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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Yoruk of Turkiye

The Yoruk of Turkiye, numbering approximately 320,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a Turkish ethnographic subgroup of Oghuz Turkic origin, known historically for their nomadic or semi‑nomadic pastoral lifestyle in Anatolia and parts of the Balkans They are an Indigenous people, with Yoruk as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Turkic people cluster of the Turkic Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Balkan Gagauz Turkish.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Yoruk

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Turkiye
People Cluster: Turkic
Primary Language(s): Balkan Gagauz Turkish (bgx)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 320,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024597
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Pray for the Yoruk of Turkiye

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

70%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Balkan Gagauz Turkish
Language Family: Turkic

5%
%
Balkan Gagauz Turkish Speakers

Media Resources in Balkan Gagauz Turkish:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Balkan Gagauz Turkish:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Balkan Gagauz Turkish bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Yoruk:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Yoruk are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Yoruk:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Yoruk are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Yoruk:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Yoruk of Turkiye

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
readLuke 15:7

Pray that God will convict the lost of their sin, give them an urgency to run to Him for forgiveness, and feel His welcoming arms around them when they turn to Him.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
readGenesis 2:7

Pray that Christians will be able to share the hope of Christ with suffering people and that He will breathe new life into their souls.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
readPsalm 42:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will thirst for God and be satisfied when they abide in Him.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
readJohn 12:24

Pray that God will raise up men and women who are willing to die to their own desires, bearing much fruit for the kingdom among individuals and in places where His gospel has not been proclaimed.

Yoruk (Balkan Turkish) Across Countries (ROP3 - 111096) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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