Eastern roman empire's christianization activities on turkic communities in the XIth and XIIth centuries and today's orthodox turks

Throughout history, the Turks have adopted various religions. In addition to their ancestral beliefs, they later embraced faiths such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Manichaeism. Despite adhering to different religions, Turk cımmumities continued to live alongside one another and sıccessfully incorporated elements of their own culture into the faiths they adopted. Today, although groups such as the Gagauz, Chuvash, and Sakha have embraced Christianity, they have preserved many of their traditional customs and practices, paving the way for the emergence of the concept of "Turkish Christianity." Alongside these groups, numerous Turkic peoples, including the Avars, Bulgars, Pechenegs, Cumans and Uzes, as well as other Turkic tribes that inhabited the region stretching from north of the Black Sea to the Balkans, came under the influence of Christian missionary activities. While some Turkic groups converted to Christianity through the missionary efforts of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Church, the influence of Nestorian Christianity was evident in other regions. Missionary activities directed toward the Turks were also carried out by Greeks, Georgians, and Hungarians, who had themselves adopted Christianity under Eastern Roman influence. In later periods, following the Russian Empire's occupation of territories inhabited by Turkic peoples, Christianization efforts continued through political, economic, and cultural pressures imposed by the Tsarist administration. The most significant factor in the Christianization of the Turks was the Eastern Roman Empire and the Orthodox Church that emerged under its influence. One indication of this is that the earliest contacts between the Turks and Christianity can be traced back to the second century CE. The presence of Turks serving as mercenaries in the Eastern Roman army, as well as Christian Turkic coımmunities living within the borders of the Eastern Roman Empire, further supports this view. This thesis examines these Turkic communities and the processes through which they converted to Christianity. It also discusses their legacy and the cultural elements that have survived to the present day (e.g., the Gagauz).