Afro-Turks

Afro-Turks, in Turkish Afro-Türkler, also named as Araplar or zenciler, refer to Black people of Turkish citizens whose ancestors once came to the Ottoman Empire from different countrys of Africa. They are Sunni Muslims and speak Turkish as first language and fully assimilated in Turkish culture. Starting centuries ago, some Africans slaves who were freed by Turks over the course of the 18th and 19th century, were transported to the Ottoman Empire from Niger, Kenya, Sudan via Zanzibar and settled in Dalaman, Izmir, Gediz, Manavgat and Çukurova. Much of them intermarried with Turks. Some of them originally lived in Crete, but were sent to the Aegean coast of Anatolia in Turkey due to the Greek-Turkish population exchange in 1923. There traditonal festival Dana Bayramı (Calf Feast) is hold every year in Izmir. Afro Turks from Germany, descendants of the Gustworker who once came from Turkey to Germany, visit the Festival in Izmir. They established in 2006 an Association for African Culture and Solidarity (Afrikalılar Kültür ve Dayanışma Derneği).