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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Turkmen of Iran

The Turkmen of Iran, numbering approximately 2,760,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Turkic ethnic group indigenous to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern Iran, and northwestern Afghanistan and can also be known as Turkomani. They are an Indigenous people, in the Turkmen people cluster of the Turkic Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Turkmen.

Turkmen in Turkmenistan photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Anonymous

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Turkmen
Primary Language(s): Turkmen (tuk)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 2,760,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG042249

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Pray for the Turkmen of Iran

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Turkmen
Language Family: Turkic

%
Turkmen Speakers

Media Resources in Turkmen:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Turkmen:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Turkmen bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Turkmen

The Turkmen 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 Turkmen

The Turkmen 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 Turkmen

The Turkmen 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 Turkmen of Iran

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
read1 Timothy 6:9

Pray for those, rich and poor, who have put their trust in worldly things, and ask that they will be honest with themselves, acknowledge their need for God and turn to Him.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise).
readEphesians 6:1-2

Pray that God will bring young men and women to faith in Jesus and that the fruit of their faith will be a powerful testimony as they honor their parents. 

Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
readPsalm 6:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and still struggle with the worries of this life, God will deliver them from worry for the sake of His steadfast love.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
read1 Corinthians 9:20

Pray that believers from similar cultures will be compelled by Christ's love to reach people who don't know the gospel, and that those people will receive the good news with joy.

Turkmen (ROP3 - 110306) 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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