110">[[Sima Qian]] ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'' [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98/%E5%8D%B7110 Vol. 110] "後北服渾庾、屈射、丁零、鬲昆、薪犁之國。於是匈奴貴人大臣皆服，以冒頓單于爲賢。" tr. "Later [he went] north [and] subjugated the nations of Hunyu, Qushe, Dingling, Gekun, and Xinli. Therefore, the Xiongnu nobles and dignitaries all admired [and] regarded [[Modun chanyu]] as capable"</ref><ref name="Peter Zieme 2006, p. 64" /> (contemporaneous with the Chinese [[Han dynasty]])<ref name="Findley 2005, p. 29">Findley (2005), p. 29.</ref> and later among the Turkic-speaking [[Tiele people|Tiele]]<ref>[[Suishu]], vol. 84</ref> as ''[[Yenisei Kyrgyz|Hegu]]'' (紇骨)<ref name="Pulleyblank 1990">Pulleyblank, E. G. "The Name of the Kirghiz." Central Asiatic Journal 34, no. 1/2 (1990). p. 99</ref> and ''[[Xueyantuo|Xue]]'' (薛).<ref name="Pulleyblank p. VII"/><ref name="Duan p. 370"/>

The [[Tiele people|Tiele]] (also known as Gaoche 高車, lit. "High Carts"),<ref>{{cite journal|last=Pulleyblank|first= Edwin G.|title=The 'High Carts': A Turkish-Speaking People before the Türks|journal= Asia Major |series=Third series |volume=3 |issue=1|year= 1991|pages= 21–22|publisher= Academia Sinica}}</ref> may be related to the [[Xiongnu]] and the [[Dingling]].<ref>Weishu, [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%AD%8F%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7103#%E9%AB%98%E8%BB%8A vol. 103] "高車，蓋古赤狄之餘種也，初號為狄歷，北方以為勑勒，諸夏以為高車、丁零。其語略與匈奴同而時有小異，或云其先匈奴之甥也" tr.</ref> According to the ''[[Book of Wei]]'', the Tiele people were the remnants of the Chidi (赤狄), the red [[Beidi|Di]] people competing with the [[Jin (Chinese state)|Jin]] in the [[Spring and Autumn period]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.xjass.com/ls/content/2010-06/11/content_150662.htm|title= 丁零—铁勒的西迁及其所建西域政权|access-date= 18 March 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150715184347/http://www.xjass.com/ls/content/2010-06/11/content_150662.htm|archive-date= 15 July 2015}}</ref> Historically they were established after the 6th century BCE.<ref name="Peter Zieme 2006, p. 64">Peter Zieme: The Old Turkish Empires in Mongolia. In: Genghis Khan and his heirs. The Empire of the Mongols. Special tape for Exhibition 2005/2006, p. 64</ref>

The Tiele were first mentioned in Chinese literature from the 6th to 8th centuries.<ref name="Cheng2012">{{cite journal|author=Cheng Fangyi|title=The Research on the Identification Between Tiele (鐵勒) and the Oghuric Tribes|url=https://www.academia.edu/4314856|journal=Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi|pages=81–114}}</ref> Some scholars (Haneda, Onogawa, Geng, etc.) proposed that ''Tiele'', ''Dili'', ''Dingling'', ''Chile'', ''Tele'', & ''Tujue'' all transliterated underlying ''Türk''; however, [[Peter Benjamin Golden|Golden]] proposed that ''Dili'', ''Dingling'', ''Chile'', ''Tele'', and ''Tiele'' transliterated ''Tegrek'' while Tujue transliterated ''Türküt'', plural of ''Türk''.<ref>Cheng (2012), p. 84-87</ref> The appellation ''Türük'' ([[Old Turkic]]: 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰰) ~ ''Türk'' (OT: 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰚) (whence [[Middle Chinese]] 突厥 *''dwət-kuɑt'' > *''tɦut-kyat'' > [[standard Chinese]]: ''Tūjué'') was initially reserved exclusively for the [[Göktürks]] by Chinese, Tibetans, and even the Turkic-speaking [[Uyghur Khaganate|Uyghurs]]. In contrast, medieval Muslim writers, including Turkic speakers like Ottoman historian [[Mustafa Âlî]] and explorer [[Evliya Çelebi]] as well as [[Timurid Empire|Timurid]] scientist [[Ulugh Beg]], often viewed Inner Asian tribes, "as forming a single entity regardless of their linguistic affiliation" commonly used Turk as a generic name for Inner Asians (whether Turkic- or Mongolic-speaking). Only in modern era do modern historians use Turks to refer to all peoples speaking [[Turkic languages]], differentiated from non-Turkic speakers.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lee|first=Joo-Yup|year=2016|title=The Historical Meaning of the Term Turk and the Nature of the Turkic Identity of the Chinggisid and Timurid Elites in Post-Mongol Central Asia|journal=Central Asiatic Journal|volume=59|issue=1–2|pages=101–32|doi=10.13173/centasiaj.59.1-2.0101}}</ref>

According to some researchers (Duan, Xue, Tang, Lung, Onogawa, etc.) the later [[Ashina tribe]] descended from the [[Tiele people|Tiele confederation]].<ref name="LT">{{cite book|last1=Tang|first1=Li |url=https://www.academia.edu/7158958|title="A Brief Description of the Early and Medieval Türks" in Turkic Christians in Central Asia and China (5th – 14th Centuries), Studies in Turkic philology|publisher=Minzu University Press|page=VII|language=en}}</ref><ref>Duan: Dingling, Gaoju and Tiele. 1988, pp. 39–41</ref><ref>Xue, Zongzheng ''History of Turks'' (1992). 39–85</ref><ref>Rachel Lung, Interpreters in Early Imperial China, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2011, [https://books.google.com/books?id=qsNoHtgkGPkC&pg=PA48 p. 48] "Türk, or Türküt, refers to a state of Ašina clan (of Tiele [鐵勒] tribe by ancestral lineage)"</ref><ref>Duan: ''Dingling, Gaoju and Tiele''. 1988, pp. 39–41</ref> The Tiele however were probably one of many early Turkic groups, ancestral to later Turkic populations.<ref>Suribadalaha, "New Studies of the Origins of the Mongols", p. 46–47</ref><ref>Cheng, Fangyi. "The Research on the Identification Between Tiele and the Oghuric Tribes".</ref> However, according to Lee & Kuang (2017), Chinese histories do not describe the Ashina and the Göktürks as descending from the Dingling or the Tiele confederation.{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=201-202}}

==== Xiongnu (3rd c. BCE – 1st c. CE) ====
{{Main|Xiongnu}}
{{See also|Huns}}
[[File:XiongnuMap.png|thumb|left|Territory of the Xiongnu, which included [[Mongolia]], Western [[Manchuria]], [[Xinjiang]], East [[Kazakhstan]], East [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Inner Mongolia]], and [[Gansu]].]]

It has even been suggested that the Xiongnu themselves, who were mentioned in Han dynasty records, were [[Proto-Turkic language|Proto-Turkic]] speakers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hucker |first=Charles O. |year=1975 |title=China's Imperial Past: An Introduction to Chinese History and Culture |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0-8047-2353-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Early nomads of the Eastern Steppe and their tentative connections in the West|last1=Savelyev |first1=Alexander |last2=Jeong |first2=Choongwon|date=10 May 2020 |journal=Evolutionary Human Sciences|volume=2 |doi=10.1017/ehs.2020.18 |pmid=35663512 |pmc=7612788 |hdl=21.11116/0000-0007-772B-4 |s2cid=218935871 }}</ref><ref>Silk-Road:[http://www.silk-road.com/artl/xiongnu1.shtml Xiongnu]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/FeaturesFarEast/TurkicIntro.htm|title= An Introduction to the Turkic Tribes|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref> The Turks may ultimately have been of Xiongnu descent.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haug |first1=Robert |title=The Eastern Frontier: Limits of Empire in Late Antique and Early Medieval Central Asia |date=27 June 2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78831-722-1|page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_2ZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT98 |language=en|quote="The Türks emerged from the Āshĭnà clan, of probable [[Xiognu|Xiōngnú]] descent, part of the military nobility of the Róurán."}}</ref> Although little is known for certain about the Xiongnu language(s), it seems likely that at least a considerable part of Xiongnu tribes spoke a Turkic language.<ref>Lebedynsky (2006), p. 59.</ref> Some scholars believe they were probably a confederation of various ethnic and linguistic groups.<ref>Nicola di Cosmo, Ancient China and its Enemies, S. 163ff.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last= Ebrey|first= Patricia Buckley|title= The Cambridge Illustrated History of China|year= 2010|edition= 2nd|publisher= Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-12433-1|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vr81YoYK0c4C&q=%22Xiongnu+Confederation%22&pg=PA69|page= 69}}</ref> According to a study by Alexander Savelyev and Choongwon Jeong, published in 2020 in the journal ''Evolutionary Human Sciences'' by Cambridge University Press, "the predominant part of the Xiongnu population is likely to have spoken Turkic". However, genetic studies found a mixture of western and eastern Eurasian ancestries, suggesting a large genetic diversity within the Xiongnu. The Turkic-related component may be brought by eastern Eurasian genetic substratum.<ref>{{harvnb|Savelyev|Jeong|2020|ps=:"Specifically, individuals from Iron Age steppe and Xiongnu have an ancestry related to present-day and ancient Iranian/Caucasus/Turan populations in addition to the ancestry components derived from the Late Bronze Age populations. We estimate that they derive between 5 and 25% of their ancestry from this new source, with 18% for Xiongnu (Table 2). We speculate that the introduction of this new western Eurasian ancestry may be linked to the Iranian elements in the Xiongnu linguistic material, while the Turkic-related component may be brought by their eastern Eurasian genetic substratum." Table 2: Sintashta_MLBA, 0.239; Khovsgol LBA, 0.582; Gonur1 BA 0.178}}</ref><!-- Deleted image removed:  [[File:Kultigin monument.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.75|Göktürk stele from [[Orkhon Valley]]. Created by Yollyk-Tegin Khan in memory of his father and uncle Bagha [[Kul Tigin|Kul Tegin]]]]  -->

Using the only extant possibly Xiongnu writings, the rock art of the [[Yinshan]] and [[Helan Mountains]],<ref>MA Li-qing [http://www.wanfangdata.com.cn/qikan/periodical.Articles/kgyww/kgyw2004/0402/040208.htm On the new evidence on Xiongnu's writings.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071019015743/http://wanfangdata.com.cn/qikan/periodical.Articles/kgyww/kgyw2004/0402/040208.htm |date=19 October 2007 }}(Wanfang Data: Digital Periodicals, 2004)</ref> some scholars argue that the older Xiongnu writings are precursors to the earliest known [[Old Turkic|Turkic]] alphabet, the [[Orkhon script]]. Petroglyphs of this region dates from the [[9th millennium BCE]] to the 19th century, and consists mainly of engraved signs (petroglyphs) and few painted images.<ref>Paola Demattè [https://web.archive.org/web/20040207122609/http://faculty.risd.edu/faculty/pdematte/web/MyResearch/RA%20paper.htm Writing the Landscape: the Petroglyphs of Inner Mongolia and Ningxia Province (China).] (Paper presented at the First International Conference of Eurasian Archaeology, University of Chicago, 3–4 May 2002.)</ref> Excavations done during 1924–1925 in [[Noin-Ula]] kurgans located in the [[Selenga]] River in the northern [[Mongolia]]n hills north of [[Ulaanbaatar]] produced objects with over 20 carved characters, which were either identical or very similar to the [[runic]] letters of the Turkic Orkhon script discovered in the [[Orkhon Valley]].<ref>N. Ishjatms, "Nomads In Eastern Central Asia", in the ''History of civilizations of Central Asia'', Volume 2, Fig 6, p. 166, UNESCO Publishing, 1996, {{ISBN|92-3-102846-4}}</ref>

=== Steppe expansions ===
==== Göktürks – Turkic Khaganate (5th–8th c.) ====
{{Asia 576 CE|right|The First Turkic Khaganate at its greatest extent, in 576, with neighbouring contemporary polities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haug |first1=Robert |title=The Eastern Frontier: Limits of Empire in Late Antique and Early Medieval Central Asia |date=27 June 2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78831-722-1|page=65 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_2ZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT99 |language=en|quote="The collapse of the Hephthalite domains made neighbours of the Türk Khāqānate and the Sasanian Empire, both sharing a border that ran the length of the River Oxus. Further Turkish expansion to the west and around the Caspian Sea saw them dominate the western steppes and its people and extend this frontier down to the Caucasus where they also shared a border with the Sasanians. Khusrow is noted at the time for improving the fortifications on either side of the Caspian, Bāb al-Abwāb at Derbent and the Great Wall of Gorgān."}}</ref>||Map of the First Turkic Khaganate.png}}
{{Main|Göktürks|First Turkic Khaganate}}

The earliest certain mentioning of the politonym "Turk" was in the Chinese [[Book of Zhou]]. In the 540s AD, this text mentions that the Turks came to China's border seeking silk goods and a trade relationship. A Sogdian diplomat represented China in a series of embassies between the [[Western Wei]] dynasty and the Turks in the years 545 and 546.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tasar |first1=Eren |last2=Frank |first2=Allen J. |last3=Eden |first3=Jeff |title=From the Khan's Oven: Studies on the History of Central Asian Religions in Honor of Devin DeWeese |date=11 October 2021 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-47117-7 |page=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4stKEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |language=en}} "The Türks, while still vassals of the Rouran, are first mentioned in the Zhoushu (chap. 50) in the early 540s when they came to the border seeking to obtain silk goods and establish a relationship with China. Shortly thereafter a series of embassies in 545 and 546 between the Türks and the Western Wei followed in which a Sogdian, An Nuopantuo (Nakbanda), represented China."</ref>

According to the ''Book of Sui'' and the ''[[Tongdian]]'', they were "mixed barbarians" ({{linktext|雜胡}}; ''záhú'') who migrated from [[Pingliang]] (now in modern [[Gansu province]], [[China]]) to the [[Rouran]]s seeking inclusion in their confederacy and protection from the prevailing dynasty.<ref name = "Suishu 84 tujue">[[Wei Zheng]] et al., ''Suishu'', [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%9A%8B%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B784#%E7%AA%81%E5%8E%A5 vol. 84] quote: "突厥之先，平涼雜胡也，姓阿史那氏。後魏太武滅沮渠氏，阿史那以五百家奔茹茹，世居金山，工於鐵作。金山狀如兜鍪，俗呼兜鍪為「突厥」，因以為號。"</ref><ref name="Tong197">[[Du You]], ''Tongdian'' [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%80%9A%E5%85%B8/%E5%8D%B7197 vol. 197] quote: "突厥之先，平涼今平涼郡雜胡也，蓋匈奴之別種，姓阿史那氏。後魏太武滅沮渠氏，沮渠茂虔都姑臧，謂之北涼，為魏所滅。阿史那以五百家奔蠕蠕，代居金山，狀如兜鍪，俗呼兜鍪為「突厥」，因以為號。"</ref> Alternatively, according to the ''[[Book of Zhou]]'', ''[[History of the Northern Dynasties]]'', and ''[[New Book of Tang]]'', the Ashina clan was a component of the [[Xiongnu]] confederation.<ref name="Zhou50">[[Linghu Defen]] et al., ''Zhoushu'', [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%91%A8%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B750 vol. 50] quote: "突厥者，蓋匈奴之別種，姓阿史那氏。"</ref><ref>''Beishi'' [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%8C%97%E5%8F%B2/%E5%8D%B7099#%E7%AA%81%E5%8E%A5 "vol. 99 – section Tujue"] quote: "突厥者，其先居西海之右，獨為部落，蓋匈奴之別種也。" translation: "The Tujue, their ancestors dwelt on the right bank of the Western Sea; a lone tribe, probably a separate branch of the Xiongnu"</ref><ref>Golden, Peter B. (August 2018). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326609440_The_Ethnogonic_Tales_of_the_Turks "The Ethnogonic Tales of the Türks"]. ''The Medieval History Journal'', 21 (2): p. 298 of 291–327, fn. 36.</ref><ref>''Xin Tangshu'', [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%96%B0%E5%94%90%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7215%E4%B8%8A vol. 215A]. "突厥阿史那氏, 蓋古匈奴北部也." "The Ashina family of the Turk probably were the northern tribes of the ancient Xiongnu." quoted and translated in Xu (2005), [https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/19205 ''Historical Development of the Pre-Dynastic Khitan''], University of Helsinki, 2005</ref> Göktürks were also posited as having originated from an obscure Suo state (索國), north of the Xiongnu.<ref>''Zhoushu'', "vol. 50" "或云突厥之先出於索國，在匈奴之北。"</ref><ref>''Beishi'' "vol. 99 – section Tujue" quote: "又曰突厥之先，出於索國，在匈奴之北。"</ref> The Ashina tribe were famed [[metalsmith]]s and were granted land south of the [[Altai Mountains]] (金山 ''Jinshan''), which looked like a [[helmet]], from which they were said to have gotten their name 突厥 (''Tūjué''),<ref>''Zhoushu'', "vol. 50" quote: "居金山之陽，為茹茹鐵工。金山形似兜鍪，其俗謂兜鍪為「突厥」，遂因以為號焉。"</ref><ref name = "Suishu 84 tujue"/> the first recorded use of "Turk" as a political name. In the 6th-century, Ashina's power had increased such that they conquered the Tiele on their Rouran overlords' behalf and even overthrew Rourans and established the First Turkic Khaganate.<ref name="Carter V. Findley" />

The original [[Old Turkic]] name ''Kök Türk'' derives from ''kök'' ~ ''kö:k'', "sky, sky-coloured, blue, blue-grey".<ref>Golden, P.B. (1992) ''An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples''. Series Turcologica, Band IX. Otto-Harrassowitz. p. 117</ref> Unlike its Xiongnu predecessor, the Göktürk Khaganate had its temporary [[Khagan]]s from the [[Ashina tribe|Ashina]] clan, who were ''subordinate'' to a [[sovereignty|sovereign]] authority controlled by a council of tribal chiefs. The [[Khanate|Khaganate]] retained elements of its original [[Animism|animistic-]] [[Shamanism|shamanistic]] religion, that later evolved into [[Tengriism]], although it received missionaries of [[Buddhist]] monks and practiced a syncretic religion. The Göktürks were the first Turkic people to write [[Old Turkic]] in a runic script, the [[Orkhon script]]. The Khaganate was also the first state known as "Turk". It eventually collapsed due to a series of dynastic conflicts, but many states and peoples later used the name "Turk".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1dRpAAAAMAAJ&q=slave++Rouran|title=Türk Tarih Kongresi|date=1999|publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu|isbn=978-975-16-0260-2|language=tr}}</ref><ref>West, Barbara A. (19 May 2010). ''Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania''. Infobase Publishing. p. 829. {{ISBN|978-1-4381-1913-7}}.</ref>

The Göktürks ([[First Turkic Kaganate]]) quickly spread west to the Caspian Sea. Between 581 and 603 the [[Western Turkic Khaganate]] in Kazakhstan separated from the [[Eastern Turkic Khaganate]] in Mongolia and [[Manchuria]] during a civil war. The Han-Chinese successfully overthrew the Eastern Turks in 630 and created a military Protectorate until 682. After that time the [[Second Turkic Khaganate]] ruled large parts of the former Göktürk area. After several wars between Turks, Chinese and Tibetans, the weakened Second Turkic Khaganate was replaced by the [[Uyghur Khaganate]] in the year 744.<ref name="Haywood, John 1998">Haywood, John (1998), ''Historical Atlas of the Medieval World, AD 600–1492'', Barnes & Noble</ref>

==== Bulgars, Golden Horde and the Siberian Khanate ====
[[File:Bulgarians and Slavs VI-VII century.png|thumb|left|The migration of the Bulgars after the fall of [[Old Great Bulgaria]] in the 7th century]]
The [[Bulgars]] established themselves in between the Caspian and Black Seas in the 5th and 6th centuries, followed by their conquerors, the [[Khazars]] who converted to Judaism in the 8th or 9th century. After them came the [[Pechenegs]] who created a large confederacy, which was subsequently taken over by the [[Cumans]] and the [[Kipchaks]]. One group of Bulgars settled in the Volga region and mixed with local [[Volga Finns]] to become the [[Volga Bulgars]] in what is today [[Tatarstan]]. These Bulgars were conquered by the Mongols following their westward sweep under [[Ogedei Khan]] in the 13th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McLynn |first1=Frank |title=Genghis Khan: His Conquests, His Empire, His Legacy |date=14 July 2015 |publisher=Hachette Books |isbn=978-0-306-82395-4 |page=436 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jcQzCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA436 |language=en}}</ref> Other Bulgars settled in Southeastern Europe in the 7th and 8th centuries, and mixed with the [[Slavs|Slavic]] population, adopting what eventually became the Slavic [[Bulgarian language]]. Everywhere, Turkic groups mixed with the local populations to varying degrees.<ref name="Carter V. Findley" />

[[File:GoldenHorde1300.png|thumb|[[Golden Horde]]]]
The Volga Bulgaria became an Islamic state in 922 and influenced the region as it controlled many trade routes. In the 13th century, Mongols invaded Europe and established the [[Golden Horde]] in Eastern Europe, western and northern Central Asia, and even western Siberia. The [[Cuman-Kipchak Confederation]] and Islamic [[Volga Bulgaria]] were absorbed by the Golden Horde in the 13th century; in the 14th century, Islam became the official religion under [[Uzbeg Khan]] where the general population (Turks) as well as the aristocracy (Mongols) came to speak the [[Kipchak language]] and were collectively known as "[[Tatars]]" by Russians and Westerners. This country was also known as the [[Kipchak Khanate]] and covered most of what is today [[Ukraine]], as well as the entirety of modern-day southern and eastern [[Russia]] (the European section). The Golden Horde disintegrated into several khanates and hordes in the 15th and 16th century including the [[Crimean Khanate]], [[Khanate of Kazan]], and [[Kazakh Khanate]] (among others), which were one by one conquered and annexed by the Russian Empire in the 16th through 19th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Figes |first1=Orlando |title=The Story of Russia |date=20 September 2022 |publisher=Metropolitan Books |isbn=978-1-250-79690-5 |pages=45–46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXtUEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT45 |language=en}}</ref>

In Siberia, the [[Siberian Khanate]] was established in the 1490s by fleeing Tatar aristocrats of the disintegrating [[Golden Horde]] who established Islam as the official religion in western Siberia over the partly Islamized native [[Siberian Tatars]] and indigenous Uralic peoples. It was the northernmost Islamic state in recorded history and it survived up until 1598 when it was conquered by Russia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Soucek |first1=Branko |last2=Soucek |first2=Svat |title=A History of Inner Asia |date=17 February 2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-65704-4 |page=29 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7E8gYYcHuk8C&pg=PA29 |language=en}}"The Kipchak Turkic - speaking khans of Sibir had ruled there from the thirteenth century to the sixteenth, and their realm represented the northernmost position ever occupied by an Islamic state."</ref>

==== Uyghur Khaganate (8th–9th c.) ====
[[File:Uyghur Khaganate.png|thumb|right|Uyghur Khaganate]]
[[File:Ancient Uyghur Art.jpg|thumb|alt=Uyghur painting from the Bezeklik cavels from the 9th century|Uyghur painting from the Bezeklik murals]]

{{Main|Uyghur Khaganate}}
[[File:Museum für Indische Kunst Dahlem Berlin Mai 2006 063.jpg|thumb|right|Uyghur royals in Chinese-style dresses]]
The [[Uyghur Khaganate]] had established itself by the year 744 AD.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benson |first1=Linda |last2=Svanberg |first2=Ingvar |title=China's Last Nomads: History and Culture of China's Kazaks |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-28519-1 |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ooQYDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT35}}</ref> Through trade relations established with China, its capital city of [[Ordu Baliq]] in central Mongolia's [[Orkhon Valley]] became a wealthy center of commerce,<ref>{{harvnb|Benson|Svanberg|2016|p=65}}</ref> and a significant portion of the Uyghur population abandoned their nomadic lifestyle for a [[sedentary]] one. The Uyghur Khaganate produced extensive literature, and a relatively high number of its inhabitants were literate.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Szostak |first1=Rick |title=Making Sense of World History |date=22 October 2020 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-20167-3 |page=672 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDv_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT672 |language=en}}</ref>

The official state religion of the early Uyghur Khaganate was [[Manichaeism]], which was introduced through the conversion of [[Bögü Qaghan]] by the [[Sogdians]] after the [[An Lushan rebellion]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Foltz |first1=Richard |title=Religions of Iran: From Prehistory to the Present |date=1 November 2013 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-78074-309-7 |page=256 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sBu9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT256}}</ref> The Uyghur Khaganate was tolerant of religious diversity and practiced variety of religions including Buddhism, Christianity, shamanism and Manichaeism.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Golden |first1=Peter B. |title=Central Asia in World History |date=14 January 2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-972203-7 |page=47 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lRZwAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 |language=en |ref=none}}</ref>

During the same time period, the [[Shatuo]] Turks emerged as power factor in Northern and Central China and were recognized by the Tang Empire as allied power.

In 808, 30,000 Shatuo under Zhuye Jinzhong defected from the Tibetans to Tang China and the Tibetans punished them by killing Zhuye Jinzhong as they were chasing them.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mm-cEAAAQBAJ&dq=843+shatuo&pg=PT248 | title=From the Khitans to the Jurchens & Mongols: A History of Barbarians in Triangle Wars & Quartet Conflicts | isbn=978-1-6632-4258-7 | last1=Yuan | first1=Hong | date=14 November 2022 }}</ref> The Uyghurs also fought against an alliance of Shatuo and Tibetans at Beshbalik.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhiWDwAAQBAJ&dq=843+shatuo&pg=RA1-PA310 | title=History of Central Asia, the: 4-volume set | isbn=978-1-83860-868-2 | last1=Baumer | first1=Christoph | date=18 April 2018 }}</ref>

The Shatuo Turks under Zhuye Chixin ([[Li Guochang]]) served the Tang dynasty in fighting against their fellow Turkic people in the [[Uyghur Khaganate]]. In 839, when the Uyghur khaganate (Huigu) general Jueluowu (掘羅勿) rose against the rule of then-reigning [[Zhangxin Khan]], he elicited the help from Zhuye Chixin by giving Zhuye 300 horses, and together, they defeated Zhangxin Khan, who then committed suicide, precipitating the subsequent collapse of the Uyghur Khaganate. In the next few years, when Uyghur Khaganate remnants tried to raid Tang borders, the Shatuo participated extensively in counterattacking the Uyghur Khaganate with other tribes loyal to Tang.<ref>''Zizhi Tongjian'', [[:zh:s:資治通鑑/卷246|vol. 246]].</ref> In 843, Zhuye Chixin, under the command of the Han Chinese officer [[Shi Xiong]] with Tuyuhun, Tangut and Han Chinese troops, participated in a raid against the Uyghur khaganate that led to the slaughter of Uyghur forces at Shahu mountain.<ref>''Zizhi Tongjian'', [[:zh:s:資治通鑑/卷247|vol. 247]].</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzEUAgAAQBAJ&dq=843+shatuo&pg=PA32 | title=Governing China: 150-1850 | isbn=978-1-60384-447-5 | last1=Dardess | first1=John W. | date=10 September 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nSk7EAAAQBAJ&dq=843+shatuo&pg=PA173 | title=Warfare in Chinese History | isbn=978-90-04-48294-4 | last1=Ven | first1=Hans van de | date=26 July 2021 }}</ref>

[[File:Later Tang.png|thumb|The Turkic Later Tang dynasty]]

The [[Shatuo]] Turks had founded several short-lived [[sinicized]] dynasties in northern China during the [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period]] starting with Later Tang. The Shatuo chief Zhuye Chixin's family was adopted by the Tang dynasty and given the title prince of Jin and the Tang dynasty imperial surname of Li, which is why the Shatuo of Later Tang claimed to be restoring the Tang dynasty and not founding a new one. The official language of these dynasties was Chinese and they used Chinese titles and names. Some Shaotuo Turk emperors (of the Later Jin, Later Han and Northern Han) also claimed patrilineal Han Chinese ancestry.<ref>''Wudai Shi'', [http://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/舊五代史/卷75 ch. 75.] Considering the father was originally called Nieliji without a surname, the fact that his [[Patrilineality|patrilineal]] ancestors all had Chinese names here indicates that these names were probably all created posthumously after Shi Jingtang became a "Chinese" emperor. Shi Jingtang actually claimed to be a descendant of Chinese historical figures [[Shi Que]] and [[Shi Fen]], and insisted that his ancestors went westwards towards non-[[Han Chinese]] area during the political chaos at the end of the [[Han Dynasty]] in the early 3rd century.</ref><ref name="vol. 1">According to ''[[Old History of the Five Dynasties]]'', [[:zh:s:舊五代史/卷99|vol. 99]], and ''[[New History of the Five Dynasties]]'', [[:zh:s:新五代史/卷10|vol. 10]]. [[Liu Zhiyuan]] was of Shatuo origin. According to ''[[Wudai Huiyao]]'', [https://archive.org/stream/06049337.cn#page/n30/mode/2up vol. 1] Liu Zhiyuan's great-great-grandfather Liu Tuan (劉湍) (titled as Emperor Mingyuan posthumously, granted the temple name of Wenzu) descended from Liu Bing (劉昞), Prince of [[Kingdom of Huaiyang|Huaiyang]], a son of [[Emperor Ming of Han]]</ref><ref name=ancestry>According to ''[[Old History of the Five Dynasties]]'', [[:zh:s:舊五代史/卷99|vol. 99]], and ''[[New History of the Five Dynasties]]'', [[:zh:s:新五代史/卷10|vol. 10]]. [[Liu Zhiyuan]] was of Shatuo origin. According to ''[[Wudai Huiyao]]'', [https://archive.org/stream/06049337.cn#page/n30/mode/2up vol. 1] Liu Zhiyuan's great-great-grandfather Liu Tuan (劉湍) (titled as Emperor Mingyuan posthumously, granted the temple name of Wenzu) descended from Liu Bing (劉昞), Prince of Huaiyang, a son of [[Emperor Ming of Han]]</ref>

After the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907, the Shatuo Turks replaced them and created the [[Later Tang]] dynasty in 923. The Shatuo Turks ruled over a large part of northern China, including [[Beijing]]. They adopted Chinese names and united Turkic and Chinese traditions. Later Tang fell in 937 but the Shatuo rose to become a powerful faction of northern China. They created two other dynasties, including the [[Later Jin (Five Dynasties)|Later Jin]] and [[Later Han (Five Dynasties)|Later Han]] and [[Northern Han]] (Later Han and Northern Han were ruled by the same family, with the latter being a rump state of the former). The Shatuo Liu Zhiyuan was a Buddhist and he worshipped the [[Mengshan Giant Buddha]] in 945. The Shatuo dynasties were replaced by the Han Chinese [[Song dynasty]].<ref name="Theobald" /><ref>Mote, F.W.: ''Imperial China: 900–1800'', Harvard University Press, 1999</ref> The Shatuo became the [[Ongud]] Turks living in Inner Mongolia after the Song dynasty conquered the last Shatuo dynasty of Northern Han.<ref>''[[Song Lian]] et al., [[History of Yuan]]'', [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%85%83%E5%8F%B2/%E5%8D%B7118#%E9%98%BF%E5%89%8C%E5%85%80%E6%80%9D%E5%89%94%E5%90%89%E5%BF%BD%E9%87%8C%E3%80%88%E3%80%94%E9%97%8A%E9%87%8C%E5%90%89%E6%80%9D%E3%80%95%E3%80%89 "Vol. 118"] "阿剌兀思剔吉忽里，汪古部人，係出沙陀雁門之後。" Alawusi Tijihuli, a man of the Ongud tribe, descendant(s) of the [[Yanmen Pass|Wild Goose Pass]]'s Shatuo</ref><ref name="Paulillo, Mauricio 2013 pp. 237-252">Paulillo, Mauricio. "White Tatars: The Problem of the Öngũt conversion to Jingjiao and the Uighur Connection" in ''From the Oxus River to the Chinese Shores: Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia (orientalia - patristica - oecumenica)'' Ed. Tang, Winkler. (2013) pp. 237-252</ref> The Ongud assimilated to the Mongols.<ref name="Aristov">{{cite book| author = Аристов Н. А. | url = https://www.bulgari-istoria-2010.com/booksRu/Aristov-Trudy_po_istorii_i_etnicheskomu_sostavu_tiurkskih_plemen.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101151925/https://www.bulgari-istoria-2010.com/booksRu/Aristov-Trudy_po_istorii_i_etnicheskomu_sostavu_tiurkskih_plemen.pdf |archive-date=1 January 2017 | title = Труды по истории и этническому составу тюркских племен |location= Бишкек |date = 2003 |publisher= Илим | page = 103| url-status = usurped | isbn = 5-8355-1297-X}}</ref><ref name="Ochir">{{cite book| author = Очир А. | url = http://kigiran.com/sites/default/files/ochir_mongolskie_etnonimy.pdf |script-title=ru:Монгольские этнонимы: вопросы происхождения и этнического состава монгольских народов |editor=Э. П. Бакаева |editor2=К. В. Орлова |location= Элиста |date = 2016 |publisher= КИГИ РАН | pages = 133–135| isbn = 978-5-903833-93-1}}</ref><ref>Ozkan Izgi, "The ancient cultures of Central Asia and the relations with the Chinese civilization" ''The Turks'', Ankara, 2002, p. 98, {{ISBN|975-6782-56-0}}</ref><ref name="Paulillo, Mauricio 2013 pp. 237-252"/>

The Yenisei Kyrgyz allied with China to destroy the Uyghur Khaganate in the year 840 AD.<ref name="Haywood, John 1998" /><ref name="Theobald">{{cite web|url=http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/shatuo.html|title=Shatuo Türks 沙陀突厥 (www.chinaknowledge.de)|last=Theobald|first=Ulrich|website=chinaknowledge.de|language=en|access-date=30 April 2019}}</ref> From the [[Yenisei River]], the Kyrgyz pushed south and eastward in to Xinjiang and the [[Orkhon Valley]] in central Mongolia, leaving much of the Uyghur civilization in ruins.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mierse |first1=William E. |title=Artifacts from the Ancient Silk Road |date=31 December 2022 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-5829-1 |page=xlvii |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WQuXEAAAQBAJ&pg=PR47 |language=en}}</ref> Much of the Uyghur population relocated to the southwest of Mongolia, establishing the [[Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom]] in Gansu where their descendants are the modern day [[Yugurs]] and [[Qocho Kingdom]] in Turpan, Xinjiang.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Holdstock |first1=Nick |title=China's Forgotten People: Xinjiang, Terror and the Chinese State |date=13 June 2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78831-982-9 |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HcicDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA17 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Central Asia ===

==== Kangar union (659–750) ====
[[File:AD 659KangarUnion.png|thumb|left|Kangar Union after the fall of Western Turkic Khaganate, 659–750]]

The Kangar Union (''Qanghar Odaghu'') was a [[Turkic people|Turkic]] state in the former territory of the Western Turkic Khaganate (the entire present-day state of [[Kazakhstan]], without [[Jetisu|Zhetysu]]). The capital of the Kangar union was located in the Ulytau mountains. Among the Pechenegs, the '''Kangar'''{{NoteTag|For its etymology see [[Kangar union#Etymology]]}} formed the elite of the Pecheneg tribes. After being defeated by the [[Kipchaks]], [[Oghuz Turks]], and the [[Khazars]], they migrated west and defeated [[Magyars]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Róna-Tas |first1=András |title=Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages: An Introduction to Early Hungarian History |date=1 March 1999 |publisher=Central European University Press |isbn=978-963-386-572-9 |page=288 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4hZEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA288 |language=en}}</ref> and after forming an alliance with the [[Bulgars]], they defeated the [[Byzantine]] Army.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chaliand |first1=GŽrard |last2=Wong |first2=R. Bin |title=A Global History of War: From Assyria to the Twenty-First Century |date=17 November 2014 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-28360-2 |page=82 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w9gkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA82 |language=en}}</ref> The Pecheneg state was established by the 11th century and at its peak carried a population of over 2.5 million, composed of many different ethnic groups.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Melnyk |first1=Mykola |title=Byzantium and the Pechenegs: The Historiography of the Problem |date=2022 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-50522-3 |page=318 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FpxjEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA318 |language=en}}</ref>

The elite of the Kangar tribes are believed to have had an [[Indo-Iranians|Iranian]] origin,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adrianov |first1=Boris V. |last2=Mantellini |first2=Simone |title=Ancient Irrigation Systems of the Aral Sea Area: Ancient Irrigation Systems of the Aral Sea Area |date=31 December 2013 |publisher=Oxbow Books, Limited |isbn=978-1-78297-167-2 |page=238 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=is0nDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA238}} "The sedentary ruling stratum (the Kangar) was of Iranian origin" ... "The ruling elite spoke Iranian, whereas most of the population spoke Turkic with a significant admixture of Hunno-Bulgar elements."</ref> and they likely spoke an Iranian language,<ref>{{harvnb|Melnyk|2022|p=318|ps="According to Pritsak, the Pecheneg ruling elite (i.e the Kangar tribes) were Iranian speakers."}}</ref> while most of the Pecheneg population spoke a Turkic language, with a significant percentage speaking [[Hunno-Bulgar languages|Hunno-Bulgar]] dialects.

The Yatuks, a tribe within the Kangar state who could not accompany the Kangars as they migrated West, remained in the old lands, where they are known as the [[Kangly]] people, who are now part of the [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]], [[Kazakhs|Kazakh]], and [[Karakalpaks|Karakalpak]] tribes.<ref>Tolstoi V.P. ''Origin of the Karakalpak people''//KSIE, Moscow, 1947. p.75</ref>

==== Oghuz Yabgu State (766–1055) ====
[[File:AD 750OguzYabgu.png|thumb|right|Oghuz Yabgu State (c.750 CE)]]

The Oguz Yabgu State (''Oguz il'', meaning "Oguz Land", "Oguz Country")(750–1055) was a [[Turkic people|Turkic]] state, founded by [[Oghuz Turks]] in 766, located geographically in an area between the coasts of the [[Caspian Sea|Caspian]] and [[Aral Sea]]s. Oguz tribes occupied a vast territory in [[Kazakhstan]] along the [[Irgiz River (Kazakhstan)|Irgiz]], [[Yaik]], [[Emba River|Emba]], and [[Uil River|Uil]] rivers, the Aral Sea area, the [[Syr Darya]] valley, the foothills of the [[Karatau Mountains]] in [[Tian Shan|Tien-Shan]], and the [[Chui River]] valley (see map). The Oguz political association developed in the 9th and 10th centuries in the Syr Darya basin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tang |first1=Li |last2=Winkler |first2=Dietmar W. |title=Winds of Jingjiao: Studies on Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia |date=2016 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |isbn=978-3-643-90754-7 |page=223 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oI2CDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA223 |language=en}}</ref>

====Salar Oghuz migration====
The [[Salar people|Salars]] are descended from Turkmen who migrated from Central Asia and settled in a Tibetan area of Qinghai under Ming Chinese rule. The Salar ethnicity formed and underwent ethnogenesis from a process of male Turkmen migrants from Central Asia marrying [[Amdo]] [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]] women during the early Ming dynasty.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://hal.science/hal-03427697/document |first1=Erika |last1=Sandman|first2= Camille|last2= Simon|title=Tibetan as a "model language" in the Amdo Sprachbund: evidence from Salar and Wutun|journal= Journal of South Asian Languages and Linguistics|date=2016|volume= 3|issue=1|page=88|doi=10.1515/jsall-2016-0003 |s2cid=146919944 |id=hal-03427697}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.academia.edu/31665301 | title=Tibetan as a "model language" in the Amdo Sprachbund: Evidence from Salar and Wutun | journal=Journal of South Asian Languages and Linguistics | date=23 October 2023 | volume=3 | issue=1 | page=85 | last1=Sandman | first1=Erika | last2=Simon | first2=Camille | doi=10.1515/jsall-2016-0003 | s2cid=146919944 }}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/78563017.pdf|publisher= University of Helsinki|title= A Grammar of Wutun|degree =PhD Thesis. Department of World Cultures|first =Erika |last=Sandman|page= 15}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Han|first=Deyan|others=Ma Jianzhong and Kevin Stuart, translators|edition=2|editor1-last=Mostaert |editor1-first=Antoine |journal=Central Asiatic Journal |volume=43–44 |date=1999 |publisher=O. Harrassowitz |page=212 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8HZxAAAAMAAJ&q=,+with+the+exception+of+Hui+,+there+is+no+case+of+a+Salar%27s+daughter+marrying+a+non+-+Salar+.+On+the+contrary+,+many+non+-+Salar+females+married+into+Salar+households+.+As+folk+acounts+and+historical+records+recount+,+shortly+after+Salar+ancestors+reached+Xunhua+,+they+had+relation-+ships+with+neighbouring+Tibetans+through+marriage+.+Tibetan+women+primarily+married+into+Salar+males+%27+households+and+,+af-+terwards+,+brides+were+expected+to+convert+to |title=The Salar Khazui System}}</ref>

=== {{anchor|Islamic empires}}Iranian, Indian, Arabic, and Anatolian expansion ===
{{Main|Ghaznavids|Seljuk Empire|Delhi Sultanate|Mamluk Sultanate|Timurid Empire|Bahri dynasty|Deccan sultanates|Safavid Iran|Ottoman Empire|Mughal Empire|Afsharid dynasty}}

Turkic peoples and related groups migrated west from present-day [[Northeastern China]], [[Mongolia]], [[Siberia]] and the [[Turkestan]]-region towards the [[Iranian plateau]], South Asia, and [[Anatolia]] (modern Turkey) in many waves. The date of the initial expansion remains unknown.

==== Persia ====
===== Ghaznavid dynasty (977–1186) =====
[[File:Ghaznavid Empire 975 - 1187 (AD).PNG|thumb|right|Ghaznavid Empire at its greatest extent in 1030 CE]]
{{Main|Ghaznavids|Uzbeks}}

The '''Ghaznavid dynasty''' ({{langx|fa|غزنویان}} ''ġaznaviyān'') was a [[Persianate society|Persianate]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Böwering|first1=Gerhard|last2=Crone|first2=Patricia|last3=Mirza|first3=Mahan|title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought|date=1 January 2012|publisher=Princeton University Press|pages=410–411}}</ref> [[Muslim]] dynasty of Turkic ''[[mamluk]]'' origin,<ref>''Islamic Central Asia: an anthology of historical sources'',  Ed. Scott Cameron Levi and Ron Sela, (Indiana University Press, 2010), 83;''The Ghaznavids were a dynasty of Turkic slave-soldiers...'', [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/232579/Ghaznavid-dynasty "Ghaznavid Dynasty"] ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Jonathan M. Bloom, Sheila Blair, ''The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture'', Oxford University Press, 2009, Vol.2, p.163, [https://books.google.com/books?id=un4WcfEASZwC Online Edition], "Turkish dominated mamluk regiments...dynasty of mamluk origin (the GHAZNAVID line) carved out an empire..."</ref> at their greatest extent ruling large parts of [[Iran]], [[Afghanistan]], much of [[Transoxiana]] and the northwest [[Indian subcontinent]] (part of [[Pakistan]]) from 977 to 1186.<ref name="EIr">C.E. Bosworth: ''The Ghaznavids''. Edinburgh, 1963</ref><ref>[[Clifford Edmund Bosworth|C.E. Bosworth]], [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghaznavids "Ghaznavids"] in ''[[Encyclopaedia Iranica]]'', Online Edition 2006</ref><ref name="EIslam">[[Clifford Edmund Bosworth|C.E. Bosworth]], "Ghaznavids", in ''[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]'', Online Edition; Brill, Leiden; 2006/2007</ref> The dynasty was founded by [[Sabuktigin]] upon his succession to rule of the region of [[Ghazni Province|Ghazna]] after the death of his father-in-law, [[Alp Tigin]], who was a breakaway ex-general of the [[Samanid Empire]] from [[Balkh]], north of the [[Hindu Kush]] in [[Greater Khorasan]].<ref name="EB">Encyclopædia Britannica, [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9036676/Ghaznavid-Dynasty "Ghaznavid Dynasty"], Online Edition 2007</ref>

Although the dynasty was of [[Central Asian]] Turkic origin, it was thoroughly [[Persianised]] in terms of language, culture, literature and habits<ref>David Christian: ''A History of Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia''; Blackwell Publishing, 1998; pg. 370: "Though Turkic in origin [...] Alp Tegin, Sebuk Tegin, and Mahmud were all thoroughly Persianized".</ref><ref>J. Meri (Hg.), ''Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia'', "Ghaznavids", London u.a. 2006, p. 294.</ref><ref>[[Sydney Nettleton Fisher]] and [[William L. Ochsenwald|William Ochsenwald]], ''The Middle East: a history: Volume 1'', (McGraw-Hill, 1997).</ref><ref>Meisami, Julie Scott, ''Persian historiography to the end of the twelfth century'', (Edinburgh University Press, 1999), 143.</ref> and hence is regarded by some as a "Persian dynasty".<ref>B. Spuler, "The Disintegration of the Caliphate in the East", in the ''Cambridge History of Islam'', Vol. IA: ''The Central islamic Lands from Pre-Islamic Times to the First World War'', ed. by P.M. Holt, Ann K.S. Lambton, and Bernard Lewis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970). pg 147.</ref>

===== Seljuk Empire (1037–1194) =====
{{Main|Seljuk Empire}}

[[File:Seljuk Empire locator map.svg|thumb|right|A map showing the Seljuk Empire at its height, upon the death of Malik Shah I in 1092.]]

The '''Seljuk Empire''' ({{langx|fa|آل سلجوق|translit=Āl-e Saljuq|lit=House of Saljuq}}) or the '''Great Seljuq Empire'''<ref>* A. C. S. Peacock, ''Great Seljuk Empire'', (Edinburgh University Press, 2015), 1–378.
* Christian Lange; Songül Mecit, eds., ''Seljuqs: Politics, Society and Culture'' (Edinburgh University Press, 2012), 1–328.
* P.M. Holt; Ann K.S. Lambton, Bernard Lewis, ''The Cambridge History of Islam (Volume IA): The Central Islamic Lands from Pre-Islamic Times to the First World War'', (Cambridge University Press, 1977), 151, 231–234.</ref>{{sfn|Mecit|2014|page=128}}{{sfn|Peacock|Yıldız|2013|page=6}} was a [[high medieval]] [[Turko-Persian tradition|Turko-Persian]]<ref>* "Aḥmad of Niǧde's ''al-Walad al-Shafīq'' and the Seljuk Past", A. C. S. Peacock, ''Anatolian Studies'', Vol. 54, (2004), 97.
* Meisami, Julie Scott, ''Persian Historiography to the End of the Twelfth Century'', (Edinburgh University Press, 1999), 143.
* ''[[Encyclopaedia Iranica]]'', "[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sahrbanu Šahrbānu]", Online Edition.
* [[Josef W. Meri]], ''Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia'', Routledge, 2005, p.&nbsp;399.
* [[Michael Mandelbaum]], ''Central Asia and the World'', [[Council on Foreign Relations]] (May 1994), p.&nbsp;79.
* Jonathan Dewald, ''Europe 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World'', Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004, p. 24.
* [[Grousset, Rene]], ''The Empire of the Steppes'', (Rutgers University Press, 1991), 161, 164.
*  Wendy M. K. Shaw, ''Possessors and possessed: museums, archaeology, and the visualization of history in the late Ottoman Empire''. University of California Press, 2003, {{ISBN|0-520-23335-2}}, {{ISBN|978-0-520-23335-5}}; p.&nbsp;5.</ref> [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslim]] [[empire]], originating from the [[Kınık (tribe)|Qiniq]] branch of [[Oghuz Turks]].<ref>* {{cite journal |last=Jackson |first = P. |year=2002 |title = Review: The History of the Seljuq Turkmens: The History of the Seljuq Turkmens |journal=Journal of Islamic Studies |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=75–76 |doi=10.1093/jis/13.1.75 |publisher=[[Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies]] }}
* Bosworth, C. E. (2001). 0Notes on Some Turkish Names in Abu 'l-Fadl Bayhaqi's Tarikh-i Mas'udi". ''Oriens'', Vol. 36, 2001 (2001), pp. 299–313.
* Dani, A. H., Masson, V. M. (Eds), Asimova, M. S. (Eds), Litvinsky, B. A. (Eds), Boaworth, C. E. (Eds). (1999). ''History of Civilizations of Central Asia''. [[Motilal Banarsidass Publishers]] (Pvt. Ltd).
* [[Ian Hancock|Hancock, I.]] (2006). ''On Romani origins and identity''. The Romani Archives and Documentation Center. [[The University of Texas at Austin]].
* Asimov, M. S., Bosworth, C. E. (eds.). (1998). ''History of Civilizations of Central Asia'', Vol. IV: "The Age of Achievement: AD 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century", Part One: "The Historical, Social and Economic Setting". Multiple History Series. Paris: UNESCO Publishing.
* Dani, A. H., Masson, V. M. (Eds), Asimova, M. S. (Eds), Litvinsky, B. A. (Eds), Boaworth, C. E. (Eds). (1999). ''History of Civilizations of Central Asia''. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers (Pvt. Ltd).</ref> At its greatest extent, the Seljuk Empire controlled a vast area stretching from western [[Anatolia]] and the [[Levant]] to the [[Hindu Kush]] in the east, and from [[Central Asia]] to the [[Persian Gulf]] in the south.

The Seljuk empire was founded by [[Tughril Beg]] (1016–1063) and his brother [[Chaghri Beg]] (989–1060) in 1037. From their homelands near the [[Aral Sea]], the Seljuks advanced first into [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] and then into mainland [[Persia]], before eventually conquering eastern Anatolia. Here the Seljuks won the [[battle of Manzikert]] in 1071 and conquered most of Anatolia from the [[Byzantine Empire]], which became one of the reasons for the [[First Crusade]] (1095–1099). From c. 1150–1250, the Seljuk empire declined, and was invaded by the [[Mongol Empire|Mongols]] around 1260. The Mongols divided Anatolia into [[emirate]]s. Eventually one of these, the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]], would conquer the rest.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Antov |first1=Nikolay |title=The Ottoman 'Wild West': The Balkan Frontier in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries |date=28 December 2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-316-86553-8 |pages=15–18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rAVADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 |language=en}}</ref>

===== Timurid Empire (1370–1507) =====

[[File:Timur Empire.jpg|thumb|right|Map of the Timurid Empire at its greatest extent under Timur.]] {{Main|Timurid Empire}}

The [[Timurid Empire]] was a Turko-Mongol empire founded in the late 14th century through military conquests led by [[Timurlane]]. The establishment of a cosmopolitan empire was followed by the [[Timurid Renaissance]], a period of local enrichment in [[mathematics]], [[astronomy]], [[architecture]], as well as newfound economic growth.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Formica |first1=Piero |title=Entrepreneurial Renaissance: Cities Striving Towards an Era of Rebirth and Revival |date=5 April 2017 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-52660-7 |page=18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EOycDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA18 |language=en}}</ref> The cultural progress of the Timurid period ended as soon as the empire collapsed in the early 16th century, leaving many intellecuals and artists to turn elsewhere in search of employment.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blair |first1=Ann |last2=Duguid |first2=Paul |last3=Goeing |first3=Anja-Silvia |last4=Grafton |first4=Anthony |title=Information: A Historical Companion |date=26 January 2021 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-17954-4 |page=36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ysHyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |language=en}}</ref>

===== Central Asian khanates (1501–1920) =====
{{Main|Khanate of Bukhara|Khanate of Khiva|Khanate of Kokand|Emirate of Bukhara}}
[[File:Mongolia in 1636.svg|thumb|Central Asia in 1636]]
The [[Bukhara Khanate]] was an Uzbek<ref>Peter B.Golden (2011) ''Central Asia in World History'', p.115</ref> state that existed from 1501 to 1785. The khanate was ruled by three dynasties of the [[Shaybanids]], Janids and the Uzbek dynasty of Mangits. In 1785, [[Shahmurad]], formalized the family's dynastic rule ([[Manghit]] dynasty), and the khanate became the [[Emirate of Bukhara]] (1785–1920).<ref>[[Svat Soucek|Soucek, Svat]]. ''A History of Inner Asia'' (2000), p. 180.</ref> In 1710, the Kokand Khanate (1710–1876) separated from the Bukhara Khanate. In 1511–1920, [[Khwarazm]] (Khiva Khanate) was ruled by the Arabshahid dynasty and the Uzbek dynasty of Kungrats.<ref>Bregel, Y. The new Uzbek states: Bukhara, Khiva and Khoqand: C. 1750–1886. In N. Di Cosmo, A. Frank, & P. Golden (Eds.), The Cambridge History of Inner Asia: The Chinggisid Age (pp. 392–411). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2009</ref>

===== Afsharid dynasty (1736–1796) =====
The [[Afsharid dynasty]] was named after the Turkic Afshar tribe to which they belonged. The Afshars had migrated from [[Turkestan]] to [[Azerbaijan]] in the 13th century. The dynasty was founded in 1736 by the military commander [[Nader Shah]] who deposed the last member of the [[Safavid dynasty]] and proclaimed himself King of [[Iran]]. Nader belonged to the Qereqlu branch of the Afshars.<ref>''Cambridge History of Iran'' Volume 7, pp. 2–4</ref> During Nader's reign, Iran reached its greatest extent since the [[Sassanid Empire]].

===== Qajar dynasty (1789–1925) =====
The Qajar dynasty was created by the Turkic [[Qajars (tribe)|Qajar tribe]], ruling over Iran from 1789 to 1925.<ref name="autogenerated1">Abbas Amanat, ''The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896'', I. B. Tauris, pp 2–3.</ref><ref>Choueiri, Youssef M., ''A companion to the history of the Middle East'', (Blackwell Ltd., 2005), 231,516.</ref> The Qajar family took full control of Iran in 1794, deposing [[Lotf 'Ali Khan]], the last [[Shah]] of the [[Zand dynasty]], and re-asserted Iranian sovereignty over large parts of the [[Caucasus]]. In 1796, [[Mohammad Khan Qajar]] seized [[Mashhad]] with ease,<ref>{{cite book |title=Muslim World|last1=H. Scheel|last2=Jaschke|first2=Gerhard|last3=H. Braun|last4= Spuler|first4=Bertold|last5=T Koszinowski|last6=Bagley|first6=Frank|year=1981|publisher=Brill Archive|isbn=978-90-04-06196-5 |pages=65, 370|access-date=28 September 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VNgUAAAAIAAJ}}</ref> putting an end to the [[Afsharid dynasty]], and Mohammad Khan was formally crowned as Shah after his [[Battle of Krtsanisi|punitive campaign against Iran's Georgian subjects]].<ref name="books.google.nl">[[Michael Axworthy]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=k9HyyYrPIGgC&dq=agha+mohammad+khan+conquer+georgia&pg=PT192 ''Iran: Empire of the Mind: A History from Zoroaster to the Present Day''], Penguin UK, 6 November 2008. {{ISBN|0-14-190341-4}}</ref> In the Caucasus, the Qajar dynasty permanently lost many of Iran's integral areas{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=330}} to the [[Imperial Russia|Russians]] over the course of the 19th century, comprising modern-day [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Dagestan]], [[Azerbaijan]] and [[Armenia]].<ref name="Timothy C. Dowling pp 729">Timothy C. Dowling. [https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&dq=russo+persian+war+1804-1813&pg=PA728 ''Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond''], pp 728–730 ABC-CLIO, 2 December 2014 {{ISBN|1-59884-948-4}}</ref> The dynasty was founded by [[Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar]] and continued until [[Ahmad Shah Qajar]].

==== South Asia ====
{{Multiple image|align=left|direction=vertical|image1=The Padshahnama, Jahangir presents Prince Khuram with a turban ornament.jpg||caption1=[[Mughal Emperor]] [[Jahangir]] presents [[Prince Khurram]] with a turban ornament.}}
{{Multiple image|align=right|direction=vertical|image2=Humayun (left) with his father Babur (right), painted circa 1640 (Late Shah Jahan Album).jpg||caption2=[[Babur]], founder of the [[Mughal Empire]] and Mughal emperor [[Humayun]].}}
The [[Delhi Sultanate]] is a term used to cover five short-lived, [[Delhi]]-based kingdoms, two of which were of Turkic origins: the [[Mamluk dynasty (Delhi)|Mamluk dynasty]] (1206–1290) and the [[Tughlaq dynasty]] (1320–1414). [[Southern India]] saw rise of the [[Qutb Shahi dynasty]], one of the [[Deccan sultanates]].
The [[Mughal Empire]] was a Turko-Mongol empire that, at its greatest territorial extent, ruled most of South Asia, including [[Afghanistan]], Pakistan, India, [[Bangladesh]] and parts of [[Uzbekistan]] from the early 16th to the early 18th centuries. The Mughal dynasty was founded by a [[Turko-Mongol tradition|Turko-Mongol]] prince named [[Babur]] (reigned 1526–1530), who was descended from [[Timur]] (Tamerlane) on his father's side and from Chagatai, second son of the [[Mongol]] ruler [[Genghis Khan]], on his mother's side.<ref name="Mughal Dynasty">''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' article:[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9054153/Mughal-Dynasty Mughal Dynasty]</ref><ref>[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] Article:[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9011614/Babur Babur]</ref> A further distinction was the attempt of the Mughals to integrate Hindus and Muslims into a united Indian state.<ref name="Mughal Dynasty" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/taj_mahal/tlevel_1/t1_mughal.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000530225415/http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/taj_mahal/tlevel_1/t1_mughal.html|archive-date=30 May 2000|title=the Mughal dynasty|website=[[PBS]]|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/mogul/|title=Kamat's Potpourri|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref><ref>Babur: Encyclopædia Britannica [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9011614/Babur Article]</ref>

==== Arab world ====
[[File:Dirham of al-Muttaqi.jpg|thumb|Silver ''[[dirham]]'' of [[Hijri year|AH]] 329 (940/941 CE), with the names of Caliph [[al-Muttaqi]] and Amir al-umara [[Bajkam]] (de facto ruler of the country)]]

The Arab Muslim [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyads]] and [[Abbasids]] fought against the pagan Turks in the [[Türgesh]] Khaganate in the [[Muslim conquest of Transoxiana]]. Turkic soldiers in the army of the [[Abbasids|Abbasid]] [[Caliphate|caliphs]] emerged as the de facto rulers of most of the Muslim Middle East (apart from [[Syria]] and [[Egypt]]), particularly after the 10th century. Examples of regional de facto independent states include the short lived [[Tulunids]] and [[Ikhshidid dynasty|Ikhshidids]] in Egypt. The [[Oghuz Turks|Oghuz]] and other tribes captured and dominated various countries under the leadership of the [[Seljuk Turks|Seljuk dynasty]] and eventually captured the territories of the Abbasid dynasty and the [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref name="Carter V. Findley" />

==== Anatolia – Ottomans ====
{{Multiple image|align=left|direction=vertical|image1=OttomanEmpireIn1683.png||caption1= Ottoman empire in 1683}}
After many battles, the western [[Oghuz Turks]] established their own state and later constructed the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The main migration of the Oghuz Turks occurred in medieval times, when they spread across most of Asia and into Europe and the Middle East.<ref name="Carter V. Findley">Carter V. Findley, ''The Turks in World History'' (Oxford University Press, October 2004) {{ISBN|0-19-517726-6}}</ref> They also took part in the military encounters of the [[Crusades]].<ref>Moses Parkson, "Ottoman Empire and its past life" p. 98</ref> In 1090–91, the Turkic Pechenegs reached the walls of [[Constantinople]], where Emperor [[Alexios I Komnenos|Alexius I]] with the aid of the Kipchaks annihilated their army.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/egfroth1/Pechenegs |title=The Pechenegs |access-date=27 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027115640/http://www.geocities.com/egfroth1/Pechenegs |archive-date=27 October 2009 }}, Steven Lowe and Dmitriy V. Ryaboy</ref>

As the [[Seljuk Empire]] declined following the [[Mongol invasions|Mongol invasion]], the [[Ottoman Empire]] emerged as the new important Turkic state, that came to dominate not only the Middle East, but even southeastern Europe, parts of southwestern Russia, and northern Africa.<ref name="Carter V. Findley" />

==== Islamization ====
Turkic peoples like the [[Karluks]] (mainly 8th century), [[Uyghur Khaganate#Successors|Uyghurs]], [[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]], [[Turkmens]], and [[Kipchaks]] later came into contact with [[Muslim]]s, and most of them gradually adopted [[Islam]]. Some groups of Turkic people practice other religions, including their original animistic-shamanistic religion, [[Christianity]], [[Burkhanism]], [[Judaism]] ([[Khazars]], [[Krymchaks]], [[Crimean Karaites]]), [[Buddhism]], and a small number of [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrians]].

=== Modern history ===
[[File:Map of Independent Turkic countries.svg|thumb|upright=1.55|alt=Map highlighting present-day Turkic countries|Independent Turkic states shown in red]]
The Ottoman Empire gradually grew weaker in the face of poor administration, repeated wars with [[Imperial Russia|Russia]], Austria and Hungary, and the [[emergence of nationalist movements in the Balkans]], and it finally gave way after World War I to the present-day [[Republic of Turkey]].<ref name="Carter V. Findley" />
Ethnic nationalism also developed in Ottoman Empire during the 19th century, taking the form of [[Pan-Turkism]] or [[Turanism]].

The Turkic peoples of Central Asia were not organized in nation-states during most of the 20th century, after the collapse of the [[Russian Empire]] living either in the Soviet Union or (after a short-lived [[First East Turkestan Republic]]) in the [[Republic of China (1912–49)|Chinese Republic]]. For much of the 20th century, Turkey was the only independent Turkic country.<ref>{{cite book |title=Cultura Turcica |date=1964 |publisher=Türk Kültürünü Araştırma Enstitüsü |page=155 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fDTVAAAAMAAJ |language=en}} "But the only countries that make full use of the economic potential of the Turkish World -with the exception of the only independent country of this area, namely Turkey- are Soviet Russia and China."</ref>

In 1991, after the disintegration of the [[Soviet Union]], five Turkic states gained their independence. These were [[Azerbaijan]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Turkmenistan]], and [[Uzbekistan]]. Other Turkic regions such as [[Tatarstan]], [[Tuva]], and [[Sakha Republic|Yakutia]] remained in the [[Russian Federation]]. [[Chinese Turkestan]] remained part of the [[People's Republic of China]]. Immediately after the independence of the Turkic states, Turkey began seeking diplomatic relations with them. Over time political meetings between the Turkic countries increased and led to the establishment of [[International Organization of Turkic Culture|TÜRKSOY]] in 1993 and the [[Turkic Council]] in 2009, which later was renamed [[Organization of Turkic States]] in 2021.<ref>{{cite web |title=Turkic Council's name changed to Organization of Turkic States |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/turkic-council-s-name-changed-to-organization-of-turkic-states/2419633 |website=www.aa.com.tr}}</ref>

==Physiognomy==
According to historians Joo-Yup Lee and Shuntu Kuang, Chinese official histories do not depict Turkic peoples as belonging to a single uniform entity called "Turks".{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=228}} However "Chinese histories also depict the Turkic-speaking peoples as typically possessing East/Inner Asian [[physiognomy]], as well as occasionally having West Eurasian physiognomy."{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=228}} According to "fragmentary information on the Xiongnu language that can be found in the Chinese histories, the Xiongnu were Turkic",{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=199}} however historians have been unable to confirm whether or not they were Turkic. [[Sima Qian]]'s description of their legendary origins suggest their physiognomy was "not too different from that of... Han (漢) Chinese population",{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=199}} but a subset of Xiongnu known as the [[Jie people]] were described having "deep-set eyes", "high nose bridges" and "heavy facial hair".{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=199}} The Jie may have been [[Yeniseian people|Yeniseian]], although others maintaining an [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] affiliation, and regardless of whether or not the Xiongnu were Turkic, they were a hybrid people.{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=228-229}} According to the ''[[Old Book of Tang]]'', [[Ashina Simo]] "was not given a high military post by the Ashina rulers because of his Sogdian (''huren'' 胡人) physiognomy."{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=201}} The [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] historian [[Yan Shigu]] described the Hu people of his day as "blue-eyed and red bearded"{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=202}} descendants of the [[Wusun]], whereas "no comparable depiction of the Kök Türks or Tiele is found in the official Chinese histories."{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=202}}

[[File:Turk Shahi portrait. King Sri Ranasrikari. Late 7th to early 8th century CE.jpg|thumb|An early [[Turk Shahi]] ruler named Sri Ranasrikari "The Lord who brings excellence through war" ([[Brahmi script]]). In this realistic portrait, he wears the Turkic double-lapel [[caftan]]. Late 7th to early 8th century CE.<ref>Göbl 1967, 254; Vondrovec tyre 254</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/coins/coin101?language=en |title=The Countenance of the other| last1 = Alram | first1 = Michael| last2 = Filigenzi | first2 = Anna | last3 = Kinberger | first3 = Michaela | last4 = Nell | first4 = Daniel | last5 = Pfisterer | first5 = Matthias | last6 = Vondrovec | first6 = Klaus |newspaper=Pro.geo.univie.ac.at |publisher=Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna |access-date= 16 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="KHM13">{{cite web |url=http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase13?language=en |title= The Countenance of the other (The Coins of the Huns and Western Turks in Central Asia and India) 2012–2013 exhibit: 13. THE TURK SHAHIS IN KABULISTAN | last1 = Alram | first1 = Michael| last2 = Filigenzi | first2 = Anna | last3 = Kinberger | first3 = Michaela | last4 = Nell | first4 = Daniel | last5 = Pfisterer | first5 = Matthias | last6 = Vondrovec | first6 = Klaus |newspaper=Pro.geo.univie.ac.at |publisher=Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna |access-date= 16 July 2017}}</ref>]]

Historian [[Peter Benjamin Golden|Peter Golden]] has reported that genetic testing of the proposed descendants of the Ashina tribe does seem to confirm a link to the [[Indo-Iranians]], emphasizing that "''the Turks as a whole 'were made up of heterogeneous and somatically dissimilar populations'''".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Golden |first1=Peter |date=2018 |title=The Ethnogonic Tales of the Türks |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0971945818775373?journalCode=mhja |journal= The Medieval History Journal|volume=21 |issue=2 |page=314 |doi=10.1177/0971945818775373 |s2cid=166026934|url-access=subscription }} "Some DNA tests point to the Iranian connections of the Ashina and Ashide,133 highlighting further that the Turks as a whole 'were made up of heterogeneous and somatically dissimilar populations'.134"</ref> Historian [[:tr:Emel Esin|Emel Esin]] and Professor [[Xue Zongzheng]] have argued that West Eurasian features were typical of the royal [[Ashina tribe|Ashina clan]] of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate and that their appearance shifted to an East Asian one due to intermarriage with foreign nobility. As a result, by the time of [[Bust of Kul Tigin|Kul Tigin]] (684 AD), members of the Ashina dynasty had East Asian features.<ref name="Wang2018">{{cite book |last1=Wang |first1=Penglin |title=Linguistic Mysteries of Ethnonyms in Inner Asia |date=2018 |publisher=Lexington |isbn=978-1-4985-3528-1 |page=190 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mOdRDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA190}}</ref><ref name="Esin1980">{{cite book |last1=Esin |first1=Emel |title=A History of Pre-Islamic and Early-Islamic Turkish Culture|date=1980 |publisher=Ünal Matbaasi |location=Istanbul |page=116}} "The Chinese sources of the [[Göktürk|Kök-Türk]] period describe the turcophone Kirgiz with green eyes and red hair. They must have been in majority Europeoids although intermarriages with the Chinese had begun long ago. The Kök-Türk kagan [[Muqan Qaghan|Mu-kan]] was also depicted with blue eyes and an elongated ruddy face. Probably as a result of the repeated marriages, the members of the Kök-Türk dynasty (pl. XLVII/a), and particularly [[Kul Tigin|Köl Tigin]], had frankly Mongoloid features. Perhaps in the hope of finding an occasion to claim rulership over China, or because the high birth of the mother warranted seniority, the Inner Asian monarchs sought alliances165 with dynasties reigning in China."</ref> A 2023 genetic study found that [[Empress Ashina]] (568–578 AD), a Royal Göktürk, had nearly entirely [[Ancient Northeast Asian]] origin, weakening the "western Eurasian origin and multiple origin hypotheses".<ref name="Yang 2023"/> Lee and Kuang believe it is likely "early and medieval Turkic peoples themselves did not form a homogeneous entity and that some of them, non-Turkic by origin, had become Turkicised at some point in history."{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=226}} They also suggest that many modern Turkic-speaking populations are not directly descended from early Turkic peoples.{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=226}} Lee and Kuang concluded that "both medieval Chinese histories and modern DNA studies point to the fact that the early and medieval Turkic peoples were made up of heterogeneous and somatically dissimilar populations."{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=198}}

Like Chinese historians, Medieval Muslim writers generally depicted the Turks as having an East Asian appearance.{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=207}} Unlike Chinese historians, Medieval Muslim writers used the term "Turk" broadly to refer to not only Turkic-speaking peoples but also various non-Turkic speaking peoples,{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=207}} such as the [[Hephthalites]], [[Rus' people|Rus]], [[Hungarians|Magyars]], and [[Tibetans]]. In the 13th century, [[Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani|Juzjani]] referred to the people of Tibet and the mountains between Tibet and Bengal as "Turks" and "people with Turkish features."<ref name="Wink2002">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uQ7k2vQlYxEC&pg=PA69|title=Al-Hind: The Slavic Kings and the Islamic conquest, 11th–13th centuries|author=André Wink|publisher=BRILL|year=2002|isbn=978-0-391-04174-5|pages=68–69|quote=Even then, the term 'Turk' was still applied in a loose sense, and we find for instance the Magyars (Majghari) or the Rus described as Turks by the same Muslim writers.70 And this is a fact which cannot be explained by assuming that these were people who were under the rule of the Turks, or, in other words, by assuming that the word is always used as a political-territorial ethnonym.71 Tibetans are also frequently confused with Turks, for instance by Al-Biruni, who speaks of 'Turks from Tibet' and 'Turks of Tibetan origin' }}</ref> Medieval Arab and Persian descriptions of Turks state that they looked strange from their perspective and were extremely physically different from Arabs. Turks were described as "broad faced people with small eyes", having light-colored, often reddish hair, and with pink skin,<ref name="AmitaiBiran2005">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s9EmAQAAMAAJ&q=One+of+the+issues+that+most+occupied+the+travelers+was+the+physiognomy+of+the+Turks.+Both+mentally+and+physically,+Turks+appeared+to+the+Arab+authors+as+very+different+from+themselves|title=Mongols, Turks, and Others: Eurasian Nomads and the Sedentary World|author1=Reuven Amitai|author2=Michal Biran|publisher=Brill|year=2005|isbn=978-90-04-14096-7|pages=222–223}}: "One of the issues that most occupied the travelers was the physiognomy of the Turks.120 Both mentally and physically, Turks appeared to the Arab authors as very different from themselves.121 The shape of these "broad faced people with small eyes" and their physique impressed the travelers crossing the Eurasian lands." "According to this explanation: Because of the Turks' distance from the course of the sun and from the sun's rising and descending, the snow in their lands is abundant and coldness and humidity dominate it. This caused the bodies of this land's inhabitants to become mellow and their epidermis thick.124 Their sleek hair is spare and its colour is pale with an inclination to red. Due to the cold weather of their surroundings, coldness dominates their temper. In effect, the cold climate breeds abundant flesh. The arctic temperature compresses the heat and makes it visible. This gives them their pink skin. It is noticeable among the people who have bulky bodies and pale colour. Whilst a chilly wind hits them, their faces, lips, fingers and legs became red. This is because while they were warm their blood expanded, and then the cold temperature caused it to amass."</ref> as being "short, with small eyes, nostrils, and mouths" ([[Sharaf al-Zaman al-Marwazi]]), as being "full-faced with small eyes" ([[Al-Tabari]]), as possessing "a large head (''sar-i buzurg''), a broad face (''rūy-i pahn''), narrow eyes (''chashmhā-i tang''), and a flat nose (''bīnī-i pakhch''), and unpleasing lips and teeth (''lab va dandān na nīkū'')" ([[Keikavus (Ziyarid)|Keikavus]]).<ref name="Lee & Kuang 2017">Lee & Kuang (2017) "A Comparative Analysis of Chinese Historical Sources and Y-DNA Studies with Regard to the Early and Medieval Turkic Peoples", Inner Asia 19. p. 207-208 of 197–239 Quote: "The Chinese histories also depict the Turkic-speaking peoples as typically possessing East/Inner Asian physiognomy, as well as occasionally having West Eurasian physiognomy. DNA studies corroborate such characterisation of the Turkic peoples."</ref> On [[Western Turkic Khaganate|Western Turkic]] coins "the faces of the governor and governess are clearly Mongoloid (a roundish face, narrow eyes), and the portrait have definite old Türk features (long hair, absence of headdress of the governor, a tricorn headdress of the governess)".<ref name="Babayar2013">{{cite journal|last= Babayar|first=Gaybulla|title= The Imperial Titles on the Coins of the Western Turkic Qaghanate|journal= History of Central Asia in Modern Medieval Studies|page= 331|year= 2013|location= Tashkent|publisher= Yangi Nashr|url= https://www.academia.edu/8860030}}</ref> [[File:Portrait from the Palace courtroom, Lashkari Bazar.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Ghaznavid]] portrait, Palace of [[Lashkari Bazar]]. [[Daniel Schlumberger|Schlumberger]] noted that the [[turban]], the small mouth and the strongly slanted eyes were characteristically Turkic.<ref name="jstor.org"/>]] In the [[Ghaznavids]]' residential palace of [[Lashkari Bazar]], there survives a partially conserved portrait depicting a turbaned and haloed adolescent figure with full cheeks, slanted eyes, and a small, sinuous mouth.<ref name="jstor.org">{{cite journal |last1=Schlumberger |first1=Daniel |title=Le Palais ghaznévide de Lashkari Bazar |journal=Syria |date=1952 |volume=29 |issue=3/4 |page=263 & 267|doi=10.3406/syria.1952.4789 |jstor=4390312  |issn=0039-7946}}</ref> The Armenian historian [[Movses Kaghankatvatsi]] describes the Turks of the [[Western Turkic Khaganate]] as "broad-faced, without eyelashes, and with long flowing hair like women".<ref>Movses 105.</ref>

[[Al-Masudi]] writes that the [[Oghuz Turks]] in Yengi-kent near the mouth of the [[Syr Darya]] "are distinguished from other Turks by their valour, their slanted eyes, and the smallness of their stature."{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=207}} Later Muslim writers noted a change in the physiognomy of Oghuz Turks. According to [[Rashid al-Din Hamadani]], "because of the climate their features gradually changed into those of Tajiks. Since they were not Tajiks, the Tajik peoples called them ''turkmān'', i.e. Turk-like (''Turk-mānand'')." Ḥāfiẓ Tanīsh Mīr Muḥammad Bukhārī also related that the Oghuz' 'Turkic face did not remain as it was' after their migration into [[Transoxiana]] and [[Iran]]. [[Khanate of Khiva|Khiva]] khan [[Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur]] wrote in his [[Chagatai language]] treatise ''[[Shajara-i Tarākima]]'' (Genealogy of the Turkmens) that "their chin started to become narrow, their eyes started to become large, their faces started to become small, and their noses started to become big' after five or six generations". Ottoman historian [[Mustafa Âlî]] commented in ''Künhüʾl-aḫbār'' that Anatolian Turks and Ottoman elites are ethnically mixed: "Most of the inhabitants of [[Rûm]] are of confused ethnic origin. Among its notables there are few whose lineage does not go back to a convert to Islam."<ref>Lee & Kuang (2017) "A Comparative Analysis of Chinese Historical Sources and Y-DNA Studies with Regard to the Early and Medieval Turkic Peoples", Inner Asia 19. p. 208 of 197–239</ref>

Kevin Alan Brook states that like "most nomadic Turks, the Western Turkic [[Khazars]] were racially and ethnically mixed."{{sfn|Brook|2018|p=3}} [[Istakhri]] described Khazars as having black hair while [[Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi]] described them as having blue eyes, light skin, and reddish hair. Istakhri mentions that there were "Black Khazars" and "White Khazars." Most scholars believe these were political designations: black being lower class while white being higher class. Constantin Zuckerman argues that these "had physical and racial differences and explained that they stemmed from the merger of the Khazars with the Barsils."{{sfn|Brook|2018|p=4}} [[Old East Slavic]] sources called the Khazars the "White Ugry" and the Magyars the "Black Ugry."{{sfn|Brook|2018|p=5}} Soviet excavated Khazar remains show Slavic-type, European-type, and a minority Mongoloid-type skulls.{{sfn|Brook|2018|p=4}}

The [[Yenisei Kyrgyz]] are mentioned in the ''[[New Book of Tang]]'' as having the same script and language as the [[Uyghur Khaganate|Uyghurs]] but "The people are all tall and
big and have red hair, white faces, and green eyes."{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=204}}{{NoteTag|9th-century author [[Duan Chengshi]] described the Kyrgyz tribe (''Jiankun buluo'' 堅昆部落) as "yellow-haired, green-eyed, red-mustached [and red-]bearded".<ref>''Youyang Zazu'' [https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=223410 "vol. 4"] txt: "堅昆部落 [...] 其人髮黃,  目綠,  赤髭髯"</ref> [[New Book of Tang]] (finished in 1060) describes [[Alat tribe|Alats]], a medieval Turkic people, as resembling Kyrgyzes<ref>''Xin Tangshu'', [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%96%B0%E5%94%90%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7217%E4%B8%8B "vol. 217b"] txt: "又有駁馬者，或曰弊剌，曰遏羅支，[...] 人貌多似結骨，而語不相通。" tr: "There are also Piebald-Horse folk, also called either Bila or Eluozhi [...]. [Those] peoples' faces much resemble Kyrghyzes', yet the languages are not mutually intelligible."</ref> who were "all tall, red-haired, pale-faced, green-irised";<ref>Xin Tangshu, "vol. 217b", txt: "黠戛斯，古堅昆國也。[...] 或曰居勿，曰結骨。 [...] 人皆長大，赤髮、皙面、綠瞳"</ref> New Book of Tang also states that Kyrgyzes regarded black hair as "infelicitous" and insisted that black-eyed individuals were descendants of [[Han dynasty|Han]] general [[Li Ling]].<ref>''Xin Tangshu'', "vol. 217b", txt: "以黑髮為不祥。黑瞳者，必曰陵苗裔也"</ref>}} The ''New Book of Tang'' also states that the neighboring Boma tribe resembled the Kyrgyz but their language was different, which may imply the Kyrgyz were originally a non-Turkic people, who were later Turkicized through inter-tribal marriages.{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=204}} According to [[Gardizi]], the Kyrgyz were mixed with "Saqlabs" (Slavs), which explains the red hair and white skin among the Kyrgyz, while the ''New Book'' states that the Kyrgyz "intermixed with the Dingling."{{sfn|Brook|2018|p=3-4}}{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=204-205}} The Kyrgyz "regarded those with black eyes as descending from [Li] Ling," a [[Han dynasty]] general who defected to the Xiongnu.{{sfn|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=215}}

In a Chinese legal statute from the early period of the [[Ming dynasty]], the [[Kipchaks]] are described as having blond hair and [[blue]] eyes. It also states that they had a "vile" and "peculiar" appearance, and that some Chinese people would not want to marry them.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jaschok |first1=Maria |title=The history of women's mosques in Chinese Islam: a mosque of their own |date=2013 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=978-1-136-83880-4 |page=73 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KV9UAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA73}} ""....''Qincha'' have yellow hair and blue eyes' (''Ming Lu Ji Jue Fu Li'', Vol. 6, 1969 copy)."</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Weiner |first1=Michael |title=Routledge Handbook of Race and Ethnicity in Asia |date=2021 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon, Oxon |isbn=978-1-351-24668-2 |page=200 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8BY-EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT200}} "To illustrate the complexity of the Ming-Muslim relationship, consider a legal statute" [...] "...Kipchaks have light hair and blue eyes. Their appearance is vile and peculiar, so there are those who do not wish to marry them."  (Da Ming lü jijie fuli 6.36b)</ref> Russian anthropologist Oshanin (1964: 24, 32) notes that "the 'Mongoloid' phenotype, characteristic of modern Kazakhs and Qirghiz, prevails among the skulls of the Qipchaq and Pecheneg nomads found in the kurgans in eastern Ukraine"; Lee & Kuang (2017) propose that Oshanin's discovery is explainable by assuming that the historical Kipchaks' modern descendants are [[Kazakhs]] of the [[Zhuz#Junior zhuz|Lesser Horde]], whose men possess a high frequency of haplogroup C2's subclade C2b1b1 (59.7 to 78%). Lee and Kuang also suggest that the high frequency (63.9%) of the Y-DNA haplogroup R-M73 among Karakypshaks (a tribe within the Kipchaks) allows inference about the genetics of Karakypshaks' medieval ancestors, thus explaining why some medieval Kipchaks were described as possessing "blue [or green] eyes and red hair.<ref>Lee & Kuang (2017). p. 213, 217–218, 225–226</ref>

Byzantine historians of the 11th-12th centuries provided description of Turkmens as very different from the Greeks. [[Bertrandon de la Broquière]], a French traveller to the [[Ottoman Empire]], met with sultan [[Murad II]] in [[Adrianople]], and described him in the following terms: "In the first place, as I have seen him frequently, I shall say that he is a little, short, thick man, with the physiognomy of a [[Tatars|Tartar]]. He has a broad and brown face, high cheek bones, a round beard, a great and crooked nose, with little eyes".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vryonis |first1=Speros Jr |title=The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century |date=1971 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |page=278 |url=https://archive.org/details/vryonis-1971-dmh/Vryonis_1971_DMH/page/278/mode/2up?q=tartar |language=English}}</ref>

=== Remarks ===
{{NoteFoot}}

== International organizations ==
[[File:Map-TurksoyMembers.svg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Map of [[Joint Administration of Turkic Arts and Culture|TÜRKSOY]] members.]]
{{further|Pan-Turkism}}There are several international organizations created with the purpose of furthering cooperation between countries with Turkic-speaking populations, such as the [[Joint Administration of Turkic Arts and Culture]] (TÜRKSOY) and the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-speaking Countries (TÜRKPA) and the [[Turkic Council]].
[[File:Conseilturcique.svg|thumb|{{legend|#00afca|Members}}{{legend|#add8e6|Observer States}}]]
The [[TAKM]] – Organization of the Eurasian Law Enforcement Agencies with Military Status, was established on 25 January 2013. It is an [[Intergovernmental organization|intergovernmental]] [[military]] [[law enforcement]] ([[gendarmerie]]) organization of currently three Turkic countries ([[Azerbaijan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]] and [[Turkey]]) and [[Kazakhstan]] as observer.

=== TÜRKSOY ===
Türksoy carries out activities to strengthen cultural ties between Turkic peoples. One of the main goals to transmit their common cultural heritage to future generations and promote it around the world.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.turksoy.org/en/turksoy/about|title=About :: TURKSOY|last=Polat|first=Orhan|website=turksoy.org|access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref>

Every year, one city in the Turkic world is selected as the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World". Within the framework of events to celebrate the Cultural Capital of the Turkic World, numerous cultural events are held, gathering artists, scholars and intellectuals, giving them the opportunity to exchange their experiences, as well as promoting the city in question internationally.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://www.turksoy.org/en/news/2016/04/29/cultural-capital-of-the-turkic-world-2016-sheki|title=Cultural Capital of the Turkic World 2016: Sheki :: TURKSOY|last=Polat|first=Orhan|website=turksoy.org|access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref>

=== Organization of Turkic States ===
The [[Organization of Turkic States]], founded on 3 November 2009, by the ''Nakhchivan Agreement'' confederation, [[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]] and [[Turkey]], aims to integrate these organizations into a tighter geopolitical framework.

The member countries are [[Azerbaijan]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Turkey]] and [[Uzbekistan]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbekistan-officially-applies-for-membership-in-turkic-council/30162275.html|title=Uzbekistan Officially Applies For Membership In Turkic Council|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=13 September 2019 }}</ref> The idea of setting up this cooperative council was first put forward by Kazakh President [[Nursultan Nazarbayev]] back in 2006. [[Hungary]] has announced to be interested in joining the Organization of Turkic States. Since August 2018, Hungary has official observer status in the Organization of Turkic States.<ref>"Press Release of the Sixth Summit of the Turkic Council". Turkic Council. Retrieved 4 September 2018.</ref> [[Turkmenistan]] also joined as an observer state to the organization at 8th summit.<ref>{{Cite web|date=13 November 2021|title=Turkic Council reforms into Organization of Turkic States|url=https://www.trtworld.com/turkey/turkic-council-reforms-into-organization-of-turkic-states-51608|website=TRT World}}</ref> [[Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus]] was admitted to the organization as observer member at the [[2022 Organization of Turkic States summit|2022 Samarkand Summit]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Turkish Cyprus gains Organization of Turkic States observer status |url=https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/diplomacy/turkish-cyprus-gains-organization-of-turkic-states-observer-status |access-date=11 November 2022 |work=Daily Sabah |date=11 November 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Organization of Turkic States pledges observer status for Turkish Cyprus – Türkiye News |url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/summit-of-organization-of-turkic-states-kicks-off-in-samarkand-178419 |access-date=11 November 2022 |work=Hürriyet Daily News |date=11 November 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
[[File:Bashkir in Paris.jpg|upright=0.9|thumb|[[Bashkirs]], painting from 1812, Paris]]
The distribution of people of Turkic cultural background ranges from [[Siberia]], across Central Asia, to Southern Europe. {{As of | 2011}} the largest groups of Turkic people live throughout Central Asia—[[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Turkmenistan]], [[Uzbekistan]], and [[Azerbaijan]], in addition to [[Turkey]] and [[Iran]]. Additionally, Turkic people are found within [[Crimea]], [[Altishahr]] region of western [[China]], northern [[Iraq]], [[Israel]], [[Russia]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Cyprus]], and the [[Balkans]]: [[Moldova]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Romania]], [[Greece]] and former [[Yugoslavia]].

A small number of Turkic people also live in [[Vilnius]], the capital of [[Lithuania]]. Small numbers inhabit eastern [[Poland]] and the south-eastern part of [[Finland]].<ref>Substantial numbers (possibly several millions) of maghrebis of the former Ottoman colonies in North Africa are of Ottoman Turkish descent. [[Finnish Tatars]]</ref> There are also considerable populations of Turkic people (originating mostly from [[Turkey]]) in [[Germany]], [[United States]], and [[Australia]], largely because of migrations during the 20th century.

Sometimes ethnographers group Turkic people into six branches: the [[Oghuz Turks]], [[Kipchaks|Kipchak]], [[Karluks|Karluk]], [[Siberia]]n, [[Chuvash people|Chuvash]], and [[Sakha language|Sakha/Yakut]] branches. The Oghuz have been termed Western Turks, while the remaining five, in such a classificatory scheme, are called Eastern Turks.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

The genetic distances between the different populations of Uzbeks scattered across Uzbekistan is no greater than the distance between many of them and the Karakalpaks. This suggests that Karakalpaks and Uzbeks have very similar origins. The Karakalpaks have a somewhat greater bias towards the eastern markers than the Uzbeks.<ref>''The Karakalpak Gene Pool'' (Spencer Wells, 2001); and discussion and conclusions at www.karakalpak.com/genetics.html</ref>

'''Historical population:'''

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Population
|-
| 1 AD|| 2–2.5 million?
|-
| 2013 || 150–200 million
|}

The following incomplete list of Turkic people shows the respective groups' core areas of settlement and their estimated sizes (in millions):
{| class="wikitable sortable" id="table1"
|-
! People
! Primary homeland
! Population
! Modern language
! Predominant religion and sect
|-
| [[Turkish people]]
| [[Turkey]]
|data-sort-value="70000"| 70 M
| [[Turkish language|Turkish]]
| Sunni Islam
|-
| [[Azerbaijanis]]
| [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Iranian Azerbaijan]], [[Azerbaijan|Republic of Azerbaijan]]
|data-sort-value="35000"| 30–35 M
| [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]]
| Shia Islam (65%), Sunni Islam (35%)<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.scwra.gov.az/az/view/news/522/allahshukur-pashazade-azerbaycanda-mezhebler-arasinda-fikirayriligindan-istifade-etmek-isteyen-dushmenler-choxdur| title = "Şeyxülislam qeyd edib ki, Azərbaycanda 35 faiz sünni, 65 faiz isə şiə məzhəbinə mənsub…"}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://files.preslib.az/projects/remz/pdf_en/atr_din.pdf|title=Religion|publisher=Administrative Department of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan — Presidential Library|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123084541/http://files.preslib.az/projects/remz/pdf_en/atr_din.pdf|url-status=live|archive-date=23 November 2011}} Религия. Управление делами Президента Азербайджанской Республики&nbsp;— Президентская библиотека</ref> ([[Hanafi]]).
|-
| [[Uzbeks]]
| [[Uzbekistan]]
|data-sort-value="28300"| 28.3 M
| [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]]
| Sunni Islam
|-
| [[Kazakhs]]
| [[Kazakhstan]]
|data-sort-value="13800"| 13.8 M
| [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]]
| Sunni Islam
|-
| [[Uyghurs]]
| [[Altishahr]] (China)
|data-sort-value="9000"|  9 M
| [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]]
| Sunni Islam
|-
| [[Turkmens]]
| [[Turkmenistan]]
|data-sort-value="8000"| 8 M
| [[Turkmen language|Turkmen]]
| Sunni Islam
|-
| [[Tatars]]
| [[Tatarstan]] (Russia)
|data-sort-value="7000"| 7 M
| [[Tatar language|Tatar]]
| Sunni Islam
|-
| [[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyzs]]
| [[Kyrgyzstan]]
|data-sort-value="4500"| 4.5 M
| [[Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]]
| Sunni Islam
|-
| [[Bashkir people|Bashkirs]]
| [[Bashkortostan]] (Russia)
|data-sort-value="2000"| 2 M
| [[Bashkir language|Bashkir]]
| Sunni Islam
|-
| [[Crimean Tatars]]
| [[Crimea, Ukraine|Crimea]] (Russia/Ukraine)
|data-sort-value="2000"| 0.5 to 2 M
| [[Crimean Tatar language|Crimean Tatar]]
| Sunni Islam
|-
| [[Chuvash people|Chuvashes]]
| [[Chuvashia]] (Russia)
|data-sort-value="1700"|  1.7 M
| [[Chuvash language|Chuvash]]
| Orthodox Christianity
|-
| [[Qashqai people|Qashqai]]
| [[Southern Iran]] (Iran)
|data-sort-value="900"| 0.9 M
| [[Qashqai language|Qashqai]]
| Shia Islam
|-
| [[Karakalpaks]]
| [[Karakalpakstan]] (Uzbekistan)
|data-sort-value="600"| 0.6 M
| [[Karakalpak language|Karakalpak]]
| Sunni Islam
|-
| [[Yakuts]]
| [[Sakha Republic|Yakutia]] (Russia)
|data-sort-value="500"| 0.5 M
| [[Sakha language|Sakha]]
| Orthodox Christianity and Turkic Paganism
|-
| [[Kumyks]]
| [[Dagestan]] (Russia)
|data-sort-value="400"| 0.4 M
| [[Kumyk language|Kumyk]]
| Sunni Islam
|-
| [[Karachay]]s and [[Balkar]]s
| [[Karachay-Cherkessia]] and [[Kabardino-Balkaria]] (Russia)
|data-sort-value="400"| 0.4 M
| [[Karachay-Balkar language|Karachay-Balkar]]
| Sunni Islam
|-
| [[Tuvans]]
| [[Tuva]] (Russia)
|data-sort-value="300"|0.3 M
| [[Tuvan language|Tuvan]]
| Tibetan Buddhism
|-
| [[Gagauz people|Gagauzs]]
| [[Gagauzia]] (Moldova)
|data-sort-value="200"| 0.2 M
| [[Gagauz language|Gagauz]]
| Orthodox Christianity
|-
| [[Crimean Karaites|Turkic Karaites]] and [[Krymchaks]]
| [[Ukraine]]
|data-sort-value="4"| 0.004 M
| [[Karaim language|Karaim]] and [[Krymchak language|Krymchak]]
| Judaism
|}

== Cuisine ==
Markets in the steppe region had a limited range of foodstuffs available—mostly [[grain]]s, [[dried fruit]]s, [[spices]], and [[tea]]. Turks mostly herded [[sheep]], [[goat]]s and [[horse]]s. Dairy was a staple of the nomadic diet and there are many Turkic words for various dairy products such as ''süt'' (milk), ''yagh'' (butter), [[ayran]], ''[[kaymak|qaymaq]]'' (similar to [[clotted cream]]), [[Kumis|qi̅mi̅z]] (fermented mare's milk) and ''[[qurut]]'' (dried yoghurt). During the Middle Ages [[Kazakh cuisine|Kazakh]], [[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]] and [[Tatar cuisine|Tatars]], who were historically part of the Turkic nomadic group known as the [[Golden Horde]], continued to develop new variations of dairy products.<ref name=osfc>{{Cite book| title = Food on the Move| publisher=[[Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery]] |date=1996 |chapter=The Horseback Kitchen of Central Asia |isbn=978-0-907325-79-6 |access-date = 16 July 2018| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uYqTiD7SbcQC}}</ref>

Nomadic Turks cooked their meals in a ''[[Kazan (cookware)|qazan]]'', a pot similar to a [[cauldron]]; a wooden rack called a ''qasqan'' can be used to prepare certain steamed foods, like the traditional meat dumplings called ''[[Manti (food)|manti]]''. They also used a ''saj'', a griddle that was traditionally placed on stones over a fire, and ''[[skewer|shish]]''. In later times, the Persian [[tava]] was borrowed from the Persians for frying, but traditionally nomadic Turks did most of their cooking using the qazan, saj and shish. Meals were served in a bowl, called a ''chanaq'', and eaten with a knife (''bïchaq'') and spoon (''qashi̅q''). Both bowl and spoon were historically made from wood. Other traditional utensils used in food preparation included a thin rolling pin called ''oqlaghu'', a [[colander]] called ''süzgu̅çh'', and a grinding stone called ''tāgirmān''.<ref name=osfc />

Medieval grain dishes included preparations of whole grains, soups, porridges, breads and pastries. Fried or toasted whole grains were called ''qawïrmach'', while ''köchä'' was crushed grain that was cooked with dairy products. ''Salma'' were broad [[noodles]] that could be served with boiled or roasted meat; cut noodles were called ''tutmaj'' in the Middle Ages and are called ''[[kesme]]'' today.<ref name=osfc />

There are many types of bread doughs in Turkic cuisine. ''[[Saj bread|Yupqa]]'' is the thinnest type of dough, ''[[Bawirsaq|bawi̅rsaq]]'' is a type of fried bread dough, and ''[[Shelpek|chälpäk]]'' is a deep-fried flat bread. ''[[Qatlama]]'' is a fried bread that may be sprinkled with dried fruit or meat, rolled, and sliced like [[pinwheel sandwiches]]. ''[[Toqach]]'' and ''[[chöräk]]'' are varieties of bread, and [[Börek|böräk]] is a type of filled pie [[pastry]].<ref name=osfc />

Herd animals were usually slaughtered during the winter months and various types of sausages were prepared to preserve the meats, including a type of sausage called ''[[sujuk]]''. Though prohibited by [[halal|Islamic dietary restrictions]], historically Turkic nomads also had a variety of [[blood sausage]]. One type of sausage, called ''[[Qazı|qazi̅]]'', was made from horsemeat and another variety was filled with a mixture of ground meat, [[offal]] and rice. Chopped meat was called ''qïyma'' and spit-roasted meat was ''söklünch''—from the root ''sök-'' meaning "to tear off", the latter dish is known as [[kebab]] in modern times. ''[[Kavurma|Qawirma]]'' is a typical fried meat dish, and ''[[kullama]]'' is a soup of noodles and lamb.<ref name=osfc />

== Religion ==
=== Early Turkic mythology and Tengrism ===
[[File:Kyzyl Shaman.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|right|110px|A shaman doctor of [[Kyzyl]].]]
[[File:Körösfői-Kriesch Aladár - Sámánok körtánca 1911 Marosvásárhely Kulturpalota.png|thumb|left|[[Circle dance]] of Shamans 1911]]
{{Main|Turkic mythology|Tengrism|Shamanism}}
Early [[Turkic mythology]] was dominated by [[Shamanism in Central Asia|Shamanism]], [[Animism]] and [[Tengrism]]. The Turkic animistic traditions were mostly focused on [[ancestor worship]], [[Polytheism|polytheistic]]-[[animism]] and [[shamanism]]. Later this animistic tradition would form the more organized Tengrism.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}} The chief deity was [[Tengri]], a [[sky god]], worshipped by the upper classes of early Turkic society until [[Manichaeism]] was introduced as the official religion of the [[Uyghur Empire]] in 763.

The [[gray wolf|wolf]] symbolizes honour and is also considered the mother of most Turkic peoples. [[Ashina tribe|Ashina]] is the wolf mother of [[Tumen Il-Qağan]], the first Khan of the [[Göktürks]]. The [[horse]] and [[bird of prey|predatory birds]], such as the [[eagle]] or [[falcon]], are also main figures of Turkic mythology.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}

=== Religious conversions ===

==== Buddhism ====
[[Buddhism]] played an important role in the history of Turkic peoples, with the first Turkic state adopting and supporting the spread of Buddhism being the Turkic Shahis and the Göktürks. The Göktürks syncretized Buddhism with their traditional religion [[Tengrism]] and also incorporated elements of the Iranian traditional religions, such as [[Zoroastrianism]]. Buddhism had its height among the [[Uyghurs]] in the [[Xinjiang]] region.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Buddhism among the Turkic People |url=https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/history-culture/buddhism-in-central-asia/history-of-buddhism-among-the-turkic-people |access-date=3 December 2022 |website=studybuddhism.com |language=en}}</ref> Buddhism had also considerable impact and influence onto various other historical Turkic groups. In pre-Islamic times, Buddhism and [[Tengrism]] coexisted, with several Buddhist temples, monasteries, figures and steles, with images of Buddhist characters and sceneries, were constructed by various Turkic tribes. Throughout [[Kazakhstan]], there exist various historical Buddhist sites, including an underground Buddhist cave monastery. After the [[Arab expansion|Arab conquest of Central Asia]], and the spread of Islam among locals, Buddhism (and Tengrism) started to lose ground, however a certain influence of the Buddhist teachings remained during the next centuries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Buddhism history in Kazakhstan · · "Kazakhstan History" portal |url=http://edu.e-history.kz/en/contents/view/686 |access-date=15 September 2022 |website=edu.e-history.kz |language=en |archive-date=20 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920172727/http://edu.e-history.kz/en/contents/view/686 }}</ref>

Tengri Bögü Khan initially made the now extinct [[Manichaeism]] the state religion of the [[Uyghur Khaganate]] in 763 and it was also popular among the [[Karluks]]. It was gradually replaced by the [[Mahayana Buddhism]].{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} It existed in the Buddhist Uyghur [[Gaochang]] up to the 12th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eurasianhistory.com/data/articles/j02/1686.html|title=关于回鹘摩尼教史的几个问题|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref>

[[Tibetan Buddhism]], or [[Vajrayana]] was the main religion after Manichaeism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xjass.com/mzwh/content/2008-09/08/content_29600.htm|title=元明时期的新疆藏传佛教|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092501/http://www.xjass.com/mzwh/content/2008-09/08/content_29600.htm|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> They worshipped [[Buddha|Täŋri Täŋrisi Burxan]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xjass.com/ls/content/2009-11/15/content_117347.htm|title=回鹘文《陶师本生》及其特点|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506102536/http://www.xjass.com/ls/content/2009-11/15/content_117347.htm|archive-date=6 May 2013}}</ref> [[Guanyin|Quanšï Im Pusar]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tanghistory.net/data/articles/d02/621.html |title=回鹘观音信仰考 |access-date=3 April 2011 |archive-date=22 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322065047/http://www.tanghistory.net/data/articles/d02/621.html }}</ref> and [[Maitreya|Maitri Burxan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-BJ001/93572.htm|title=回鶻彌勒信仰考|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref> Turkic [[Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent]] and west [[Xinjiang]] attributed with a rapid and almost total disappearance of it and other religions in North India and Central Asia. The [[Yugur|Sari Uygurs]] "Yellow Yughurs" of Western China, as well as the [[Tuvans]] of Russia are the only remaining [[Buddhist]] Turkic peoples.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Minahan|first1=James|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zu5GpDby9H0C&q=tuvans&pg=PA1935|title=Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: S-Z|last2=Wendel|first2=Peter T.|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2002|isbn=978-0-313-32384-3|page=1937|language=en}}</ref>

==== Islam ====
[[File:Grand_Mosque_in_Astana,_Kazakhstan.jpg|thumb|left|250px| [[Astana Grand Mosque]], the largest mosque in Central Asia.]]
Most Turkic people today are [[Sunni]] [[Muslims]], although a significant number in Turkey are [[Alevi]]s. Alevi Turks, who were once primarily dwelling in eastern Anatolia, are today concentrated in major urban centers in western Turkey with the increased urbanism. Turkic Sunni Muslims generally follow the [[Hanafi]] rite. Azeris are traditionally Shiite Muslims. Religious observance is less strict in the Republic of Azerbaijan compared to Iranian Azerbaijan.

[[File:Uyghurs_praying.jpg|thumb|right|200px| Muslim Uyghurs at prayer.]] Islam first made contact with the Turkic peoples in 642, when Muslim armies crossed the [[Amu Darya]] after toppling the [[Sassanid Empire]] the year before. Some of the earliest rulers to convert to Islam were the Turkic princes of the city-states in the region of [[Sogdiana]]. Mass conversions did not take place until the [[Battle of Talas]] in 751, in which Turkic tribes sided with the Arabs against Chinese forces, which marked a significant milestone in the history of Islam in the region. From then onwards much of the Turkic heartland became Muslim.<ref>[https://www.dailysabah.com/feature/2017/06/30/turkic-peoples-road-to-islam Turkic peoples' road to Islam]. [[Daily Sabah]]. Retrieved 21 May 2024</ref> In the 19th century, Turkic Muslim progressives in the Russian Empire spearheaded a reformist movement called [[Jadidism]], calling for a return to basic Islamic beliefs while simultaneously accepting modernist trends.

==== Christianity ====
{{Main|Turkic Christians}}
[[File:Komrat - Katedra Świętego Jana Chrzciciela.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Saint John the Baptist Cathedral in [[Gagauzia]]]]
[[File:Gravestone from Kirgistan.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Gravestone from [[Kirgistan]] (thirteenth/fourteenth century) with [[Syriac Christian]] inscriptions]]
The major Christian-Turkic peoples are the [[Chuvash people|Chuvash]] of [[Chuvash Republic|Chuvashia]] and the [[Gagauz people|Gagauz]] (''Gökoğuz'') of [[Moldova]], the vast majority of [[Chuvash people|Chuvash]] and the [[Gagauz people|Gagauz]] are [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox Christians]].<ref>Menz, Astrid. (2007). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280875731_The_Gagauz_Between_Christianity_and_Turkishness The Gagauz Between Christianity and Turkishness]. 10.5771/9783956506925-123.</ref><ref name="Cole 2011 74">{{Cite book|last=Cole|first=Jeffrey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wlth0GRi0N0C&q=chuvash+ethnic+group&pg=PA73|title=Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia|date=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-302-6|page=74|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first = Michael |last = Lipka|url= https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/the-gagauz-christian-turks-between-two-worlds-57426|title=The Gagauz: 'Christian Turks' between two worlds |date =22 May 2022 |publisher=TRT World}}</ref> The traditional religion of the [[Chuvash people|Chuvash]] of Russia, while containing many ancient Turkic concepts, also shares some elements with [[Zoroastrianism]], [[Khazar]] Judaism, and Islam.
The Chuvash converted to [[Eastern Orthodox Christianity]] for the most part in the second half of the 19th century.<ref name="Cole 2011 74" /> As a result, festivals and rites were made to coincide with Orthodox feasts, and Christian rites replaced their traditional counterparts. A minority of the Chuvash still profess their traditional faith.<ref>Guide to Russia:[http://russiatoday.strana.ru/en/profile/people/nat/1482.html Chuvash] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050501105730/http://russiatoday.strana.ru/en/profile/people/nat/1482.html |date=1 May 2005 }}</ref> Between the 9th and 14th centuries, [[Church of the East]] was popular among Turks such as the [[Naimans]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/narratives/discovery/09/index.html.zh|title=景教艺术在西域之发现|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref> It even revived in Gaochang and expanded in [[Xinjiang]] in the [[Yuan dynasty]] period.<ref>[http://hk.plm.org.cn/e_book/xz-16914.pdf 高昌回鹘与环塔里木多元文化的融合] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817230447/http://hk.plm.org.cn/e_book/xz-16914.pdf |date=17 August 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://zzs.chd.edu.cn/kjqk/xbjzgcxyxb-shkx/xbjz2006/0603pdf/060316.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111130074300/http://zzs.chd.edu.cn/kjqk/xbjzgcxyxb-shkx/xbjz2006/0603pdf/060316.pdf|title=唐代中围景教与景教本部教会的关系|archive-date=30 November 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xjass.com/mzwh/content/2008-06/30/content_14081.htm|title=景教在西域的传播|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304101519/http://www.xjass.com/mzwh/content/2008-06/30/content_14081.htm|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> It disappeared after its collapse.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stnn.cc/geography/200607/t20060704_270851.html|title=新闻_星岛环球网|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-date=30 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030195656/http://www.stnn.cc/geography/200607/t20060704_270851.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~lewi/WPS/97%20_Duan.pdf| title = 7–11 世紀景教在陸上絲綢之路的傳播| access-date = 3 April 2011| archive-date = 30 December 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111230170352/http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~lewi/WPS/97%20_Duan.pdf}}</ref>

[[Kryashens]] are a sub-group of the [[Volga Tatars]], and the vast majority are [[Russian Orthodoxy|Orthodox Christians]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Akiner|first=Shirin|title=Islamic peoples of the Soviet Union: with an appendix on the non-Muslim Turkic peoples of the Soviet Union: an historical and statistical handbook|publisher=KPI|year=1986|isbn=0-7103-0188-X|edition=2nd|location=London|pages=431–432}}</ref> [[Nağaybäk]] are an indigenous Turkic people in Russia, most Nağaybäk are Christian and were largely converted during the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Akiner |first=Shirin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd-3AAAAQBAJ |title=Islamic Peoples Of The Soviet Union |date=1986 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-14274-1 |page=100 |language=en}}</ref> Many [[Volga Tatars]] were [[Christianized]] by [[Ivan IV of Russia|Ivan the Terrible]] during the 16th century, and continued to Christianized under subsequent Russian rulers and Orthodox clergy up to the mid-eighteenth century.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Yemelianova|first=Galina M.|title=Russia and Islam: A Historical Survey|url=https://archive.org/details/russiaislamhisto00yeme|url-access=limited|publisher=Palgrave|year=2002|isbn=0-333-68354-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/russiaislamhisto00yeme/page/n60 36]–41}}</ref>

==== Animism ====
Today there are several groups that support a revival of the ancient traditions. Especially after the collapse of the [[Soviet Union]], many in [[Central Asia]] converted or openly practice animistic and shamanistic rituals. It is estimated that about 60% of [[Kyrgyz people]] practice a form of animistic rituals. In [[Kazakhstan]] there are about 54,000 followers of the ancient traditions.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/kyrgyz_religious_hatred_trial_throws_spotlight_on_ancient_creed/24469022.html|title=Kyrgyz Religious Hatred Trial Throws Spotlight On Ancient Creed|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=February 2012 |language=en|access-date=18 April 2019|last1=Ashakeeva |first1=Gulaiym |last2=Najibullah |first2=Farangis }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/religious-beliefs-in-kazakhstan.html|title=Religion in Kazakhstan|website=WorldAtlas|language=en|access-date=18 April 2019}}</ref>

==== Muslim Turks and non-Muslim Turks ====
[[File:Uighur Prince.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|An [[Uyghur Khaganate|Old Uyghur]] [[Khagan]]]]
The Uyghur Turks, who once belonged to a variety of religions, were gradually Islamized during a period spanning the 10th and 13th centuries. Some scholars have linked the phenomenon of recently Islamized Uyghur soldiers recruited by the [[Mongol Empire]] to the slow conversion of Uyghur populations to Islam.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=Sean R. |title=The War on the Uyghurs: China's Internal Campaign against a Muslim Minority |date=8 September 2020 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-20221-1 |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z8vADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Frankel |first1=James |title=Islam in China |date=17 June 2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-7556-3884-0 |page=77 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JostEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT77 |language=en}}</ref>

The non-Muslim Turks' worship of [[Tengri]] and other gods was mocked and insulted by the Muslim Turk [[Mahmud al-Kashgari]], who wrote a verse referring to them – ''The Infidels – May God destroy them!''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KaYZAQAAIAAJ&q=The+Infidels+-+May+God+destroy+them+Turks|title=From Mahmud Kaşgari to Evliya Çelebi|author=Robert Dankoff|publisher=Isis Press|year=2008|isbn=978-975-428-366-2|page=81}}</ref><ref name="Dankoff 68–80">{{cite journal|author1-link=Robert Dankoff|last=Dankoff|first=Robert|date=Jan–Mar 1975|title=Kāšġarī on the Beliefs and Superstitions of the Turks|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=95|pages=68–80|doi=10.2307/599159|jstor=599159|number=1}}</ref>

The Basmil, Yabāḳu and Uyghur states were among the Turkic peoples who fought against the Kara-Khanids spread of Islam. The Islamic Kara-Khanids were made out of [[Tukhsi]], Yaghma, Çiğil and Karluk.<ref name="GibbLewis1998">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PJPrAAAAMAAJ&q=kara-khanids+inherited+islam+uyghur|title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam|author1=Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb|author2=Bernard Lewis|author3=Johannes Hendrik Kramers|author4=Charles Pellat|author5=Joseph Schacht|publisher=Brill|year=1998|page=689}}</ref>

Kashgari claimed that the Prophet assisted in a miraculous event where 700,000 Yabāqu infidels were defeated by 40,000 Muslims led by Arslān Tegīn claiming that fires shot sparks from gates located on a green mountain towards the Yabāqu.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KaYZAQAAIAAJ&q=green+mountain+gates+sparks+infidel+buddha|title=From Mahmud Kaşgari to Evliya Çelebi|author=Robert Dankoff|publisher=Isis Press|year=2008|isbn=978-975-428-366-2|page=79}}</ref> The Yabaqu were a Turkic people.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_v6IWkCLnEwC&q=yabaqu&pg=PA147|title=Early Mystics in Turkish Literature|author1=Mehmet Fuat Köprülü|author2=Gary Leiser|author3=Robert Dankoff|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2006|isbn=978-0-415-36686-1|pages=147–}}</ref>

[[Mahmud al-Kashgari]] insulted the Uyghur Buddhists as "Uighur dogs" and called them "Tats", which referred to the "Uighur infidels" according to the Tuxsi and Taghma, while other Turks called Persians "tat".<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/huri/files/viii-iv_1979-1980_part1.pdf |title=Harvard Ukrainian Studies Eucharisterion: Essays Presented to Omeljan Pritsak on his Sixtieth Birthday by his Colleagues and Students |journal=Harvard Ukrainian Studies |editor-last1=Ševčenko |editor-first1=Ihor |editor-last2=Sysyn |editor-first2=Frank E. |volume=III/IV 1979–1980 |publisher=Harvard University |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |date=1980 |issn=0363-5570 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118063834/http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/huri/files/viii-iv_1979-1980_part1.pdf |archive-date=18 November 2015 |page=160}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTYMAQAAMAAJ&q=aqtimiz+furxan+burxan|title=Harvard Ukrainian studies|author=Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute|publisher=Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute|year=1980|page=160}}</ref> While Kashgari displayed a different attitude towards the Turks diviners beliefs and "national customs", he expressed towards Buddhism a hatred in his Diwan where he wrote the verse cycle on the war against Uighur Buddhists. Buddhist origin words like toyin (a cleric or priest) and Burxān or Furxan (meaning Buddha, acquiring the generic meaning of "idol" in the Turkic language of Kashgari) had negative connotations to Muslim Turks.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KaYZAQAAIAAJ&q=idol+Buddha+provenance+Toyin|title=From Mahmud Kaşgari to Evliya Çelebi|author=Robert Dankoff|publisher=Isis Press|year=2008|isbn=978-975-428-366-2|page=79}}</ref><ref name="Dankoff 68–80" /> [[File:Tyurki.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|right|Göktürk petroglyphs from Mongolia (6th to 8th century)]]
[[File:Panjakent man dressed in “Turkic“ long coats, 6th-8th c.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|A [[Penjikent murals|Penjikent man]] dressed in "Turkic" long coats, 6th–8th c.]]

== Old sports ==
=== Tepuk ===
[[Mahmud al-Kashgari]] in his ''[[Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk]]'', described a game called "tepuk" among Turks in Central Asia. In the game, people try to attack each other's castle by kicking a ball made of sheep leather.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Atatürk Kültür Merkezi|year=2009|volume=6|title=Uluslararası Türk Kültürü Kongresi Bildirileri|page=2128}}</ref> (see also: [[Cuju]])

=== Kyz kuu ===
[[File:Catchthegirl.JPG|thumb|[[Kyz kuu]].]]

[[Kyz kuu]] (chase the girl) has been played by Turkic people at festivals since time immemorial.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mayor|first1=Adrienne|title=The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World|date=22 September 2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press.|isbn=978-1-4008-6513-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rboWBAAAQBAJ&dq=kyz+kuu&pg=PA397}}</ref>

=== Jereed ===
Horses have been essential and even sacred animals for Turks living as nomadic tribes in the Central Asian steppes. Turks were born, grew up, lived, fought and died on horseback. [[Jereed]] became the most important sporting and ceremonial game of Turkish people.<ref>{{cite web|last=Burak|first=Sansal|url=http://www.allaboutturkey.com/javelin.htm|title=Turkish Jereed (Javelin)|publisher=All About Turkey|access-date=16 November 2016}}</ref>

=== Kokpar ===
The [[Buzkashi|kokpar]] began with the nomadic Turkic peoples who have come from farther north and east spreading westward from China and Mongolia between the 10th and 15th centuries.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Christensen|first1=karen|last2=Levinson|first2=David|title=Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present|year=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-513195-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8NMAgAAQBAJ&dq=buzkashi+turkic&pg=PA68}}</ref>

=== Jigit ===
"[[Dzhigit|jigit]]" is used in the Caucasus and Central Asia to describe a skillful and brave equestrian, or a brave person in general.<ref>{{cite web|title=ДЖИГИТ|language=ru|url=http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/ushakov/788222|work=dic.academic.ru}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
===Battle, hunting and blacksmithing scenes in Turkic rock art of the early Middle Ages in Altai===
<gallery>
File:Turk_vassal_blacksmiths_under_Mongolian_rule.jpg|Turk vassal blacksmiths under Mongolian rule
File:Turkic hunting scene, Gokturk period Altai.png|Turkic hunting scene, Gokturk period Altai
File:Battle scene of a Turkic horseman with typical long hair (Gokturk period, Altai).png|Battle scene of a Turkic horseman with typical long hair (Gokturk period, Altai)

</gallery>

=== Bezeklik caves and Mogao grottoes ===
Images of Buddhist and Manichean [[Uyghur Khanate|Old Uyghurs]] from the [[Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves|Bezeklik caves]] and [[Mogao Caves|Mogao grottoes]].
<gallery>
File:Dunhuang Uighur king.jpg|Old Uyghur king from Turfan, from the murals at the Dunhuang Mogao Caves.
File:Uighur prince from Bezeklik murals.jpg|Old Uyghur prince from the Bezeklik murals.
File:Uighur woman from Bezeklik murals.jpg|Old Uyghur woman from the Bezeklik murals.
File:UighurPrincess.png|Old Uyghur Princess.
File:Museum für Indische Kunst Dahlem Berlin Mai 2006 064.jpg|Old Uyghur Princesses from the Bezeklik murals.
File:Museum für Indische Kunst Dahlem Berlin Mai 2006 063.jpg|Old Uyghur Princes from the Bezeklik murals.
File:Uigure-bezeklik-17.jpg|Old Uyghur Prince from the Bezeklik murals.
File:Uigure-bezeklik-19.jpg|Old Uyghur noble from the Bezeklik murals.
File:Manichaean Temple Banner (MIK III 6283).jpg|Old Uyghur [[Manichaeism|Manichaean]] Elect depicted on a temple banner from [[Qocho]].
File:Museum für Indische Kunst Dahlem Berlin Mai 2006 067.jpg|Old Uyghur donor from the Bezeklik murals.
File:ManichaeanElectaeKocho10thCentury.jpg|Old Uyghur Manichaean Electae from Qocho.
File:Museum für Indische Kunst Dahlem Berlin Mai 2006 066.jpg|Old Uyghur Manichaean clergymen from Qocho.
File:Museum für Indische Kunst Dahlem Berlin Mai 2006 061.jpg|[[Murals from the Christian temple at Qocho|Fresco of Palm Sunday from Qocho]].
File:Manicheans.jpg|Manicheans from Qocho
</gallery>

=== Medieval times ===
<gallery>
File:Omurtag1.jpg|Khan [[Omurtag]] of [[Old Great Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], from the Chronicle of [[John Skylitzes]].
File:Portrait from the Palace courtroom, Lashkari Bazar.jpg|[[Ghaznavid]] portrait, Palace of [[Lashkari Bazar]].<ref name="jstor.org"/>
</gallery>

=== Modern times ===
<gallery mode="packed-hover" heights="150">
File:Azerigirls.JPG|[[Azerbaijani people|Azerbaijani]] girls in traditional dress.
File:Young bashqorts.jpg|[[Bashkirs|Bashkir]] boys in national dress.
File:Головной убор чувашской девушки тухъя. XIX век. Средненизовая этнографическая группы (анат енчи).jpg|A [[Chuvashes|Chuvash]] girl in traditional dress.
File:Хакасы.JPG|[[Khakas people]] with traditional instruments.
File:Ногайцы 01.jpg|[[Nogais|Nogai]] man in national costume.
File:Dursunbey yerelkıyafeti.JPG|Turkish girls in their traditional clothes, [[Dursunbey]], [[Balikesir Province]].
File:Turkman girl in national dress.jpg|[[Turkmens|Turkmen]] girl in national dress.
File:Мөгелер биле Даңгыналар2. 2016.jpg|[[Tuvans|Tuvan]] men and women in [[Kyzyl]], [[Tuva]].
File:Kazakh man in traditional costume.jpg|[[Kazakhs|Kazakh]] man in traditional clothing.
File:Samsa or Somsa in Uzbekistan.jpg|[[Uzbeks|Uzbek]] with traditional cuisine.
File:KyrgyzEagleHuntsman.jpg|[[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]] traditional eagle hunter.
File:Tuvan shamans19.jpg|[[Tuvans|Tuvan]] traditional shaman.
</gallery>

== See also ==

{{Div col}}
* [[Turkic history]]
* [[Turkic migration]]
* [[Turkic mythology]]
* [[Turco-Persian tradition]]
* [[Turco-Mongol tradition]]
* [[Turkology]]
{{Div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
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{{refend}}

== Further reading ==

* Amanjolov A.S., "History of the Ancient Turkic Script", Almaty, "Mektep", 2003, {{ISBN|9965-16-204-2}}
* Baichorov S.Ya., "Ancient Turkic runic monuments of the Europe", Stavropol, 1989 (in Russian).
* Baskakov, N.A. 1962, 1969. ''Introduction to the study of the Turkic languages''. Moscow (in Russian).
* [[Beckwith, Christopher I.]] (2009): ''Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present''. Princeton: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-691-13589-2}}.
* Boeschoten, Hendrik & Lars Johanson. 2006. ''Turkic languages in contact''. Turcologica, Bd. 61. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. {{ISBN|3-447-05212-0}}.
* [[Chavannes, Édouard]] (1900): ''Documents sur les Tou-kiue (Turcs) occidentaux.'' Paris, Librairie d'Amérique et d'Orient. Reprint: Taipei. Cheng Wen Publishing Co. 1969.
* Clausen, Gerard. 1972. ''An etymological dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Deny, Jean et al. 1959–1964. ''Philologiae Turcicae Fundamenta''. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Turks | volume= 27 |last= Eliot |first=Charles Norton Edgcumbe |author1-link= Charles Eliot (diplomat) | pages = 468&ndash;473 |short=1}}
* Findley, Carter Vaughn. 2005. ''The Turks in World History''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-516770-8}}; {{ISBN|0-19-517726-6}} (pbk.)
* Golden, Peter B. ''An introduction to the history of the Turkic peoples: Ethnogenesis and state-formation in medieval and early modern Eurasia and the Middle East'' (Otto Harrassowitz (Wiesbaden) 1992) {{ISBN|3-447-03274-X}}
* {{cite book|author=Peter B. Golden|title=An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples: Ethnogenesis and State-formation in Medieval and Early Modern Eurasia and the Middle East|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281319978|year= 1992|publisher=O. Harrassowitz|isbn=978-3-447-03274-2}}
* Heywood, Colin. ''The Turks (The Peoples of Europe)'' (Blackwell 2005), {{ISBN|978-0-631-15897-4}}.
* Hostler, Charles Warren. ''The Turks of Central Asia'' (Greenwood Press, November 1993), {{ISBN|0-275-93931-6}}.
* Ishjatms N., "Nomads In Eastern Central Asia", in the "History of civilizations of Central Asia", Volume 2, UNESCO Publishing, 1996, {{ISBN|92-3-102846-4}}.
* Johanson, Lars & Éva Agnes Csató (ed.). 1998. ''The Turkic languages''. London: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-08200-5}}.
* Johanson, Lars. 1998. "The history of Turkic." In: Johanson & Csató, pp.&nbsp;81–125. [http://www.turkiclanguages.com/www/classification.html Classification of Turkic languages] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408063746/http://www.turkiclanguages.com/www/classification.html |date=8 April 2011 }}
* Johanson, Lars. 1998. "Turkic languages." In: ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. CD 98. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 5 September. 2007. [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-80003/Turkic-languages Turkic languages: Linguistic history].
* Karatay, Osman. The Genesis of the Turks: An Ethno-Linguistic Inquiry into the Prehistory of Central Eurasia. United Kingdom, Cambridge Scholars Publishing., 2022.
* Kyzlasov I.L., "Runic Scripts of Eurasian Steppes", Moscow, Eastern Literature, 1994, {{ISBN|5-02-017741-5}}.
* Lebedynsky, Iaroslav. (2006). ''Les Saces: Les « Scythes » d'Asie, VIII<sup>e</sup> siècle apr. J.-C.'' Editions Errance, Paris. {{ISBN|2-87772-337-2}}.
* Malov S.E., "Monuments of the ancient Turkic inscriptions. Texts and research", M.-L., 1951 (in Russian).
* Mukhamadiev A., "Turanian Writing", in "Problems Of Lingo-Ethno-History Of The Tatar People", Kazan, 1995 (Азгар Мухамадиев, "Туранская Письменность", "Проблемы лингвоэтноистории татарского народа", Казань, 1995) (in Russian).
* Menges, K. H. 1968. ''The Turkic languages and peoples: An introduction to Turkic studies''. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
* Öztopçu, Kurtuluş. 1996. Dictionary of the Turkic languages: English, Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tatar, Turkish, Turkmen, Uighur, Uzbek. London: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-14198-2}}
* Alpamysh, H.B. Paksoy: [http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/paksoy-1/ Central Asian Identity under Russian Rule] (Hartford: AACAR, 1989)
* {{cite book|author=H. B. Paksoy|title=Alpamysh: Central Asian Identity Under Russian Rule|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_KkOGNefbfsC&q=burxan+furxan|year=1989|publisher=AACAR|isbn=978-0-9621379-9-0}}
* Samoilovich, A. N. 1922. ''Some additions to the classification of the Turkish languages''. Petrograd.
* Schönig, Claus. 1997–1998. "A new attempt to classify the Turkic languages I-III." ''Turkic Languages'' 1:1.117–133, 1:2.262–277, 2:1.130–151.
* Vasiliev D.D. Graphical fund of Turkic runiform writing monuments in Asian areal. М., 198 (in Russian).
* Vasiliev D.D. Corpus of Turkic runiform monuments in the basin of Enisei. М., 1983 (in Russian).
* Voegelin, C.F. & F.M. Voegelin. 1977. ''Classification and index of the World's languages''. New York: Elsevier.

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|Türk}}
{{Commons category|Turkic peoples}}
{{EB1911 poster|Turks}}
* [http://www.umich.edu/~turkish/turkic.html Turkish Studies – Turkic republics, regions, and peoples] at [[University of Michigan]]

{{Clear}}
{{Turkic peoples}}
{{Turkic topics}}
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[[Category:Turkic peoples| ]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in China]]
[[Category:Central Asian people]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]