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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Northern Zaza of Türkiye

The Northern Zaza of Türkiye, numbering approximately 1,495,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethno-religious community of eastern Turkey. Zazas generally consider themselves Kurds and are often described as Zaza Kurds. They are an Indigenous people, in the Kurd people cluster of the Persian-Median Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Shia. They primarily speak Zazaki, Northern.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Müge Yildiz - Wikimedia Müge Yildiz - Wikimedia Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Türkiye
People Cluster: Kurd
Primary Language(s): Zazaki, Northern (kiu)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Shia
Population: 1,495,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046643
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Northern Zaza of Türkiye

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Shia
Religious Affiliation: Islam

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Zazaki, Northern
Language Family: Indo-European

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Media Resources in Zazaki, Northern:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Zazaki, Northern:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Zazaki, Northern bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Northern Zaza

The Northern Zaza 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 Northern Zaza

The Northern Zaza 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 Northern Zaza

The Northern Zaza 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 Northern Zaza of Türkiye

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
readRomans 8:1

Pray that God will reassure those who may be struggling with the cost of following Jesus that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
readPsalm 96:2

Pray that gospel resources will reach this generation so that they will receive the good news and sing to the LORD, bless His name, and tell of His salvation each day.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
readRomans 6:11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will lay down all evil desires, dying to sin and living for Him alone.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
readJohn 1:5

Pray that when discouraging days come, those who cross cultures for the sake of the gospel will be comforted as they remember that the light of Christ is stronger than the darkness that surrounds them.

Zaza-Alevi (ROP3 - 100225) 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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