Türkiye Religious Records

Asia Turkey

Although 98% of the population is Muslim, Turkey has been officially secular since the early 1920s. Two-thirds of the Muslims in Turkey belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. The other third are Shiites. The Kurds are also Sunni Muslims. Christians now make up less than 2% of the population; these include Greek Orthodox, Armenians (Gregorians,) Armenian Apostolic, Nestorians (Chaldeans), Syrian Uniats, Greek Uniats, Roman Catholics and Protestants. The Jews in Turkey number only some 20,000.

Marriage Contracts [Arabic - Sidāq]
Research use: These records are the only source of specific marriage information and provide a marriage date. They also provide relationships helpful in lineage linking.

Record type: Legal contracts of marriage; essentially the closest thing in Islamic society to marriage records. In Islamic tradition marriage is considered a legal contract between two families and is not considered a religious sacrament. Islamic law courts [sharia] handled the majority of litigation, particularly in the domain of personal and family status including marriage and divorce.

Time period: 1622-1928.

Contents: Names of marriage candidates; dates of contract and marriage; parents (at least the father) of marital partners; details concerning dowry. Other details about these records are not available.

Location: At sharia court archives in various cities; many are found at the Ethnographic Museum in Ankara and the seat of the Mufti [Müftülük] in Istanbul. Other possible locations include the Sulaymaniye Library and the Topkap Museum in Istanbul.

Population coverage: Probably 75%; these records pertain to Muslim marriage only.

Reliability: Excellent.