The Turks of Turkiye

The Turks of Turkiye, numbering approximately 64,280,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a people of Anatolia (Asia Minor) and Eastern Thrace whose culture reflects the blending of Turkic, Anatolian, Islamic, Mediterranean, Balkan, Caucasian, and Middle Eastern influences. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Turkish is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Turk

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Turkiye
People Cluster: Turkic
Primary Language(s): Turkish (tur)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 64,280,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024593
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Turks 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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

83%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Turkish
Language Family: Turkic

99%
%
Turkish Speakers

Media Resources in Turkish:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Turkish:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Halk Dilinde 2012✓✓
Kutsal Kitap 2009✓✓
New Turkish Bible Translation✓
Yeni Antlaşma 1987, 1994✓✓

4 entries

Or check out the Turkish bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The 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.

Next steps for the Turks:
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 Turks of Turkiye

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
readIsaiah 49:13

Thank the Lord for the people here and ask that His gospel will flow through this land to bring hope to those who are afflicted by the guilt of sin.

“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that was not called by my name."
readIsaiah 65:1

Pray that the lost will be found by God, even when they are not seeking Him. Pray that He will reveal Himself to them in a way they cannot ignore and that they will respond in faith.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.
readPsalm 23:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that the Lord is their shepherd, providing for their every need.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
readMatthew 9:37-38

Pray that the Lord of the harvest will raise up believers to send out into His harvest field, which is ripe and ready.

Turk Across Countries (ROP3 - 113818) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

27 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
TurksTurksTurkiye64,280,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksGermany2,205,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksNetherlands761,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksBulgaria508,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksFrance394,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksAustria227,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
Rumelian TurksRumelian TurksGreece160,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksUnited States147,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksSwitzerland138,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksDenmark107,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksKazakhstan92,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksBelgium83,500Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksNorth Macedonia69,500Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksUnited Kingdom62,500Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksAustralia59,500Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksSweden58,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksEgypt57,500Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksRomania56,500Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksUnited Arab Emirates44,500Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksItaly40,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksSaudi Arabia37,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksCanada30,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksNorway21,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksKosovo13,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksBosnia and Herzegovina9,800Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksLebanon6,300Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksPakistan2,500Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni 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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