Syrian Turkmen

Syrian Turkmen or Syrian Turkomen[1] are Syrian citizens of Oghuz Turkish descent, who have been living in the Syrian province of the Ottoman Empire before its dissolution. The estimates of the number of Turkmens, living in Syria range from 900,000[2] or 1,000,000[3] to 1,500,000[4] The major cities with notable Turkmen populations are Latakia, Hama and Humus. The language spoken by the Turkmens in Lazkiye, is close to Istanbul Turkish. However, a high number of Turks integrated into the mainstream Syriac society, adopting Arabic as their primary language. Therefore, many do not speak Turkish and some do not identify themselves as Turks.