DESCRIPTION:
Turkification (Turkish: Türkleştirme) is a term used to describe a process of cultural change in which something or someone who is not a Turk becomes one, voluntarily or involuntarily. It can be used in contexts in connection with Anatolian, Balkan, Caucasian and Middle Eastern peoples from different ethnic origins, as for example: Albanians, Arabs, Armenian Muslims, Assyrians, Greeks, Vlachs, Jews, Roma, various Slavic peoples (such as Bosniaks and Pomaks), Iranian people Kurds , as well as Lazs from all the regions of Ottoman Empire and Iran. Another meaning of the term includes the earlier assimilative processes of the indigenous peoples in Anatolia. They occurred through religious conversion, cultural and language assimilation, and most importantly, to strengthen these notions, genetic contribution during the time of the Seljuk Empire.