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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Rumelian Turks of Greece

The Rumelian Turks of Greece, numbering approximately 161,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Turkish Muslim community that traces its roots to Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire name for its European territories, largely corresponding to today’s Balkans. Rumelian Turks are the main ethnically Turkish community in Greece today. and can also be known as Balkan Turks. They are an Diaspora people, in the Turkic people cluster of the Turkic Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Turkish.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Rumelian Turk

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Greece
People Cluster: Turkic
Primary Language(s): Turkish (tur)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 161,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046763
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Pray for the Rumelian Turks of Greece

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Turkish
Language Family: Turkic

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Media Resources in Turkish:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Turkish:

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Or check out the Turkish bible resources at Bible.com

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Next steps for the Rumelian Turks

The Rumelian Turks 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 Rumelian Turks

The Rumelian Turks 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 Rumelian Turks

The Rumelian Turks 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 Rumelian Turks of Greece

The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.
readProverbs 4:19

Pray that lost people will accept salvation through Christ, turn from destruction, and experience joy in the way of righteousness.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!
readPsalm 57:11

Pray that the lost will learn about God's great love and faithfulness so that they might trust in Christ for their salvation.

Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
readPsalm 6:8

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will remind them that He is near and will help them place their hope in Him when others wish to do them harm.

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
readActs 17:30

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will boldly and lovingly declare that God commands all people everywhere to repent.

Turk (ROP3 - 113818) 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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