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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Hemshin of Turkiye

The Hemshin of Turkiye, numbering approximately 14,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Turkish speaking Muslim community with historic roots in the Hemşin district in the province of Rize, Turkey. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Western Armenian is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Hemshin

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Turkiye
People Cluster: Armenian
Primary Language(s): Western Armenian (hyw)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 14,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG048629
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Hemshin 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

85%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Western Armenian
Language Family: Indo-European

40%
%
Armenian, Western Speakers

Media Resources in Western Armenian:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Western Armenian:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Արեւմտահայերէն Նոր Կտակարան - Western Armenian N.T. 1853 (with 2017 adaptations)✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Western Armenian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Hemshin 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 Hemshin:
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 Hemshin of Turkiye

But he said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:27

Praise God that He is the God of impossible things and that He is able to save even those who seem beyond hope.

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
readRevelation 4:11

Pray that the good news will advance and people will recognize and worship the One who created all things by His will, giving glory and honor to Him alone.

Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!
readPsalm 105:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and may feel weak in their current circumstances, they will seek the Lord's presence and persevere in the Lord's strength.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
readPsalm 34:3

Pray that God will raise up believers who will go to those in this people group who do not yet follow Jesus, and that they will invite many to magnify the Lord with them so that His fame will spread to the ends of the earth.

Hemshinli Across Countries (ROP3 - 115399) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
HemshinPG048629HemshinTurkiye14,000Engaged yet UnreachedWestern ArmenianSunni 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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