page_title: Albanians in Turkey
section_title: First Phase: Labour and other migration (16th-early 20th centuries)
hierarchical_section_title: Albanians in Turkey / History / Migration and formation of the Albanian diaspora in Turkey / First Phase: Labour and other migration (16th-early 20th centuries)
caption_attribution_description: English: Arnavut Ciğeri or literally Albanian liver is a Turkish meze
context_page_description: Albanians in Turkey are ethnic Albanian citizens and denizens of Turkey. They consist of Albanians who arrived during the Ottoman period, Kosovar/Macedonian and Tosk Cham Albanians fleeing from Serbian and Greek persecution after the beginning of the Balkan Wars, alongside some Albanians from Montenegro and Albania proper. A 2008 report from the Turkish National Security Council estimated that approximately 1.3 million people of Albanian ancestry live in Turkey, and more than 500,000 recognizing their ancestry, language and culture. There are other estimates however that place the number of people in Turkey with Albanian ancestry and or background upward to 5 million.
context_section_description: The Albanian diaspora in Turkey was formed during the Ottoman era and early years of the Turkish republic through migration for economic reasons and later sociopolitical circumstances of discrimination and violence experienced by Albanians in Balkan countries. One of the earliest concentrations of Albanians date to 1468 when Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror brought Albanians and installed them in the districts of Istanbul where they founded Arnavutköy, a place named after them meaning Albanian village. 
  Albanian migration to Turkey occurred during three distinctive phases. The first was during the Ottoman era when Albanians served as Ottoman bureaucrats, seasonal employees or in the military drawn to Istanbul, the then capital and the nearby area of the Marmara region. These Albanian migrations to northwestern Anatolia mainly began from the 16th century onward. Members of the Albanian community from this group have for the most part assimilated into Turkish society, with small numbers regarding themselves as Albanians.
  Albanians also undertook labour migration alongside other Balkan peoples to Anatolia that resulted in seasonal or permanent settlement. At times these Albanians were unemployed in Istanbul and often lived in near each other causing concern for Ottoman authorities that a large group of unemployed people having potential to cause social upheaval. Due to the sociopolitical crisis of the 18th century, Ottoman elites developed views of low-class Albanians being prone to banditry and crime alongside other vices and those views being reflected in Turkish popular culture of the shadow puppet Karagöz plays. Several Ottoman Sultans issued decrees forbidding Albanian migration to Istanbul resulting at times in Ottoman authorities breaking up clusters of Albanians in the city and deporting others back to their homeland, actions later undertaken in the Marmara region. An Albanian community in Istanbul and to a lesser extent in İzmir played a significant role through the emerging Albanian intelligentsia of the late 19th and early 20th century in shaping and generating Albanian nationalist aspirations. For example, the group Bashkimi (Union) opened offices in Istanbul and throughout Anatolia and the Balkans in various urban centres promoting Albanian sociopolitical rights, the development of Albanian language  education, publishing and literature.
  There were also some people coming from a Balkan Albanian speaking or cultural space and often belonging to the urban elite (şehirli) in Kosovo and Macedonia that migrated to Anatolia did not always identify with a concept of Albanianess. Instead during the 19th and early 20th centuries they adopted an Ottoman Turkish outlook and came to refer to themselves as Turks or Ottoman Turkish-speaking citizens. Due to the effects of socio-linguistic assimilation, promoters of Albanian nationalism became concerned about migration to Anatolia and degraded Albanians from the lower classes who undertook the journey. It is unknown if or to what degree descendants in contemporary times from this group have fluency or knowledge of the Albanian language. The effects of Albanian migration has influenced Turkish culture such as toponyms named after Albanians, in cuisine the dish Arnavut ciğeri (Albanian liver) and character traits Arnavut inadı (Albanian stubbornness).
caption: Arnavut ciğeri (Albanian liver), Istanbul Turkish liver dish that emerged from Albanian butchers working in Anatolia over the centuries
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