Turks in Egypt
The Turks in Egypt, also referred to as Egyptian Turks, Turkish-Egyptians and Turco-Egyptians are Egyptian citizens of partial or full Turkish ancestry, who are the descendants of settlers that arrived in the region during the rule of several Turkic dynasties, including: the Tulunid, Ikhshidid, Mamluk, and Ottoman eras. Today their descendants continue to live in Egypt and still identify as Egyptians of Turkish or mixed origin, though they are also fully integrated in Egyptian society.
History
Ottoman era
During the four centuries of Ottoman rule, Turkish settlers arrived predominately from Anatolia; however, many also arrived from the Ottoman Isles, as well as from prominent Ottoman cities.In 1833 one estimate claimed that the Turkish population in Egypt was 30,000; however, in 1835, the Missionary Herald newspaper claimed that the population is of a mixed character, the great mass being Arabic language speaking Muslims, and a minority of Turkish speakers who belonged to the Ottoman ruling-class. Similarly, in 1840, The Saturday Magazine series claimed that Egypt's population was only about two million and a half, the majority of whom are of Arabic speaking masses and Ottoman ruling class. This study is widely discredited and has no scientific basis.
By 1878 the Karl Baedeker Firm published a census stating that the population of Egypt "hardly exceeds 5 millions" and that the population of Turkish origin numbered barely 100,000, mainly concentrated to the towns.
Post-Ottoman era
Under the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Article 102, former Ottoman subjects resident in Egypt were denaturalized by Turkey and automatically acquired Egyptian nationality unless they were absent from the territory on 18 December 1914.Prior to the Egyptian revolution in 1919, the ruling elite were mainly Turkish, or of Turkish descent, which was part of the heritage from the Ottoman rule of Egypt. The ethnic affiliation in Egypt at this time was still blurry; however, Amal Talaat Abdelrazek describes the Turkish society in Egypt with the following words: