The Turks form the largest ethnic group in European Turkey (as well as the Republic of Turkey as a whole) and Northern Cyprus. They also form centuries-old minority groups in other post-Ottoman nation states within the Balkans (i.e. the Balkan Turks) where they form the largest ethnic minority in Bulgaria and the second-largest minority in North Macedonia. Meanwhile, in the diaspora, the Turks form the largest ethnic minority group in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands. In 1997, there was approximately 10 million Turks living in Western Europe and the Balkans (i.e. excluding Northern Cyprus and Turkey). By 2010, up to 15 million Turks were living in the European Union (i.e. excluding Turkey and several Balkan and Eastern European countries which are not in the EU). According to Dr Araks Pashayan 10 million "Euro-Turks" alone were living in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium in 2012. In addition, substantial Turkish communities have been formed in the United Kingdom, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Liechtenstein, Finland, and Spain. Meanwhile, there are over one million Turks still living in the Balkans (especially in Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Romania), and approximately 400,000 Meskhetian Turks in the Eastern European regions of the Post-Soviet states (i.e. Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine).