Minorities in Turkey seekers. By the end 2011, their numbers are expected to surge up to 10,000, making them the largest population and surpass other groups. Ethnic Kurds are the largest minority in Turkey, composing around 20% of the population according to Milliyet, 18% of the total populace or c. 14 million people according to the CIA World Factbook, and as much as 23% according to Kurdologist David McDowall. Unlike the Turks, the Kurds speak an Iranian language. There are Kurds living all over Turkey, but most live to the east and southeast of the country, from where they originate. In the 1930s,
Albanians in Turkey with a positive image amongst a large majority of people in Albania, Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia which contains a sizable Albanian minority. Albanians form a significant population group in Turkey and have contributed to Turkish society and the state with many merchants, army officers, labourers, officials, educators and intellectuals. The Turkish military has traditionally viewed Albanian identity in Turkey as a sub-ethnic identity alongside others forming part of the larger state-centric Turkish identity and that debates about primary versus sub-identities would undermine (Turkish) national identity. The current AKP Turkish political leadership has acknowledged that there are large numbers