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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Northern Zaza of Turkiye

The Northern Zaza of Turkiye, 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 and can also be known as Dersimli, Kirmanjki Kurd. They are an Indigenous people, in the Kurd people cluster of the Persian-Median affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Shia. They primarily speak Zazaki, Northern.

Northern Zaza in Turkiye photo
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: Turkiye
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

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Pray for the Northern Zaza of Turkiye

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Shia
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Shia Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

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

%
Zazaki, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Zazaki, Northern:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Zazaki, Northern:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

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

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

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 Turkiye

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
readMatthew 5:16

Pray that those who are deceived about what brings peace will not settle for any lies they’ve heard about God and will diligently seek Him and be satisfied when they learn the truth about who He is and what He’s done.?

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
read2 Timothy 2:2

Pray that the lost will come to faith in Christ and be discipled in the truth of the gospel, becoming faithful followers of Jesus who, in turn, make disciples themselves.

Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
readHebrews 10:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will not neglect meeting together but encourage one another as they see the Day approaching.

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.
readPsalm 57:9

Pray that God will raise up believers among them who will boldly go and share the gospel with people nearby and with those far away.

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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