In order to fill this gap, and to get information about the Turks in Lebanon, ORSAM conducted a field study between June 10 and June 20 in Lebanon. Every Turkmen village and Turkish community in Lebanon was visited, and their authorities, prominent figures and villagers were interviewed.
There are five Turkish communities in Lebanon. Each of these communities have a different history. These groups are: Akkar Turkmens living in two villages near Qoubaiyat in the Northern Province, The Baalbeck Turkmens living in five small settlements around the City of Baalbeck and one village near the city of Hermel in the Bekaa Province of Eastern Lebanon, the Cretan Turks who were brought to the lands under Ottoman control (Lebanon and Syria) when the island of Crete fell to Greece and attacks on the island’s Turks increased. They currently live in Tripoli, the Turkish citizens in Beirut, who migrated from the southeastern Turkey due to economic reasons and settled in Lebanon, particularly in Beirut, in the 1940s, and Syrian Turkmens who migrated from Syria to Lebanon and lastly the Circassians who settled in the Middle East after the Ottoman-Russian War between 1877 and 1878.
As in every part of Lebanon, sectarianism is also extremely drastic among Turks in Lebanon. Therefore, their sectarian identity is more important to them than their ethnical identity. The dominant element of their identity is Sunni Islam. Although they are aware of their Turkmen identity, until recently they tended not to protect it, and their ethnic identity was eroded with each new generation. However, in recent years the idea of preserving Turkmen identity has come into prominence for certain reasons. These are the efforts of Turkish Embassy, Turkey’s increasing interest in Lebanon, Turkish troops coming to Southern Lebanon within the framework of UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) and Turkishness being a source of pride for Turkmens in Lebanon.
Religion and Sunni Islam are two of the main points of reference in social relations and in the political views of Turkmens in Lebanon. It can be said that they are conservative and devout, but they do not have radical tendencies. Turkmens are not exposed to any oppression or threat for being Turkmen, but they have some problems because of their being Sunni. Since they are Sunnis, they support Saad Hariri and his party, the Movement of the Future. In all the villages visited Hariri posters and the flags of the Movement of the Future were frequently seen.
Thus Lebanon’s Turkmens’ relationship with Turkey is restricted to their ties with our Beirut Embassy and the Turkish military unit. Lebanese Turkmens visit the Turkish Embassy and the Turkish military unit frequently. In Turkmen villages many projects were completed, and some of them still continue thanks to the Embassy, the military unit and the Red Crescent society. Turkmens in Lebanon have been sympathetic to Turkey as Turkish interest in Turkmens has grown in recent years. There are some, who describe Turkey as their homeland.
»» For Full Text: http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/showReport.aspx?ID=138
Benzer Haberler 
