Portraits

African presence in Türkiye dates back to the Ottoman Empire, where, in the 19th century, Africans were brought to Anatolia primarily from Zanzibar. These people, many of whom settled in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions, contributed to agriculture and established communities. Additionally, during the 1923 Türkiye-Greece population exchange, some people of African descent from Crete resettled in the Aegean region, particularly in Izmir.