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The Southern Zaza of Turkiye

The Southern Zaza of Turkiye, numbering approximately 1,780,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Zazaki-speaking people of southeastern Turkey's Adiyaman, Diyarbakir and Sanliurfa provinces, believed descended from Daylamite migrants out of the Caspian region, distinguished from the Alevi Northern Zaza by their Sunni faith. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Dimli (individual language) is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Zaza, Southern

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Turkiye
People Cluster: Kurd
Primary Language(s): Dimli (individual language) (diq)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 1,780,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046644
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Pray for the Southern Zaza 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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

95%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Dimli (individual language)
Language Family: Indo-European

80%
%
Zazaki, Southern Speakers

Media Resources in Dimli (individual language):

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Dimli (individual language):

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Bible Society in Turkey✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Dimli (individual language) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Southern Zaza are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Southern Zaza:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Southern Zaza of Turkiye

Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him.
readIsaiah 45:24

Pray that those who are weary and burdened by their own righteousness will find rest in the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ alone.

Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.
readMatthew 13:8-9

Pray that they will have open hearts and minds to the Word of God, and that it will take root in their lives and bear fruit for His glory.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
readIsaiah 41:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will not fear, for the Lord is with them, and He will strengthen, help, and uphold them with His righteous right hand.

O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.
readPsalm 15:1-2

Ask God to send believers who will go and, with integrity, walk blamelessly and do what is right, speaking truth about the Lord with those who need to learn about His redemption plan.

Zaza-Dimli Across Countries (ROP3 - 102613) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Southern ZazaPG046644Southern ZazaTurkiye1,780,000Engaged yet UnreachedDimli (individual language)Sunni Islam

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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