THE GREEK MUSLIMS OF PONTUS AND CAUCASUS

Geographic dispersal

Pontic Greek (called Ρωμαίικα/Roméika in the Pontus, not Ποντιακά/Pontiaká as it is in Greece), is spoken by large communities of Pontic Greek Muslim origin, spread out near the southern Black Sea coast. Pontian Greek Muslims are found within Trabzon province in the following areas:

In the town of Tonya and in six villages of Tonya district.

In six villages of the municipal entity of Beşköy in the central and Köprübaşı districts of Sürmene.

In nine villages of the Galyana valley in Maçka district. These Greek Muslims were resettled there in abandoned former Greek Orthodox Pontian dwellings from the area of Beşköy after a devastating flood in 1929.

In the Of valley, which contains the largest cluster of Pontian speakers.

There are 23 Greek Muslim villages in Çaykara district, though due to migration these numbers have fluctuated; according to native speakers of the area, there were around 70 Greek Muslim villages in Çaykara district.

Twelve Greek Muslim villages are also located in the Dernekpazarı district.

In other settlements such as Rize (with a large concentration in İkizdere district), Erzincan, Gümüşhane, parts of Erzerum province, and the former Russian Empire's province of Kars Oblast (see Caucasus Greeks) and Georgia (see Islam in Georgia).

Today these Greek-speaking Muslims regard themselves and identify as Turks. Nonetheless, a great many have retained knowledge of and/or are fluent in Greek, which continues to be a mother tongue for even young Pontic Muslims. Men are usually bilingual in Turkish and Pontic Greek, while many women are monolingual Pontic Greek speakers.

History

Many Pontic natives were converted to Islam during the first two centuries following the Ottoman conquest of the region. Taking high military and religious posts in the empire, their elite were integrated into the ruling class of imperial society. The converted population accepted Ottoman identity, but in many instances people retained their local, native languages. In 1914, according to the official estimations of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, about 190,000 Greek Muslims were counted in the Pontus alone. Over the years, heavy emigration from the Trabzon region to other parts of Turkey, to places such as Constantinople, Sakarya, Zonguldak, Bursa and Adapazarı, has occurred. Emigration out of Turkey has also occurred, such as to Germany as guest workers during the 1960s. 

Glossonyms

In Turkey, Pontic Greek Muslim communities are sometimes called Rum. However, as with Yunan (Turkish for "Greek") or the English word "Greek," this term 'is associated in Turkey to be with Greece and/or Christianity, and many Pontic Greek Muslims refuse such identification. The endonym for Pontic Greek is Romeyka, while Rumca and/or Rumcika are Turkish exonyms for all Greek dialects spoken in Turkey.  Both are derived from ρωμαίικα, literally "Roman", referring to the Byzantines. Modern-day Greeks call their language ελληνικά (Hellenika), meaning Greek.  In Turkey, standard modern Greek is called Yunanca; ancient Greek is called either Eski Yunanca or Grekçe.

Religious practice

According to Heath W. Lowry's seminal work on Ottoman tax books (Tahrir Defteri, with co-author Halil İnalcık), most "Turks" in Trebizond and the Pontic Alps region in northeastern Anatolia are of Pontic Greek origin. Pontian Greek Muslims are known in Turkey for their conservative adherence to Sunni Islam of the Hanafi school and are renowned for producing many Quranic teachers. Sufi orders such as Qadiri and Naqshbandi have a great impact.

SOURCE Wikipedia