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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Syrian Aramaic of Turkiye

The Syrian Aramaic of Turkiye, numbering approximately 17,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are described as a Central Neo-Aramaic-speaking ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the Tur Abdin region in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria They are an Indigenous people, with Syrian Aramaic (Turoyo) as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Assyrian people cluster of the Arab Peoples. Their primary religion is Orthodox Christianity. They primarily speak Turoyo.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Sylvia beth Yakub - Flickr Sylvia beth Yakub - Flickr Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Turkiye
People Cluster: Assyrian
Primary Language(s): Turoyo (tru)
Primary Religion(s): Orthodox Christianity
Population: 17,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024589
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Pray for the Syrian Aramaic 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: Orthodox Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Orthodox Christianity Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Turoyo
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

80%
%
Turoyo Speakers

Media Resources in Turoyo:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Turoyo:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Turoyo 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 Active 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 Syrian Aramaic:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Syrian Aramaic 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 Syrian Aramaic:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Syrian Aramaic 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.

Next steps for the Syrian Aramaic:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Syrian Aramaic of Turkiye

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
readJohn 3:18

Pray for those who are living under the burden of their sin to believe in Jesus, the only Son of God, and receive freedom.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
readGenesis 2:7

Pray that Christians will be able to share the hope of Christ with suffering people and that He will breathe new life into their souls.

It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
readIsaiah 25:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will proclaim and rejoice in His salvation.

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
readIsaiah 51:11

Pray that, as God sends people to cross cultures and share the good news of Jesus, many will turn to the Lord in repentance and faith and start a personal relationship with Him that will bring them everlasting joy.

Turoyo Across Countries (ROP3 - 110313) 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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