Kurds in Turkey Kurds in Turkey Kurds in Turkey refers to people born in or residing in Turkey who are of Kurdish origin. The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Turkey. According to various estimates, they compose between 15% and 20% of the population of Turkey. There are Kurds living in various provinces of Turkey, but they are primarily concentrated in the east and southeast of the country, within the region viewed by Kurds as Northern Kurdistan. Massacres, such as the Dersim ethnocide and the Zilan massacre, have periodically occurred against the Kurds since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in
Azerbaijanis in Turkey Azerbaijanis in Turkey Azerbaijanis in Turkey or Turkish Azerbaijanis () are Azerbaijani people in Turkey, and are Turkish citizens and permanent residents of ethnic Azerbaijani background. It is hard to determine how many ethnic Azerbaijanis currently reside in Turkey because ethnicity is a rather fluid concept in this country. According to some sources, there are about 800,000 Twelver Shias in Turkey, however this figure may differ substantially from the real one. Looklex Encyclopaedia puts the number of Azerbaijanis in Turkey at 800,000. Up to 300,000 of Azerbaijanis who reside in Turkey are citizens of Azerbaijan. In the Eastern Anatolia Region,