Ossetians in Turkey

An estimated 50,000 Ossetes left the Russian Caucasus during the early 1860s as part of a greater migration of Muslims from the region to the Ottoman Empire due to Russia's activities in the region. [2] Many settled in villages in the eastern district of Sarıkamış, but moved further west following the Russo-Ottoman war of 1877-78. While up to the 1960s there were as many as 60 Ossetian villages in central and eastern Anatolia, due to massive migration to the major cities at present there remain only three: Boyalık, Karabacak and Poyrazlı, all of which are located in the Yozgat district some 200km east of Ankara.[3] Boyalık has about 30 households, Karabacak 15, and Poyrazlı some 200. The residents of Boyalık and Karabacak speak the Iron dialect of Ossetian, while those of Poyrazlı speak Digor.

The Alan Cultural and Aid Foundation (Alan Kültür ve Yardım Vakfı) was founded in 1989 by Ossetes in Istanbul and Ankara “to secure social solidarity among the Ossetians living in Turkey and… to protect and develop their cultural values”.[4] In 2017 the Alan Vakfı created memorial groves in each of the three remaining Ossetian villages to commemorate the lives of the 186 school children killed in the Beslan massacre in 2004.[5]

At present there are an estimated 60,000 people in Turkey who can claim Ossetian descent, but of these only a few thousand identify as such.[6]

Ossetians and other Caucasian diaspora members protesting against Georgia during the 2008 South Ossetia war (August 13, 2008, Istanbul)

Ossetians in Turkey are predominantly Sunni Muslim. Due to Islamic influence they have largely abandoned many of the traditions which are maintained in Ossetia.[7]

• Minorities in Turkey