The Turks in Libya, also commonly referred to as Kouloughlis(Arabic: كراغلة) are Libyans who claim partial descent from OttomanJanissariesinLibya. Quantifiying their presence/population in Libya in the modern day is near impossible, due to them assimilating near entirely in the Libyan population over time. They mainly make up a small fraction of the populations of the cities, Misrata and Tripoli.[1]
During Ottoman Alleigance/Alliance in Libya (1551–1912), Turkish Janissaries began to migrate to the region.[2] A minimal number of said Turks, and Janissaries intermarried with the native population, and their offspring were referred to as Kouloughlis (Turkish: kuloğlu) due to their mixed heritage.[3][4]
After the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, Turks continued to migrate to Libya from the newly established modern states. However, contrary to popular belief, the large majority of said migrants were Cretan Muslims, who were often referred to as Turks by some Christian Greeks due to their religion; not their ethnic background.
During Ottoman Alleigance/Alliance in Libya (1551–1912), Turkish Janissaries began to migrate to the region.[2] A minimal number of said Turks, and Janissaries intermarried with the native population, and their offspring were referred to as Kouloughlis (Turkish: kuloğlu) due to their mixed heritage.[3][5]
Today there no Libyans who their ethnicity as Turkish, or acknowledge their descent from the Ottomans . [2] Very few Families restricted to a few urban centers within [Libya]] can trace their origins back to the Ottomans and Janissaries through Oral Family Genealogy and History.
After Libya fell to the Italians in 1911, most Kouloughlis still remained in the region, They played no role in the Resistance itself, and remained an idle, subservient, minority of the population.
As a result of four centuries of Ottoman Presence/Alliance to and within Libya, the Libyans left some of their cultural imprints on the Turks, particularly their language, food, and costumes, which the Kouloughlis adopted from the locals.
The Ottoman brought with them the teaching of the Hanafi SchoolofIslam during the Ottoman, However the large majority of the Sunni Muslim Libyan population follows the Maliki school of thought.
^Ahmida, Ali Abdullatif (2013), Forgotten Voices: Power and Agency in Colonial and Postcolonial Libya, Routledge, pp. 79–80, ISBN978-1136784439
^Yeaw, Katrina Elizabeth Anderson (2017), Women, Resistance and the Creation of New Gendered Frontiers in the Making of Modern Libya, 1890-1980, Georgetown University, p. 152
Ahmida, Ali Abdullatif (2009), The Making of Modern Libya: State Formation, Colonization, and Resistance (Print), Albany, N.Y: SUNY Press, ISBN978-1-4384-2891-8.
Dupree, Louis (1958), "The Non-Arab Ethnic Groups of Libya", Middle East Journal, 12 (1): 33–44
Ergener, Reşit (2002), About Turkey: Geography, Economy, Politics, Religion, and Culture, Pilgrims Process, ISBN0-9710609-6-7.
Fuller, Graham E. (2008), The New Turkish Republic: Turkey as a pivotal state in the Muslim world, US Institute of Peace Press, ISBN978-1-60127-019-1.
Harzig, Christiane; Juteau, Danielle; Schmitt, Irina (2006), The Social Construction of Diversity: Recasting the Master Narrative of Industrial Nations, Berghahn Books, ISBN1-57181-376-4.
