The Gagauz of Moldova

[Bozur]

November 29, 2006
The Gagauz of Moldova
Annals of Human Genetics (Online Early)

The Gagauz, a Linguistic Enclave, are not a Genetic Isolate

Ivan Nasidze et al.

Summary

The Gagauz are a Turkic-speaking group that migrated from Turkey to their present location in the southern part of the Republic of Moldova about 150 years ago. Surrounded by Indo-European-speaking populations, they thus form a linguistic enclave, which raises the following question: to what extent have they remained in genetic isolation from their geographic neighbours? Analyses of mtDNA and Y chromosome variation indicate that despite their linguistic differences, the Gagauz have admixed extensively with neighbouring groups. Our data suggest that there has been more mtDNA than Y chromosome admixture, in keeping with the patrilocal nature of these groups. Moreover, when compared with another linguistic enclave, the Kalmyks there appears to be a correlation between the amount of genetic admixture and the amount of linguistic influence that these two linguistic enclaves have experienced from neighbouring groups.

www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-1809.2006.00330.x

dienekes.blogspot.com/2006/11/gagauz-of-moldova.html

[Bozur]

February 21, 2007
More on origin of Gagauz
Journal of Human Genetics (online early)

Population history of the Dniester–Carpathians: evidence from Alu markers

Alexander Varzari et al.

The area between the Dniester and the eastern Carpathian mountain range is at a geographical crossroads between eastern Europe and the Balkans. Little is known about the genetics of the population of this region. We performed an analysis of 12 binary autosomal markers in samples from six Dniester–Carpathian populations: two Moldavian, one Romanian, one Ukrainian and two Gagauz populations. The results were compared with gene frequency data from culturally and linguistically related populations from Southeast Europe and Central Asia. Small genetic differences were found among southeastern European populations (in particular those of the Dniester–Carpathian region). The observed homogeneity suggests either a very recent common ancestry of all southeastern European populations or strong gene flow between them. Despite this low level of differentiation, tree reconstruction and principle component analyses allowed a distinction between Balkan–Carpathian (Macedonians, Romanians, Moldavians, Ukrainians and Gagauzes) and eastern Mediterranean (Turks, Greeks and Albanians) population groups. The genetic affinities among Dniester–Carpathian and southeastern European populations do not reflect their linguistic relationships. The results indicate that the ethnic and genetic differentiations occurred in these regions to a considerable extent independently of each other. In particular, Gagauzes, a Turkic-speaking population, show closer affinities to their geographical neighbors than to other Turkic populations.

www.springerlink.com/content/t04487645800r227/fulltext.html

dienekes.blogspot.com/2007/02/more-on-origin-of-gagauz.html

[Anittas]

Personally, I don't understand their problem. They were persecuted by the Ottoman Turks for their religion (they're Christian) and were allowed to settle in Bessarabia. Now they are upset with the country that allowed them to live in peace and look to Turkey for I don't know what.

[Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning]

They are culturally Turkish Christians.
They still circumcise their sons. Their language is he closest to modern Turkish too.

[Anittas]

Yes, they are. No one is contesting that.

[bowandarrow]

Heard of them before some guy told me he was from Bulgaria and belongs to this ethnic Turkish group.

[Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning]

Well Turkey is better than Romania, so they like to keep in contact. Kind of like a fb friend, just in case they are needed...

[Anittas]

If Turkey is better than Romania, then they have to freedom to leave and settle in Turkey. They live in Moldova, though. I don't know what you're hitting at.

[Anittas]

You know what, don't bother replying. I'm not gonna play this game with you. It's obvious you're holding some biased opinions towards my country, which you probably picked up in London. My observation is also that you provoke certain posters and hope they will degrade you with their sex slurs. I have no idea why you want to victimize yourself this way, but count me out of this.

[Dèsîŗĕ Yèarning]

hahahaha not taking your anti-depressants??

I was just taking the mickk..you're so bloody sensitive

[Catcher in the Rye]

The Căcăouzes are Russians now, in case you didn't knew. Most of them don't speak Căcăouz language anymore.

[kun]

Interesting, Moldova a non EU country granting autonomy to the 160,000 Gaugaz, but Romania an EU country refusing autonomy to the compact 1 million Hungarian Szekely population.

[wbb]

The Cãcãouzes are Russians now, in case you didn't knew. Most of them don't speak Cãcãouz language anymore.

Are you normal? Gagauz are turks, stop making fantasy here. Many gagauz preffer to be with turkey than russia.

[hellboy87]

Nov 24, 2012 5:26:51 GMT -5 wbb said:

Are you normal? Gagauz are turks, stop making fantasy here. Many gagauz preffer to be with turkey than russia.

Not Turks,but Turkics.There's a difference there.

[wbb]

Not Turks,but Turkics.There's a difference there.

Turks or Turkic, same thing arkadasim. The word "Turk" also applies for more wider turkic people, not just Turkish people.

[hellboy87]

Not today! Turks are those from Turkey.The rest have their ethnic names.

[Catcher in the Rye]

I suspect they are Bulgarians that adopted Turkish language. Anyway, they are almost Russians now and the Kakauz autonomy is just a Russian Trojan horse. The Russian animals invented and support these „autonomies” in the former Soviet republics. In Georgia there are similar situations under Russian control.

[wbb]

Not today! Turks are those from Turkey.The rest have their ethnic names.

Bro, turks from Turkey arent really Turks. They are mixed with many other ethnic groups that settled there. And Turks from Turkey are called Turkish. Its true that many turkic people has their ethnic names, that's the russian's divide and conquer games they played. All the turkic countries in the region are still called Turkistan, and uyghurs call their land East Turkestan. So they are Turks as well. Even before Turkey existed in Anatolia, Hungary was even called Turkey/Turkia/Tourkia, the land of Turks.

I suspect they are Bulgarians that adopted Turkish language. Anyway, they are almost Russians now and the Kakauz autonomy is just a Russian Trojan horse. The Russian animals invented and support these „autonomies” in the former Soviet republics. In Georgia there are similar situations under Russian control.

Catcha, where the hell you get this that Gagauz are Bulgarians? Do really know where the Gagauz gets their name from? Gok-Oguz, which means blue oguz, a tribe of oguz turks. If the Bulgarians really adopted the Turkish language and become Gagauz, then they are no longer Bulgarians but Turks, but there's only little evidence that Gagauz are Bulgarians, most widely accepted theory is that they are Oguz Turks.
They are not Russians, quit playing games here, Gagauz are Turkey's trojan horse, Turkey is mostly supporting the autonomy not the russians. Russians dont give a rat about Turkic people in Moldova, they got enough Turkic people in Russia to handle.

[Catcher in the Rye]

Găgauz is related to the Romanian word găgăuţă meaning idiot. IMO they are Bulgarians that adopted Turkish language and the proof is their religion. There was no reason for a Turkic people to keep being Christian under Ottoman rule. Even Greeks and Bulgarians converted to Islam, some Megleno-Romanians also and all because it was advantageous. So you tell me there were Turks that chose Christianity? That's ridiculous. They are Bulgarians that adopted Turkish language. It is not a surprising thing that after centuries of Ottoman rule, some Bulgarians lost their language.

[wbb]

Găgauz is related to the Romanian word găgăuţă meaning idiot.

Nice biased self-fabricated romanian fantasies.
I understand that vlachs loves fantasies, thats part of their csoban culture in the mistic mountains away from civilization.
Gagauz is borrowed from Turkic, Gok-oghuz and its proven that they are oghuz turks. not bulgarians.

IMO they are Bulgarians that adopted Turkish language and the proof is their religion. There was no reason for a Turkic people to keep being Christian under Ottoman rule. Even Greeks and Bulgarians converted to Islam, some Megleno-Romanians also and all because it was advantageous. So you tell me there were Turks that chose Christianity? That's ridiculous. They are Bulgarians that adopted Turkish language.

Gagauz were oghuz turks who were at a time muslims like the rest of those anatolian turks, but they as they settled in Bessarabia, they decided to convert into orthodoxy, while still maintain their language and their turkic identity.
The situation with the greeks, bulgarians and vlachs was very much a separate issue. Gagauz chose to remain a christian turks. You suppose to say that all Turkic people are muslims? There are christian turks as well, Gagauz and Chuvash is a good example of it. There are even Turkic jews as well.

It is not a surprising thing that after centuries of Ottoman rule, some Bulgarians lost their language.

Doesnt to seem to me, the Pomaks and Torbesh are still speaking their Bulgarian language, Bulgarian muslims are still speaking Bulgarian. There was not a single Turkification done to them. Rather the turkification was done during the period of Kemal Ataturk's secular Turkey and is still in progress....
There was at some point that the Gagauz did manage to assimilate their Bulgarian neighbour, thus the Bulgarians were Turkificated, instead of islamized like the Albanians and other Balkan ethnic groups. The Bulgarians when assimilated by the Gagauz didnt just lost their language but the ethnic identity as well, they didnt care about being Bulgarian no more, they chose to be Turks with orthodoxy as their religion.