Balkan Turkish (Rumelia) DNA
Genetic origins and closest populations · Turkey and the Balkans · West Asia
Rumelia was the Ottoman name for the empire's Balkan provinces, home to large Turkish-speaking communities from the 14th century onwards. Many Rumelian Turks moved to Anatolia in the late 19th and 20th centuries, while others still live in Thrace, Bulgaria and northern Greece. In our model of the Rumelian Turkish average, Anatolian Neolithic farmers make up 40.4% and steppe herders 36.7%, far above the 15.0% steppe share of the Central Anatolian average on our Turkish page, while Iranian Neolithic ancestry drops to 6.2%. The profile leans toward the Balkans, yet its 6.8% East Asian component is close to that of Anatolian Turks. The closest modern averages are Turks from North and West Thrace and the Chitak of Greek Thrace, with Pomaks, Bulgarians and the Gagauz further away, at around 0.05. The nearest ancient groups, Iron Age Scythians from Bilsk in Ukraine (0.0357) and Avar-period people from Hungary, are populations that also combined European and East Asian-related ancestry.
- Largest ancient components in our model: Anatolian Neolithic farmers 40.4%, Steppe herders (Yamnaya) 36.7%, Levantine Neolithic farmers 8.0%
- Closest modern population in our data: Turkish (North Thrace), distance 0.0113
- Closest ancient group in our data: Ukraine IA Scythian Bilsk (East Asian-Mixed Profile), distance 0.0357
This page sums up what the DNA of the Balkan Turkish (Rumelia) sample tells us about deep origins. It is built from the averaged Global25 (G25) coordinates of individuals sampled in Turkey and the Balkans, listed in the G25 sheet as "Turkish_Rumeli", and it is one of 335 populations in our atlas. An average describes the group as a whole, not any single person in it.
Ancient make-up of the Balkan Turkish (Rumelia) average
Modelled as a mix of deep ancestral reference populations, the Balkan Turkish (Rumelia) average comes out as 40.4% Anatolian Neolithic farmers, 36.7% Steppe herders (Yamnaya) and 8.0% Levantine Neolithic farmers. The Anatolian Neolithic farmers component reflects the Neolithic farmers of Anatolia, who carried agriculture into Europe from about 6500 BC. The Steppe herders (Yamnaya) share (36.7%) reflects the Bronze Age herders of the Pontic-Caspian steppe (Yamnaya and related groups), whose ancestry spread across Europe and into Asia from about 3000 BC.
Smaller traces of Eastern hunter-gatherers (under 5%) also appear. At that level they can reflect real minor ancestry, but also simple model noise, so they should not be over-read. The model fits well (fit distance 0.019), so these proportions are a reasonable summary. The model draws on West Eurasian ancient genomes, with modern West African and East Asian stand-ins.
Anadolu – Anatolian Crossroads Report
Closest modern populations to Balkan Turkish (Rumelia)
Ranking every modern population by genetic distance puts Turkish (North Thrace) first for Balkan Turkish (Rumelia), at 0.011, then Turkish (West Thrace) and Chitak (Greece Eastern Macedonia and Thrace). Leaving aside the other regional samples listed under the same name in the G25 sheet, the nearest other populations are Chitak (Greece Eastern Macedonia and Thrace) (0.029), Patriyot (West Macedonia) (0.042) and Roma (Serbia) (0.046). By the tenth closest (Pomak (Greece)) the distance grows to 0.052, a common pattern for a population that shares ancestry with its neighbours while keeping a profile of its own.
| # | Population | Distance | Closeness |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turkish (North Thrace) | 0.0113 | Very close |
| 2 | Turkish (West Thrace) | 0.0218 | Very close |
| 3 | Chitak (Greece Eastern Macedonia and Thrace) | 0.0285 | Close |
| 4 | Patriyot (West Macedonia) | 0.0421 | Close |
| 5 | Roma (Serbia) | 0.0462 | Close |
| 6 | Pomak (North Macedonia) | 0.0500 | Moderate |
| 7 | Bulgarian (Veliko Tarnovo) | 0.0502 | Moderate |
| 8 | Gagauz | 0.0507 | Moderate |
| 9 | Bulgarian (Burgas) | 0.0507 | Moderate |
| 10 | Pomak (Greece) | 0.0518 | Moderate |
Distances are Euclidean distances between averaged G25 coordinates. On our scale, below 0.025 is very close, below 0.050 close, below 0.080 moderate, and beyond that distant.
Closest ancient populations to Balkan Turkish (Rumelia)
Looking back in time, the ancient sample that most resembles the Balkan Turkish (Rumelia) average is Ukraine IA Scythian Bilsk (East Asian-Mixed Profile) (Iron Age), at 0.036. Hungary Late Antiquity-Early Medieval Avar Period (East Asian-Mixed Profile) and Moldova IA Scythian Glinoe (East Asian-Mixed Profile) come next. That is a close match: much of the modern profile was already present then, while later movements of people added further layers. A close ancient match is not proof of direct descent: it means those individuals carried a similar overall mix of ancestry.
| # | Ancient sample or group | Period | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ukraine IA Scythian Bilsk (East Asian-Mixed Profile) | Iron Age | 0.0357 |
| 2 | Hungary Late Antiquity-Early Medieval Avar Period (East Asian-Mixed Profile) | Late Antiquity to Early Medieval, c. 250-1000 AD | 0.0379 |
| 3 | Moldova IA Scythian Glinoe (East Asian-Mixed Profile) | Iron Age | 0.0381 |
| 4 | Germany Late Medieval Ashkenazi Jew Erfurt (Eastern Profile) | Late Medieval, c. 1300-1500 AD | 0.0424 |
| 5 | France Late Antiquity Sarrebourg (Crimean Greek Profile) | Late Antiquity, c. 250-600 AD | 0.0425 |
| 6 | Croatia Late Antiquity Sisak (Sarmatian-Mixed Profile) | Late Antiquity, c. 250-600 AD | 0.0442 |
| 7 | Hungary LIA-Late Antiquity Sarmatian (East Asian-Mixed Profile) | Late Antiquity, c. 250-600 AD | 0.0445 |
| 8 | Hungary BA Szolad | Bronze Age | 0.0467 |
| 9 | Bulgaria High Medieval Ryahovets | High Medieval, c. 1000-1300 AD | 0.0472 |
| 10 | Croatia Roman Empire-Late Antiquity Osijek (Sarmatian-Mixed Profile) | Late Antiquity, c. 250-600 AD | 0.0480 |
Ancient DNA from Turkey
Our ancient DNA database holds 709 individuals excavated in present-day Turkey, dated from about 13,461 BC to 1573 AD. The most frequent Y-DNA haplogroups among them are J2a (68), G2a (60) and T1a (23), and the most frequent mtDNA haplogroups are K1 (93), N1 (43) and T2 (43). These are people who lived on the same land in the past, not necessarily ancestors of today's Balkan Turkish (Rumelia) population.
Most frequent Y-DNA haplogroups
Ancient DNA studies on Turkey
- Out-of-Anatolia: Cultural and genetic interactions during the Neolithic expansion in the Aegean (2025)
- Female lineages and changing kinship patterns in Neolithic Çatalhöyük (2025)
- Identification of Haplogroups and Molecular Markers in Skeletal Samples Excavated from the Ancient City of Resuloglu (Ugurludag, Çorum) (2025)
- Inequality at the Dawn of the Bronze Age: The Case of Basur Höyük, a ‘Royal’ Cemetery at the Margins of the Mesopotamian World (2025)
- The cranium from the Octagon in Ephesos (2025)
- A genetic history of the Balkans from Roman frontier to Slavic migrations (2023)
- The genetic history of the Southern Arc: A bridge between West Asia and Europe | Science (2022)
- The genetic structure of the Turkish population reveals high levels of variation and admixture (2021)
Browse them in our ancient DNA database: 709 from Turkey.
Compare yourself with Balkan Turkish (Rumelia)
Paste your G25 coordinates (scaled, one line, with or without a name in front) and we compute your genetic distance to the Balkan Turkish (Rumelia) average and to its closest neighbours, right in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
| # | Population | Your distance | Closeness |
|---|
This list only covers Balkan Turkish (Rumelia) and its neighbours. To find out which of our reports actually fits your DNA, run the free Report Finder: it runs the same fit test that every report uses before an order.
No G25 coordinates yet? Get a free simulated G25 from your raw DNA file, or order G25 coordinates.
About these numbers
A word of caution: these figures describe the average of the Balkan Turkish (Rumelia) individuals who were sampled, not every person who identifies as Balkan Turkish (Rumelia). Individuals vary around that average, and identity is about history, language and family, not about a genetic score. Read this page as a map of deep ancestry, not as a definition.
Method: averaged G25 coordinates, Euclidean distances to other modern and ancient averages, and a non-negative least-squares model against deep ancestral reference populations (data generated 2026-10-01). Read the full method.
Go deeper than the average
This page describes the Balkan Turkish (Rumelia) average. Your own DNA has its own story: Anadolu – Anatolian Crossroads Report (15€) models your genome against the ancient sources and modern communities of the region, era by era, in a personal PDF report.
A report built for the peoples of Anatolia: six era models from Neolithic Barcın and the Hittite Bronze Age through Byzantine Anatolia, with the signature Medieval Turkic Arrival % (the Seljuk-era Central Asian layer, the closest measurable...
More populations from West Asia
Frequently asked questions
What is the ancient genetic make-up of Balkan Turkish (Rumelia)?
Modelled with deep ancestral reference populations, the Balkan Turkish (Rumelia) average is about 40.4% Anatolian Neolithic farmers, 36.7% Steppe herders (Yamnaya) and 8.0% Levantine Neolithic farmers. These proportions are model estimates for a group average, not exact values for any one person.
Which populations are genetically closest to Balkan Turkish (Rumelia)?
Leaving aside other regional samples listed under the same name in the G25 sheet (such as Turkish (North Thrace)), the closest modern populations to the Balkan Turkish (Rumelia) average are Chitak (Greece Eastern Macedonia and Thrace), Patriyot (West Macedonia) and Roma (Serbia). The closest ancient matches are Ukraine IA Scythian Bilsk (East Asian-Mixed Profile), Hungary Late Antiquity-Early Medieval Avar Period (East Asian-Mixed Profile) and Moldova IA Scythian Glinoe (East Asian-Mixed Profile).
Can a DNA test tell me if I am Balkan Turkish (Rumelia)?
No DNA test can confirm an ethnicity or a nationality. What DNA can show is how similar your genome is to the sampled Balkan Turkish (Rumelia) average and to its neighbours. If you have G25 coordinates, paste them in the comparison box on this page to check that for free.
Which ExploreYourDNA report suits Balkan Turkish (Rumelia) ancestry?
For the Balkan Turkish (Rumelia) average, the regional report to choose is Anadolu – Anatolian Crossroads Report, which our fit test rates as an excellent match. Your own DNA may differ from the average, so the free Report Finder checks every report against your file before you buy.
Where does the data on this page come from?
From the averaged Global25 (G25) coordinates of the sampled individuals: genetic distances to other modern and ancient population averages, and a non-negative least-squares model against deep ancestral reference populations. The full method is described at https://www.exploreyourdna.com/populations#method.