Turks in Poland
Encyclopedia
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
ethnicity living in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
who form one of the country's smaller minority groups.
Turkish community
The total number of Turkish people in Poland is underestimated and data collected by different public institutions seem to be incoherent. Over the last decade, Poland has seen a wave of Turkish immigrants who have had to actively look for an economic niche for themselves. They started as small traders and wholesalers; today, they have become successful entrepreneurs and investors.Demographics
The majority live in WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
or in the vicinity; but small communities of Turks are also reported in Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
and Łódź.
Naturalisation
Notable people
- Maria Aurora of SpiegelMaria Aurora of SpiegelMaria Aurora of Spiegel, born Fatima , was a mistress of Augustus II the Strong and the wife of a Polish noble. Originally a Turkish slave, she was brought to the royal courts of Sweden and Poland from Buda and trained as a lady-in-waiting....
- Leyla GencerLeyla GencerLeyla Gencer, or Ayşe Leyla Çeyrekgil was a world-renowned Turkish operatic soprano.Known as "La Diva Turca" and "La Regina" in the opera world, Gencer was a notable bel canto soprano who spent most of her career in Italy, from the early 1950s through the mid-1980s, and had a repertoire...
(Polish mother) - Frederick Augustus RutowskyFrederick Augustus RutowskyFrederick Augustus, Count Rutowsky , was a Saxon Field Marshal who commanded Saxon forces in the Siege of Pirna during the Seven Years War.-Early years:...
(Turkish mother) - Maria Anna Katharina RutowskaMaria Anna Katharina RutowskaMaria Anna Katharina Rutowska was a Polish noblewoman.She was the illegitimate daughter of Polish king Augustus II the Strong and his mistress, the Turk Fatima or Fatime, later renamed Maria Anna of Spiegel.-Life:...
(Turkish mother) - Teuvo TulioTeuvo TulioTheodor Antonius Tugai , better known as Teuvo Tulio, was a Finnish film director and actor. Beginning his career as an actor at the end of the silent era, Tulio turned to directing and producing in the 1930s...
(Turkish-Polish father)
See also
- Islam in PolandIslam in PolandThe first ever written account of Poland was recorded by the Muslim Caliphate of Córdoba's 10th-century envoy, Ibrahim ibn Jakub. A continuous presence of Islam in Poland began in the 14th century. From this time it was primarily associated with the Tatars, many of whom settled in the...
- Tatars in Poland
- Polish–Turkish relations
- Turks in EuropeTurks in EuropeThe Turks in Europe refers to Turkish people living in Europe. According to a 2011 academic estimate, there is approximately 9 million Turks living in Europe, excluding those who live in Turkey....