Turkish Australians
Australian population )
38,568 (by birth, 2021) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
Melbourne, Sydney, Wollongong | |
Languages | |
Turkish (including the Cypriot Turkish dialect) and Australian English | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Sunni Islam Minority Alevism, Christianity, Other religions and Irreligious |
Part of a series of articles on |
Turkish people |
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Turkish Australians (Turkish: Türk Avustralyalılar) or Australian Turks (Turkish: Avustralyalı Türkler) are Australians who have emigrated from Turkey or who have Turkish ancestral origins.
Turks first began to immigrate to Australia from
History
Ottoman migration
Earliest known short term Turkish migrants in Australia date back to 1860s to 1900 period when small groups of mainly Muslim
The presence of Turkish people in Australia dates back to the early 19th century, although at the time there were only about 20 Turkish settlers. Their number increased to 300 by the 1911 census. Their number declined during the First World War when Australia and Turkey fought on opposite sides.[3]
Turkish Cypriot migration

A notable scale of
Between 1955 and 1960, the island of Cyprus' independence was approaching; however, Turkish Cypriots felt vulnerable as they had cause for concern about the political future of the island when the
Once the
Mainland Turkish migration
On 5 October 1967, the governments of Australia and Turkey signed an agreement to allow Turkish citizens to immigrate to Australia.[12] Prior to this recruitment agreement, there were less than 3,000 people of Turkish origin in Australia.
Migration from other countries
There are also ethnic Turks who have immigrated to Australia from
Demographics


Population
According to the 2021 Australian census, 38,568 Australian residents were born in Turkey. In addition, 87,164 people born in Australia claimed Turkish ancestry, making up 0.3% of the country's population.[16]
Number of ethnic Turks in Australia according to the 2006 Australian Census[17]
| |||||||
Country of birth | ethnic Turks | Turkish spoken at home | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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24,770 | 24,852 | |||||
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3,290[a] | 3,345 | |||||
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270 | 263 | |||||
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N/A | 313 | |||||
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N/A | 125 | |||||
Including ancestry | 59,402[21] | 53,866[22] |
Turkish Cypriot population
In 1993 a publication from the
Mainland Turkish population
In 1999, Rob White et al. said that there was 75,000 people who were Turkish-born or had a Turkish immigrant background in Australia.[26] By 2011 Dr Liza Hopkins said that within 35 years, between 1967 and 2002, the Turkish-immigrant community and their descendants had risen to 100,000.[13] More recently, the Turkish origin population in Australia (i.e. excluding Turkish Cypriots etc.) was 200,000 in 2017.[27]
Other Turkish populations
There are smaller populations of Turkish ancestry who have immigrated to Australia from
Settlement
Turkish Australians mainly live in
Religion
- Islam (67.6%)
- No religion (20.6%)
- Oriental Orthodox(1.7%)
- Eastern Orthodox(1.6%)
- Others (8.5%)
In 2016, Muslim community representing 64% from Turkish Australians population (32,178 people), where 19.1% as Non-Religious, 2.4% as Oriental Orthodox, 2.2% as Eastern Orthodox, 4.5% as Other religion and 7.3% as Not stated.[28]
In 2021, population of Turkish Australians (38,586 people in 2021) were identifying as Muslim increased to 67.6%, were 20.6% as Non-Religious, 1.7% as Oriental Orthodox, 1.6% as Eastern Orthodox and 8.5% as Other religion.[29]
Culture
Community bonds remain strong in the Turkish Australian community. They are geographically concentrated in particular areas of Australia which has led to the maintenance of certain cultural traditions across generations.[30] More generally, notions of family loyalty, the social organisation of marriage and traditional segregation of gender roles have shaped the youths' identities in Australia.[31]
Religion
The Turkish Australian community favours religious sermons in the
According to the
Language

The Turkish language is well maintained in Australia and is seen as very important for the self-identification of Turkish Australians.[31] There are numerous Turkish private schools, including Ilim College, Irfan College, Sirius (previously known as Isik) College, Damla College and Burc College that cater for Turkish Australian students.[42]
Media
Newspapers
There are several Turkish language newspapers produced in Australia and generally available free of charge, including Turkish News Press, Anadolu, Yeni Vatan, Dünya, Camia, Zaman, and the Australian Turkish News Weekly.[43]
Radio
The Australian Voice of Turkey currently broadcasts 7 days a week through the digital station 2TripleO which is based in Burwood in Sydney. Also, in Sydney and Melbourne SBS Radio broadcasts in the Turkish language for an hour a day.[43] Other community stations also broadcast in Turkish, though with less hours of content. For example, 3ZZZ currently produces five hours of Turkish programming spread over four days each week.[43]
Television
Turkish
Notable people
See also
- Australia–Turkey relations
- Australians in Turkey
- Albion Rovers FC (Cairnlea), football club established by the Turkish Cypriot community
- Hume City FC, football club established by the Turkish community
- Kemal Atatürk Memorial, Canberra
References
- ^ "2021 Australia, Census All persons QuickStats". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
- ^ australia.gov.au > About Australia > Australian Stories > Afghan cameleers in Australia Archived 5 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 8 May 2014.
- ^ Babacan 2001, 709.
- ^ a b Hüssein 2007, 17
- ^ Cleland 2001, 24
- ^ a b c d Hüssein 2007, 18
- ^ a b c Hüssein 2007, 19
- ^ a b Country Studies. "The Greek Coup and the Turkish Invasion". Retrieved 15 July 2011.
- ^ a b c d Papadakis, Peristianis & Welz 2006, 94.
- ^ US House asks for report on Cyprus's defence capabilities, Cyprus Mail, 20 May 2015.
- ^ 57 FR 60265 - Department of State Denial Notice
- ^ a b Hüssein 2007, 196
- ^ a b c d Hopkins 2011, 116
- ^ a b c d Saeed 2003, 9
- ^ a b Inglis, Akgönül & de Tapia 2009, 108.
- ^ "2021 Australia, Census All persons QuickStats". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
- ^ a b c Australian Bureau of Statistics. "2006 Census Ethnic Media Package". Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ^ Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2006). "Community Information Summary:Turkey" (PDF). Australian Government. p. 2.
- ^ Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2006). "Community Information Summary:Cyprus" (PDF). Australian Government. p. 2.
- ^ Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2006). "Community Information Summary:Bulgaria" (PDF). Australian Government. p. 2.
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics. "20680-Ancestry (full classification list) by Sex - Australia". Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics. "20680-Language Spoken at Home by Sex - Australia". Retrieved 14 July 2011.
- ISBN 9789287125514,
The number of Turkish Cypriots now living in Turkey is about 300 000 while the number of those who have settled in England is 100 000. There are also approximately 30 000 Turkish Cypriots living in Australia and about 6 000 in Canada and the U.S.A.
- ^ TRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Briefing Notes on the Cyprus Issue". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
- ^ Vahdettin, Levent; Aksoy, Seçil; Öz, Ulaş; Orhan, Kaan (2016), Three-dimensional cephalometric norms of Turkish Cypriots using CBCT images reconstructed from a volumetric rendering program in vivo, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey,
Recent estimates suggest that there are now 500,000 Turkish Cypriots living in Turkey, 300,000 in the United Kingdom, 120,000 in Australia, 5000 in the United States, 2000 in Germany, 1800 in Canada, and 1600 in New Zealand with a smaller community in South Africa.
- ^ White, Rob; Perrone, Santina; Guerra, Carmel; Lampugnani, Rosario (1999), Ethnic Youth Gangs in Australia Do They Exist?: Report No. 2 Turkish Young People (PDF), Australian Multicultural Foundation, p. 17
- ^ Lennie, Soraya (2017). "Turkish diaspora in Australia vote in referendum". TRT World. p. 28. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
An estimated 200,000 Turks live in Australia with most of them based in Melbourne's northern suburbs.
- ^ "Turkish Culture". Cultural Atlas. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
- ^ "2021 People in Australia who were born in Turkey, Census Country of birth QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
- ^ Windle 2009, 175.
- ^ a b Zevallos 2008, 24
- ^ Humphrey 2001, 36.
- ^ Humphrey 2009, 146.
- ^ Humphrey 2009, 148.
- ^ Ali & Sonn 2010, 425.
- ^ Akbarzadeh 2001, 232.
- ^ Hüssein 2007, 295.
- ^ Inglis 2008, 522.
- ^ The Sydney Morning Herald (24 April 2010). "Turkish mosque joins honour roll of Australian heritage buildings". Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ^ Kabir 2004, pp. 189–192.
- ^ Table 13: Religious Affiliation (Top Twenty), Turkey-born and the Total Victorian Population: 2016, 2011
- ^ Windle 2009, 182.
- ^ a b c Hopkins 2009, 234
- ^ Hopkins 2009, 238
- ^ BRT. "AVUSTURALYA'DA KIBRS TÜRKÜNÜN SESİ". Retrieved 18 July 2011.
Notes
^ a: The 2006 census recorded a further 4,120 "Cypriots"; however, it is unclear whether these include Greek Cypriots or Turkish Cypriots.
Bibliography
- Akbarzadeh, Shahram (2001), "Unity or Fragmentation?", in Saeed, Abdullah; Akbarzadeh, Shahram (eds.), Muslim Communities in Australia, University of New South Wales, ISBN 0-86840-580-9.
- Ali, Lütfiye; Sonn, Christopher C. (2010), "Constructing Identity as a Second-Generation Cypriot Turkish in Australia: The Multi-hyphenated Other", Culture & Psychology, 16 (3), Sage: 416–436, S2CID 145803244
- Babacan, Hürriyet (2001), "Turks", in Jupp, James (ed.), The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-80789-1.
- Cleland, Bilal (2001), "The History of Muslims in Australia", in Saeed, Abdullah; Akbarzadeh, Shahram (eds.), Muslim Communities in Australia, University of New South Wales, ISBN 0-86840-580-9.
- Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2006), Community Information Summary:Turkey-born (PDF), Australian Government
- Docker, John; Fischer, Gerhard (2000), Race, Colour, and Identity in Australia and New Zealand, UNSW Press, ISBN 0-86840-538-8.
- Hopkins, Liza (2009), "Turkish Transnational Media in Melbourne: a Migrant Mediascape" (PDF), International Journal on Multicultural Societies, 11 (2): 230–247
- Hopkins, Liza (2011), "A Contested Identity: Resisting the Category Muslim-Australian", Immigrants & Minorities, 29 (1), Routledge: 110–131, S2CID 145324792
- Humphrey, Michael (2001), "An Australian Islam? Religion in the Multicultural City", in Saeed, Abdullah; Akbarzadeh, Shahram (eds.), Muslim Communities in Australia, University of New South Wales, ISBN 0-86840-580-9.
- Humphrey, Michael (2009), "Securitisation and Domestication of Diaspora Muslims and Islam: Turkish immigrants in Germany and Australia" (PDF), International Journal on Multicultural Societies, 11 (2): 136–154
- Hüssein, Serkan (2007), Yesterday & Today: Turkish Cypriots of Australia, Serkan Hussein, ISBN 978-0-646-47783-1.
- Inglis, K. S. (2008), Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape, The Miegunyah Press, ISBN 978-0-522-85479-4.
- Inglis, Christine; Akgönül, Samim; de Tapia, Stéphane (2009), "Turks Abroad: Settlers, Citizens, Transnationals –Introduction" (PDF), International Journal on Multicultural Societies, 11 (2): 104–118
- Kabir, Nahid Afrose (2004). Muslims in Australia: Immigration, Race Relations and Cultural History. Routledge. ISBN 9781136214998.
- Papadakis, Yiannis; Peristianis, Nicos; Welz, Gisela (2006), Divided Cyprus: Modernity, History, and an Island in Conflict, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, ISBN 0-253-21851-9.
- Saeed, Abdullah (2003), Islam in Australia, Allen & Unwin, ISBN 1-86508-864-1.
- Şenay, Banu (2009), "A "Condition of Homelessness" or a "State of Double Consciousness"? Turkish Migrants and Home-Making in Australia" (PDF), International Journal on Multicultural Societies, 11 (2): 248–263
- White, Rob; Perrone, Santina; Guerra, Carmel; Lampugnani, Rosario (1999), Ethnic Youth Gangs in Australia Do They Exist?: Report No. 2 Turkish Young People (PDF), Australian Multicultural Foundation.
- Windle, Joel (2009), ""Soft" and "Hard" Landings: the Experience of School under Contrasting Institutional Arrangements in Australia and France" (PDF), International Journal on Multicultural Societies, 11 (2): 174–194
- Yağmur, Kutlay (2004), "Issues in finding the appropriate methodology in language attrition research", in Schmid, Monika S.; Köpke, Barbara; Keijzer, Merel; et al. (eds.), First Language Attrition: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Methodological Issues, John Benjamins Publishing Company, ISBN 90-272-4139-2.
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