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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Assyrians of Turkiye

The Assyrians of Turkiye, numbering approximately 29,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Semitic people indigenous to northern Mesopotamia, speakers of Neo-Aramaic, claiming continuity with ancient Assyria, split across the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic, and Syriac Orthodox traditions, with a large modern diaspora. They mostly adhere to Syriac Orthodox Christianity and Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Assyrian

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Turkiye
People Cluster: Assyrian
Primary Language(s): Assyrian Neo-Aramaic (aii)
Primary Religion(s): Syriac Orthodox Christianity
Population: 29,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024540
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Pray for the Assyrians of Turkiye

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Syriac Orthodox Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

80%
%
Syriac Orthodox Christian… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

80%
%
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic Speakers

Media Resources in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Assyrian Neo-Aramaic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Assyrians:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Assyrians of Turkiye

"For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." Those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" But he said "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:25-27

Pray that the lost who think they have everything they need will recognize their spiritual poverty apart from Jesus and turn to Him in faith.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
readIsaiah 43:19

Pray that the lost will see the new thing God can do in their lives and trust in His plan and purpose for them.

Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
readPsalm 100:3-4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be in awe of the Lord God, their Creator, and will give Him thanksgiving and praise.

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ...that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
readColossians 4:3-4

Ask God to open doors for believers to share the gospel and help them communicate it clearly so that more people will understand the mystery of Christ and turn to follow Him.

Assyrian Across Countries (ROP3 - 100574) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

14 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
AssyriansPG011794AssyriansKuwait8,500Engaged yet UnreachedTuroyoEthnoreligion
AssyriansPG000214AssyriansGermany70,000No Longer UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicSyriac Orthodox Christianity
AssyriansPG000543AssyriansSweden145,000Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicSyriac Orthodox Christianity
AssyriansPG000613AssyriansUnited Kingdom7,000Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism
AssyriansPG007833AssyriansAustralia40,000No Longer UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChurch of the East
AssyriansPG011701AssyriansIraq207,000Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism
AssyriansPG011733AssyriansIsrael850Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicEthnoreligion
AssyriansPG011812AssyriansLebanon31,500Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicEthnoreligion
AssyriansPG012181AssyriansSyria50,500Engaged yet UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicEthnoreligion
AssyriansPG024131AssyriansIran22,000Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism
AssyriansPG024540AssyriansTurkiye29,000Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicSyriac Orthodox Christianity
AssyriansPG042491AssyriansFrance4,000Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism
AssyriansPG043355AssyriansCanada11,500No Longer UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism
AssyriansPG043528AssyriansUnited States70,000No Longer UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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