Karamanlides
The Karamanlides (Greek: Καραμανλήδες, romanized: Karamanlídes; Turkish: Karamanlılar), also known as Karamanli Greeks or simply Karamanlis, are a traditionally Turkish-speaking Greek Orthodox people native to the region of Karaman in Anatolia.
Καραμανλήδες Karamanlılar | |
|---|---|
Christian lady from Karaman (Christiana Caramanica), depicted by Lambert de Vos in 1574 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Greece | |
| Languages | |
| Originally Karamanli Turkish, now predominantly Modern Greek | |
| Religion | |
| Orthodox Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Cappadocian Greeks, Turks |
Some scholars traditionally regard Karamanlides as Turkish-speaking Greeks, though their exact ethnic origin is disputed; they could either be descendants of Byzantine Greeks who were linguistically Turkified, or of Christian Turkic soldiers who settled in the region after the Turkic conquests, or even both. The Karamanlides were forced to leave Anatolia during the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey. Today, a majority of the population live in Greece and have fully integrated into Greek society.