The Levantine Arabs of Turkiye

The Levantine Arabs of Turkiye, numbering approximately 1,460,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Arab community of Syrian and Lebanese descent, often grouped together due to shared historical, linguistic, and cultural ties. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Levantine Arabic is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Arab, Levantine

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Turkiye
People Cluster: Arab, Levant
Primary Language(s): Levantine Arabic (apc)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 1,460,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024574

Pray for the Levantine Arabs 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

95%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Levantine Arabic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Levantine Speakers

Media Resources in Levantine Arabic:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Levantine Arabic:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Sabeel Media✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Levantine Arabic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Levantine Arabs 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 Levantine Arabs:
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 Levantine Arabs of Turkiye

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
read1 John 4:10

Pray for those without the hope of Christ to understand the depth of God's love and the sacrifice He made for them.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
read2 Timothy 4:3-4

Pray that the lost will be open to the truth of the gospel and turn from false teachings and myths to the sound doctrine of Christ in faith.

For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.
readPsalm 86:10-11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the Lord with all their heart, knowing that He is the one true God and will teach them His ways.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Arab, Levantine Across Countries (ROP3 - 109667) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

16 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▲CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Levantine ArabsLevantine ArabsPortugal23,000Engaged yet UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Levantine ArabsLevantine ArabsSweden406,000Unengaged and UnreachedLevantine ArabicSunni Islam
Levantine ArabsLevantine ArabsUnited Kingdom512,000Engaged yet UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Levantine ArabsLevantine ArabsEgypt218,000Engaged yet UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Levantine ArabsLevantine ArabsTunisia251,000Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Levantine ArabsLevantine ArabsCote d’Ivoire67,000Engaged yet UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Levantine ArabsLevantine ArabsGuinea1,300Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicFolk Islam
Levantine ArabsLevantine ArabsGuinea-Bissau11,000Unengaged and UnreachedLevantine ArabicFolk Islam
Levantine ArabsLevantine ArabsBritish Virgin Islands60Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Levantine ArabsLevantine ArabsDominica50Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Levantine ArabsLevantine ArabsHaiti5,700Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Levantine ArabsLevantine ArabsCuracao325Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Levantine ArabsLevantine ArabsEcuador3,200Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Levantine ArabsLevantine ArabsAustralia196,000No Longer UnreachedGulf ArabicRoman Catholicism
Levantine ArabsLevantine ArabsTurkiye1,460,000Engaged yet UnreachedLevantine ArabicFolk Islam
Middle Eastern ArabsMiddle Eastern ArabsGermany104,000Unengaged and UnreachedLevantine ArabicSunni 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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