page_title: Religion in Syria
section_title: Turkmen/Turkoman
hierarchical_section_title: Religion in Syria / Islam / Sunnis / Turkmen/Turkoman
caption_attribution_description: English: The Al-Adiliyah Mosque in Aleppo, Syria. Photo taken 1996 from the top of the Citadel with a miniature camera Minox 35 PL.
context_page_description: Religion in Syria refers to the range of religions practiced by the citizens of Syria. Historically, the region has been a mosaic of diverse faiths with a range of different sects within each of these religious communities. The majority of Syrians are Muslims, of which the Sunnis are the most numerous, followed by the Shia groups, and Druzes. In addition, there are several Christian minorities. There is also a small Jewish community.
context_section_description: The Turkish-speaking Turkmen/Turkoman are the third largest ethnic group in the country (around 4%–5% in 2013) and are mainly Sunni Muslims. They mainly live in the urban centres and countryside of the following six governorates: the Aleppo Governorate, the Damascus Governorate, the Homs Governorate, the Hama Governorate, the Latakia Governorate and the Quneitra Governorate.
  In 1979 Dr. Nikolaos van Dam claimed that the Syrian Turkmen/Turkoman (forming 3% of the population) were almost exclusively Sunni Muslims. By 1991 Professor Alasdair Drysdale and Professor Raymond Hinnebusch also said that approximately 3% of the country was formed of Sunni Muslim Turkmen/Turkoman. More recently, Dr. Pierre Beckouche  said that before 2011 the Sunni Muslim Turkmen/Turkoman formed 4% of the country's population.
  However, the Sunni Turkmen population is believed to be considerably higher if Arabized Turkmen are also taken into consideration; some estimations indicate that only 30% of Turkmen still speak their mother tongue, therefore, the Arabic-speaking Turkmen are likely to be omitted from the Sunni Turkmen population estimates.
caption: The Al-Adiliyah Mosque is a 16th-century Ottoman mosque.
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