Turks in Serbia

Total population
647 Serbian citizens (2011)[1] 2,194 Turkish citizens (2009)[2]
Regions with significant populations
Belgrade, Sandzak
Languages
Turkish and Serbian
Religion
Sunni Islam

Turks in Serbia (Turkish: Sırbistan'daki Türkler), also referred to as Turkish Serbians and Serbian Turks, are people of Turkish ancestry present in Serbia. Turks have lived on this territory since the Ottoman period. The Turkish minority has traditionally lived in the urban areas of Serbia together with many Muslim Albanians; however, in 1830, when the Principality of Serbia was granted autonomy, most Turks emigrated as "muhacirs" (refugees) to Ottoman Turkey, and by 1862 almost all of the remaining Turks left Central Serbia, including 3,000 from Belgrade.^[3] According to the 2011 census only 647 people declared themselves as Turks, though this does not include the Turkish minority in Kosovo.^[4]

Notable people

• Okan Demirok, first runner up of Best Model of Turkey (2016)
• Nevzat Tandoğan, Turkish governor and mayor, his mother was born in Belgrade and his father was from Sarajevo
• Hikmet Kıvılcımlı, Turkish communist leader, theoretician, writer, publicist, and translator. He was a founder of the Vatan Partisi (VP)
• Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, Turkish poet, through his mother he is descended from Hafız Paşazade Mahmut Paşa from Niš. Also his great uncle Leskofçalı Galip was born in Leskovac, Serbia.
• Leskofçalı Galip [tr], 19th century Ottoman Divan poet.
• Kılıçzade Hakkı [tr], Turkish philosopher and writer.
• Cevat Abbas Gürer, Turkish soldier, politician.
• İsmail Hakkı Kılıçoğlu [tr], Turkish politician.
• Muallim Cevdet [tr], Turkish educator, writer, his family emigrated from Niš.