Arabs in Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye Arapları; Arabic: عرب تركيا) are about 1.5 million or 5 million (including the Syrian refugees) citizens or residents of Turkey who are ethnically of Arab descent. They are the third-largest minority in the country after the Kurds and the Circassians and are concentrated in a few provinces in Southeastern Anatolia. In addition to this native group, millions of Arab Syrian refugees have sought refuge in Turkey since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
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👉 Arabs in Turkey in the context of Hatay Province
Hatay Province (Turkish: Hatay ili, pronounced [ˈhataj]) is the southernmost province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is 5,524 km (2,133 sq mi), and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province borders Syria to its south and east, the Turkish province of Adana to the northwest, Osmaniye to the north, and Gaziantep to the northeast. It is partially situated on the Cilician Plain, a large fertile plain along the Cilicia region. Its administrative capital is Antakya (ancient Antioch), making it one of the three Turkish provinces not named after its administrative capital or any settlement. The second-largest city is İskenderun (formerly Alexandretta). Sovereignty over most of the province was disputed with neighbouring Syria, which claimed that the province had a demographic Arab majority, and has separated from its territory in violation of the terms of the French Mandate for Syria that was established on the heels of World War I; however, the issue has remained largely dormant since the thawing of Syrian-Turkish relations in the 2000s.
In this Dossier
Arabs in Turkey in the context of Demographics of Turkey
Demographic features of the population of Turkey include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. As of 1 July 2025, the population of Turkey was over 85.8 million with an annual growth rate of 0.36%. This official population number excludes the registered Syrian refugees under temporary protection status which have a population of about 2.6 million as of the date.
Turks are the largest ethnic group, comprising 70–75% of the population while Kurds are the second largest with 19%. The others, including Armenians, Arabs, Assyrians, Albanians, Bulgarians, Bosniaks, Circassians, Chechens, Georgians, Greeks, Pomaks, Rum, Russians, Romani, Jews, Laz people and others make 6–11% of the population according to a 2016 estimate by the CIA.