The Turks of Turkiye

The Turks of Turkiye, numbering approximately 64,270,000 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: 64,270,000
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

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
readPsalm 10:17-18

Pray that God, in accordance with His good character, will give justice to those who are oppressed by sin and that they will know that His offer of salvation is for everyone.

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
readActs 6:7

Pray that the Word of God will be increasingly available to these people in ways they will resonate with so that all may have a chance to respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.

But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
readHebrews 10:38

Pray that as people trust in Christ, they will live by faith and not shrink back from their hope in Christ.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe."
readJohn 6:35-36

Praise God for the things such as bread that He has provided as natural conversation bridges to the gospel. Pray that believers will use any bridges He provides to share the gospel with those who do not yet know the good news.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

27 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
TurksTurksAustralia59,500Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksItaly40,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksUnited Arab Emirates44,500Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksNorway21,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksKosovo13,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
Rumelian TurksRumelian TurksGreece160,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksUnited States147,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksCanada30,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksUnited Kingdom62,500Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksTurkiye64,270,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksKazakhstan92,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksSaudi Arabia37,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksLebanon6,300Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksEgypt57,500Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksAustria227,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksPakistan2,500Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksRomania56,500Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksNorth Macedonia69,500Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksBulgaria508,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksBosnia and Herzegovina9,800Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksSwitzerland138,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksSweden58,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksNetherlands761,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksGermany2,205,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksFrance394,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksDenmark107,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksTurksBelgium83,500Engaged yet 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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