Turks_in_Libya

Turks in Libya

Turks in Libya

Ethnic group in Libya

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

Quick Facts Regions with significant populations, Languages ...

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

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

History

Ottoman Libya

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

During Ottoman Alleigance/Alliance in Libya (1551–1912), Turkish Janissaries began to migrate to the region.[2] A minimal number of said Turks, and Janissaries intermarried with the native population, and their offspring were referred to as Kouloughlis (Turkish: kuloğlu) due to their mixed heritage.[3][5]

Today there no Libyans who their ethnicity as Turkish, or acknowledge their descent from the Ottomans . [2] Very few Families restricted to a few urban centers within [Libya]] can trace their origins back to the Ottomans and Janissaries through Oral Family Genealogy and History.

Italian Libya

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

Culture

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

Religion

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

Notable people

  • Salah Badi, commander of the Al-Somood Front[6]
  • Emrullah Barkan [tr], politician
  • Husni Bey, business tycoon[7]
  • Wissam Bin Hamid, commander in the Libya Dawn[6]
  • Mukhtar al-Jahawi, commander of the Anti-Terrorism Force[6]
  • Abdul Rauf Kara, leader of the Special Deterrence Force[6]
  • Ahmed Karamanli, founded the Karamanli dynasty (1711–1835)[8]
    • successors:
    • Ahmed I (29 July 1711 – 4 November 1745)
    • Mehmed Pasha (4 November 1745 – 24 July 1754)
    • Ali I Pasha (24 July 1754 – 30 July 1793)
    • Ali Burghul Pasha Cezayrli (30 July 1793 – 20 January 1795)
    • Ahmed II (20 January – 11 June 1795)
    • Yusuf Karamanli (11 June 1795 – 20 August 1832)
    • Mehmed Karamanli (1817, 1826, and 1832)
    • Mehmed ibn Ali (1824 and 1835)
    • Ali II Karamanli (20 August 1832 – 26 May 1835)
  • Faruk Kenç [tr], film director and producer
  • Sadullah Koloğlu, former prime minister of Benghazi and Darnah (from 1949 to 1952)[9]
  • Cenap Muhittin Kozanoğlu [tr], writer
  • Suat Kuyaş [tr], soldier
  • Omar Abdullah Meheishy, former Member of the Libyan Revolutionary Command Council[10][11]
  • Muhammad Sakizli, Libyan politician
  • Galip Kemali Söylemezoğlu [tr], diplomat and ambassador to Greece
  • Ramadan al-Suwayhili, a co-founder of the short-lived Tripolitanian Republic in 1918[6]
  • Rasim Ferit Talay [tr], politician
  • Sadettin Ferit Talay [tr], politician
  • İlhami Bekir Tez [tr], writer
  • Muzaffer Tuğsavul [tr], soldier
  • Hamida al-Unayzi, champion of women's education in Libya[12]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Pan 1949, 103.
  2. [2]
    Malcolm & Losleben 2004, 62.
  3. [3]
    Stone 1997, p. 29.
  4. [4]
    Milli Gazete. "Levanten Türkler". Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
  5. [5]
    Milli Gazete. "Levanten Türkler". Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
  6. [6]
    Tastekin, Fehim (2019). "Are Libyan Turks Ankara's Trojan horse?". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  7. [7]
    حسني بي: أنا من ضمن المليون تركماني في ليبيا, Alsaaa24, 2019, retrieved 2 January 2020
  8. [8]
    Habib, Henry (1981), Libya: Past and Present, Edam Publishing House, p. 42
  9. [9]
    Hurriyet Daily News. "Turkey's living link to Ottoman Libya: Son of former PM tells father's story". Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  10. [10]
    First, R. (1974), Libya: The Elusive Revolution, Africana Publishing Company, p. 115, ISBN 0841902119
  11. [11]
    Ahmida, Ali Abdullatif (2013), Forgotten Voices: Power and Agency in Colonial and Postcolonial Libya, Routledge, pp. 79–80, ISBN 978-1136784439
  12. [12]
    Yeaw, Katrina Elizabeth Anderson (2017), Women, Resistance and the Creation of New Gendered Frontiers in the Making of Modern Libya, 1890-1980, Georgetown University, p. 152

Bibliography
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