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The Rumelian Turks of Greece

The Rumelian Turks of Greece, numbering approximately 160,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Turkish Muslim community that traces its roots to Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire name for its European territories, largely corresponding to today’s Balkans. Rumelian Turks are the main ethnically Turkish community in Greece today. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Turkish is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Rumelian Turk

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Greece
People Cluster: Turkic
Primary Language(s): Turkish (tur)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 160,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046763
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Pray for the Rumelian Turks of Greece

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Turkish
Language Family: Turkic

100%
%
Turkish Speakers

Media Resources in Turkish:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Turkish:

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

4 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Turkish bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Rumelian 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 Rumelian 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 Rumelian Turks of Greece

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.

“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.

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
read1 Corinthians 3:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be unified in making disciples and be used by God to further His kingdom near and far.

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.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

27 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
TurksPG050665TurksItaly40,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG050497TurksUnited Arab Emirates44,500Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG049408TurksNorway21,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG048012TurksKosovo13,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
Rumelian TurksPG046763Rumelian TurksGreece160,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG046495TurksUnited States147,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG043491TurksCanada30,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG042466TurksUnited Kingdom62,500Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG024593TurksTurkiye64,290,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG024299TurksKazakhstan92,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG011937TurksSaudi Arabia37,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG011823TurksLebanon6,300Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG011515TurksEgypt57,500Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG008077TurksAustralia59,500Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG006409TurksPakistan2,500Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG000902TurksRomania56,500Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG000859TurksNorth Macedonia69,500Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG000744TurksBulgaria508,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG000723TurksBosnia and Herzegovina9,800Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG000606TurksSwitzerland138,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG000576TurksSweden58,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG000444TurksNetherlands761,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG000274TurksGermany2,205,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG000204TurksFrance394,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG000099TurksDenmark107,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG000073TurksBelgium83,500Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
TurksPG000046TurksAustria227,000Engaged 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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