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- Published: 11 Aug 2007
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- Author: baki1968
The Yörük, also Yürük or Yuruk (, , , ), are a Turkish people ultimately of Oghuz descent, some of whom are still nomadic, primarily inhabiting the mountains of Anatolia and partly Balkan peninsula. Their name derives from the Turkish verb yürü- (yürümek in infinitive), which means "to walk", with the word Yörük or Yürük designating "those who walk, walkers".
The Yörük to this day appear as a distinct segment of the population of Macedonia and Thrace where they settled as early as the 14th century. While today the Yörük are increasingly settled, many of them still maintain their nomadic lifestyle, breeding goats and sheep in the Šar Mountains (Kosovo), the Pirin and Rhodope Mountains (Bulgaria) and Dobrudja. An earlier offshoot of the Yörüks, the Kailar or Kayılar Turks were amongst the first Turkish colonists in Europe,) formerly inhabiting parts of the Greek regions of Thessaly and Macedonia. Settled Yörüks could be found until 1923, especially near and in the town of Kozani. The Yörüks are credited with the conversion to Islam in the 18th century, after a period of cohabitation, of a part of the native Meglen Vlachs of Greece who in 1923 were expelled to Turkey under the terms of the population exchange between the two countries. In Belgium and The Netherlands are there also Yörüks, with a little change in the family name. They have Turkish origins and their family name is Yürük.
Category:Oghuz Turks Category:Pastoralists Category:Muslim communities
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