The basis of the Ottoman Empire was the Islamic faith, and ethnic divisions were secondary. When this power began to disintegrate under the influence of internal and external forces, its political elite decided to unify the country by relying on its Turkic character, namely the separation of faith from politics and democracy. When the Turkish inhabitants of Asia Minor, the Muslim Slavs evacuated from the Balkans, the Caucasus Muhajars from Russia and the Crimean Tatars mixed with each other, it turned out that subethnic and regional ethnic groups did not exist on the territory of the Republic of Turkey. But they survived abroad.
But we will start with Turkey itself. The country was founded by Turkmen nomadic tribes who came here from Central Asia. Subsequently, they assimilated the Christian population or assimilated themselves into the new Muslims, although they switched to Turkish. Therefore, only the Yuliuks retained their national identity - the last nomads living in remote areas of Anatolia. Previously, these people were the basis of military power for the Roma and later Ottoman sultans. They later proved to be potential insurgents who were not trusted by the Government. Subsequently, they lived separately from the settled Turks, who were the result of the integration of Armenians, Greeks and Balkan Slavs. Now they themselves have settled on the land, although they are still mainly engaged in cattle breeding. In fact, this is one of the last Turkish groups in the country to retain its identity.
The formation of the Meskhet Turks began in the 16th century with the annexation of parts of historical Georgia by the Ottoman Empire, and the gradual Islamization of the region began. Their basis was the Mezhet, an ethnographic group of Georgians who adopted the new faith. Merchants and immigrants, retired soldiers and sailors, etc. from other parts of the vast country also stayed here. The Ottomans were then forced to retreat under Russian pressure, but the Meskhet Turks remained in place. Under Stalin, they were deported to Central Asia, which is why in today's Georgia they are less numerous. Most live in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan and a number of other countries.
The Turkish Cypriots are the result of the merger of the Greek population on the island who converted to Islam and new immigrants from Asia Minor, who also once practiced Orthodox Christianity. Therefore, even during the Ottoman period, Greek was dominant here. This situation did not change even after the British occupation of Cyprus in 1881 to 1960. The island then split along religious lines, and only then did the Turkish language really catch on among the Turkish Cypriots.
Once upon a time, each Balkan country had its own Turkish community. As always, it consisted mainly of local Muslims married to Turkish-speaking merchants, officials, and soldiers. But due to multiple wars, they were eventually driven out. A large Turkish population survives in only a few places. Presumably, these people may have been descendants of early Turkic groups - Cumans, Pechenegs and other Augusteans. Most Turks (about 600,000) lived in Bulgaria - despite the policy of assimilation and exclusion in Soviet times. Under the Bulgarian communists, their surnames were given the Slavic suffixes –ov and –ev. Now they are fighting for the truth, although the EU turns a blind eye to this. There is a Bulgarian-Turkish diaspora in Turkey itself and in other countries, the most famous representative of this group is Naim Suleymanov (after moving to Turkey - Suleymanoglu). The greatest weightlifter in history has set 46 world records during his long career – half for each country.
For historical reasons, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina are almost without Turks. Indeed, Kosovo's Muslim population is about 20,000. Apart from Bulgaria, the largest Turkish ethnic group is the Macedonian Turks. They number more than 80,000 and make up the majority of some rural areas in North Macedonia. By the way, this is the homeland of the father of the founder of the modern Turkish state, Mustafa Kemal.
The Turks in Iraq should be distinguished from the Turkmen in Iran. The latter are descendants of the nomadic tribes that settled here during the Seljuk Empire. So how exactly did the Turks come here in the times of the Ottoman Empire, they were townspeople - officials, merchants, craftsmen and soldiers. Historically, they lived in large centers in the north of the country. Indeed, due to linguistic and cultural proximity, Iraqi Turks and Turkmen are gradually merging.