Karamanli Turks

Karamanlı Turks are a Turkish community historically residing in central and southern Anatolia, particularly in cities such as Kayseri, Niğde, Nevşehir, Karaman, and Konya, who speak Turkish and adhere to the Orthodox Christian faith. Their most defining characteristics are that their mother tongue is Turkish and that they write their religious texts using the Greek alphabet.

Interview with a Woman on Karamanlı Folk Song (Karamanlıca Archive Studies Greece)

The ethnic origins of the Karamanlıs are debated among both Turkish and Greek academic circles. Greek sources claim they are of Hellenic origin and were Turkified during the Ottoman period, while Turkish scholars argue that the Karamanlıs are descendants of Oghuz, Pecheneg, Cuman, or Uz Turks who adopted Christianity. Particularly during the Byzantine era, these Turkish groups, settled in Anatolia as paid soldiers or captives, gradually embraced Orthodoxy and evolved into a Christian Turkish community.

The Karamanlıs wrote Turkish using the Greek alphabet. This written language is called "Karamanlıca". The earliest texts date back to the 16th century. Between the 17th and 19th centuries, they produced a wide literary corpus ranging from religious texts to newspapers. The language of these works is simple, comprehensible Turkish and does not differ from other dialects of the Ottoman period. Despite writing in Greek letters, the Karamanlıs do not know Greek and even conduct their religious services in Turkish.

Woman from Konya singing the Konya folk song (HABERFIX TV)

The Karamanlı Turks were under the jurisdiction of the Phanar Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul. However, this affiliation became increasingly controversial. In the early 20th century, under the leadership of Patriarch Eftim, they developed a stance opposed to the Patriarchate and established the independent Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate, merging their religious identity with Turkishness. During the National Struggle, they opposed the occupation of Anatolia and supported the Ankara Government.

The Karamanlı Turks constitute one of the fundamental identity issues of the Republican era. This community, which speaks Turkish, identifies culturally as Turkish, but adheres to Orthodox Christianity, was subjected to the compulsory population exchange stipulated by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. This exchange was based not on ethnic origin but on religious criteria. According to Lausanne, Muslims in Greece, except those in Western Thrace, were to be sent to Türkiye; and Orthodox Christians in Anatolia, except those in Istanbul, were to be sent to Greece.

The Karamanlı Turks were classified under the Greek Orthodox status under these terms. Although they spoke Turkish, followed Anatolian Turkish traditions, and identified themselves as "Turkish Orthodox," their religious affiliation led to their classification as "non-Muslim" and they were collectively deported to Greece in 1924.

The key distinction between the Karamanlıs and other minority communities was that they were not merely Orthodox but fully integrated linguistically and culturally with Muslim Turks. Their lack of knowledge of Greek, despite being Orthodox, placed them under Greek status; conversely, Muslim groups ethnically distinct from Turks such as Pomaks, Bosniaks, and Albanians remained in Türkiye. This situation stems from the Republic’s foundational concept of a "political community" built on religious homogeneity. While in the Ottoman era they were described as "Zimmiyan-ı Karaman" or "Turkish Orthodox," the Republican period did not recognize this plural identity.

Folk Dances of the Karamanli Turks (Cappadocians of Kozani)

The situation of the Karamanlı Turks in Greece is a process that began with forced migration, continued through an identity crisis, and largely ended in assimilation. The Karamanlıs sent to Greece in 1924 under the Treaty of Lausanne were neither ethnically nor culturally accepted by the Greek population. Unlike the dominant Greek Orthodox community, they spoke Turkish, did not know Greek, and were perceived as "the other" in terms of names, traditions, and daily life.

The Karamanlıs who migrated to Greece were commonly referred to by the local population as "Turkospori" (τουρκόσποροι / Turkish seed). This term carried a dismissive connotation regarding their cultural identity. Their native use of Turkish, ignorance of Greek, and cultural alienation despite their Orthodox faith led to their labeling as "half-Christians," "black-faithed," and "deviant." This exclusion was not limited to popular attitudes but was also reflected in state practices and educational policies. The Karamanlıs faced second-class citizenship in education, employment, and public life. Children were forced to grow up in Greek schools, forgetting their language, while adults were compelled to abandon Turkish to adapt to social life.

Although the Karamanlıs who arrived in Greece tried to sustain their identity through language, the process of erasing Turkish from public life occurred rapidly. The first generation spoke Turkish fluently; the second generation heard it only at home; and the third generation forgot the language entirely and began speaking only Greek. During this process, written Karamanlı literature came to an end; Karamanlıca newspapers, publications, and religious texts ceased production after 1924.

In Türkiye, the gravestones, church inscriptions, and fountain and bath texts of the Karamanlı Turks are still preserved as their legacy. Most of these inscriptions are in Greek-script Turkish. Hundreds of books and newspapers written in Karamanlıca have survived to the present day, forming an important literary heritage for the Turkish language.

Patriarch Eftim, born Zeki Erenerol in 1883 in the village of Akçakaya near Kayseri, is a Karamanlı Orthodox Turk who became a symbolic figure in the national identity struggle of the Karamanlı Turks. As both a religious leader and a political figure, he opposed the "Greek-oriented" stance of the Phanar Greek Orthodox Patriarchate during the foundation of the Turkish Republic and sought to establish an independent Turkish Orthodox identity in Anatolia.

During the National Struggle, Patriarch Eftim was among the few Orthodox clergymen who opposed the Greek occupation. In 1922, the Karamanlı Orthodox Christians gathered under the banner of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate he founded in Kayseri and declared their independence from the Phanar Greek Orthodox Patriarchate. In the same year, he launched a newspaper titled "Anadolu’da Ortodoksluk Sadası" (The Voice of Orthodoxy in Anatolia) to disseminate both religious and national messages to broader audiences.

A recurring phrase in this publication was the assertion "We are not Greeks, we are Turks." According to Patriarch Eftim, there is no contradiction between Orthodoxy and Turkishness; a person can be both Christian and Turkish.

In 1924, shortly after the proclamation of the Republic, the community led by Patriarch Eftim relocated to Ankara, where the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate was formally established as an institution. This structure, developed in opposition to the Phanar Patriarchate, was supported by the Ankara Government because it also sent a message to domestic public opinion and the West: "There are individuals in Türkiye who belong to the Christian faith but identify themselves as Turkish."

Although the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate initially operated only symbolically, it successfully aligned with the state’s secularization policies. However, over the years, it largely lost its public influence and transformed into a family institution.

One of Patriarch Eftim’s most distinctive traits was his attempt to reconstruct identity politics through religious representation. He viewed Christian Karamanlıs not as a minority but as part of the Turkish nation, challenging both Greek influence over the Patriarchate and the Turkish state’s Muslim-centered concept of citizenship. However, this stance generated controversy. His gradual prioritization of nationalist discourse over religious unity made him both an influential and contradictory figure.

Patriarch Eftim died in 1968. His son and grandson succeeded him in the patriarchal role. Today, the active structure of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate remains largely symbolic; yet the legacy left by Patriarch Eftim continues to serve as a reference point in ongoing debates in Turkish political history concerning secularism, religion, ethnicity, and citizenship.