Turkification

Turkification (Turkish: Türkleşme when voluntary and Türkleştirme when involuntary) is a process of cultural or political change in which something or someone who is not a Turk becomes one, voluntarily or involuntarily. This has occurred for Anatolian, Balkan, Caucasian and Middle Eastern peoples from different ethnic origins, including Albanians, Arabs, Armenians, Circassians, Greeks, Vlachs, Jews, Roma, various Slavic peoples (such as Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks, Bulgarians and Pomaks), Iranian peoples, Kurdish People, (Kurmanj), Zazas, as well as Kartvelian Lazs from all the regions of Ottoman Empire and Iran. An early form of Turkification occurred in the time of the Seljuk Empire among the indigenous peoples of Anatolia, involving religious conversion, cultural and linguistic assimilation, and interethnic relationships.