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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Northern Zaza of Türkiye

The Northern Zaza of Türkiye, numbering approximately 1,495,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethno-religious community of eastern Turkey. Zazas generally consider themselves Kurds and are often described as Zaza Kurds. They are an Indigenous people, in the Kurd people cluster of the Persian-Median Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Shia. They primarily speak Zazaki, Northern.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Müge Yildiz - Wikimedia Müge Yildiz - Wikimedia Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Türkiye
People Cluster: Kurd
Primary Language(s): Zazaki, Northern (kiu)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Shia
Population: 1,495,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046643
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Northern Zaza of Türkiye

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: Islam - Shia
Religious Affiliation: Islam

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Zazaki, Northern
Language Family: Indo-European

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Media Resources in Zazaki, Northern:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Zazaki, Northern:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Zazaki, Northern bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Northern Zaza

The Northern Zaza are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Northern Zaza

The Northern 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.

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

Next steps for the Northern Zaza

The Northern Zaza are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Northern Zaza of Türkiye

Behold, I stand at the door and?knock.?If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,?I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
readRevelation 3:20

Pray that those who have not opened their hearts to Jesus will hear His knock and invite Him in as their Savior and Lord.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
readMatthew 24:14

Pray that the gospel of God's kingdom will reach more people and that they will respond in faith, becoming disciples of Jesus Christ.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
read1 Peter 2:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember every day that Jesus' death on the cross brings real healing and restoration to their souls and joyfully share this good news with others.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
readRomans 1:16

Pray that God will raise up sons and daughters who, like Paul, will be bold to share the gospel across cultural barriers so that many might receive salvation.

Zaza-Alevi (ROP3 - 100225) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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