Eastern Turkish DNA
Genetic origins and closest populations · Turkey · West Asia
Eastern Turkey covers the high plateaus and mountains between the upper Euphrates, Lake Van and the borders of the Caucasus and Iran. For the Eastern Turkish average, our model gives Anatolian Neolithic farmers 29.7%, Iranian Neolithic farmers 21.7%, Caucasus hunter-gatherers 18.4%, Levantine Neolithic farmers 14.0% and steppe herders 13.6%, with 2.6% East Asian. Compared with the Central Anatolian average on our Turkish page (37.8% Anatolian farmer, 7.6% East Asian), the eastern profile carries more Caucasus and Iranian-related ancestry and much less of the East Asian component. That fits a highland region long home to Armenians, Kurds and other peoples, where Turkic groups arrived from the 11th century onwards. The closest ancient group is a Hellenistic-era Orontid population from Aghitu in Armenia (distance 0.0261), followed by Iron Age Hasanlu in Iran. The nearest modern averages are Turks from Erzincan, Azerbaijanis from Shaki and Nakhchivan, and Kurmanji Kurds from Gumushane and Malatya.
- Largest ancient components in our model: Anatolian Neolithic farmers 29.7%, Iranian Neolithic farmers 21.7%, Caucasus hunter-gatherers 18.4%
- Closest other population in our data: Azerbaijani (Republic Shaki), distance 0.0153
- Closest ancient group in our data: Armenia Hellenistic Aghitu (Orontid), distance 0.0261
This page sums up what the DNA of the Eastern Turkish sample tells us about deep origins. It is built from the averaged Global25 (G25) coordinates of individuals sampled in Turkey, listed in the G25 sheet as "Turkish_East", 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 Eastern Turkish average
Modelled as a mix of deep ancestral reference populations, the Eastern Turkish average comes out as 29.7% Anatolian Neolithic farmers, 21.7% Iranian Neolithic farmers and 18.4% Caucasus hunter-gatherers. The Anatolian Neolithic farmers component reflects the Neolithic farmers of Anatolia, who carried agriculture into Europe from about 6500 BC. The Iranian Neolithic farmers share (21.7%) reflects the early farmers and herders of the Zagros mountains in Iran. No single source dominates, so the profile is best read as a balanced blend of several ancient ancestries.
Smaller traces of East Asian (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 0.023), 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 Eastern Turkish
Ranking every modern population by genetic distance puts Turkish (Erzincan) first for Eastern Turkish, at 0.015, then Azerbaijani (Republic Shaki) and Azeri (Azerbaijan Nakhchivan). Leaving aside the other regional samples listed under the same name in the G25 sheet, the nearest other populations are Azerbaijani (Republic Shaki) (0.015), Azeri (Azerbaijan Nakhchivan) (0.016) and Kurdish Kurmanji (Turkey Gumushane) (0.016). Even the tenth closest, Alevi (Dersim), is only 0.020 away: Eastern Turkish belongs to a dense cluster of related populations, so small differences inside that cluster should not be over-interpreted.
| # | Population | Distance | Closeness |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turkish (Erzincan) | 0.0148 | Very close |
| 2 | Azerbaijani (Republic Shaki) | 0.0153 | Very close |
| 3 | Azeri (Azerbaijan Nakhchivan) | 0.0155 | Very close |
| 4 | Kurdish Kurmanji (Turkey Gumushane) | 0.0157 | Very close |
| 5 | Kurdish Kurmanji (Turkey Malatya) | 0.0169 | Very close |
| 6 | Kurdish Zaza (Erzincan) | 0.0172 | Very close |
| 7 | Shabak (Iraq) | 0.0188 | Very close |
| 8 | Turkish (Elazig) | 0.0190 | Very close |
| 9 | Azeri (Armenia) | 0.0192 | Very close |
| 10 | Alevi (Dersim) | 0.0198 | Very close |
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 Eastern Turkish
Among ancient genomes, the closest match to the modern Eastern Turkish average is Armenia Hellenistic Aghitu (Orontid) (Hellenistic era, c. 330-30 BC), at 0.026, followed by Iran IA Hasanlu (Irano-Mesopotamian Profile) and Armenia High Medieval Agarak. 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 | Armenia Hellenistic Aghitu (Orontid) | Hellenistic era, c. 330-30 BC | 0.0261 |
| 2 | Iran IA Hasanlu (Irano-Mesopotamian Profile) | Iron Age | 0.0302 |
| 3 | Armenia High Medieval Agarak | High Medieval, c. 1000-1300 AD | 0.0304 |
| 4 | Iraq Achaemenid Bakr Awa (Zagrosian Profile) | Achaemenid era, c. 550-330 BC | 0.0311 |
| 5 | Armenia Achaemenid-Hellenistic Karmir Blur (Orontid) | Hellenistic era, c. 330-30 BC | 0.0319 |
| 6 | Armenia Hellenistic-Roman Empire Aghitu (Artaxiad-Arsacid) | Roman era, c. 1-400 AD | 0.0351 |
| 7 | Georgia Late Antiquity Zhinvali (Chosroid) | Late Antiquity, c. 250-600 AD | 0.0354 |
| 8 | Georgia Roman Empire-Late Antiquity Samtavro (Pharnavazid-Arsacid) | Late Antiquity, c. 250-600 AD | 0.0373 |
| 9 | Georgia Late Antiquity-Early Medieval Samtavro (Chosroid) | Early Medieval, c. 500-1000 AD | 0.0373 |
| 10 | Turkey Armenian Highland Van IA Urartian | Iron Age | 0.0373 |
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 Eastern Turkish 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)
- 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 Eastern Turkish
Paste your G25 coordinates (scaled, one line, with or without a name in front) and we compute your genetic distance to the Eastern Turkish average and to its closest neighbours, right in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
| # | Population | Your distance | Closeness |
|---|
This list only covers Eastern Turkish 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 Eastern Turkish individuals who were sampled, not every person who identifies as Eastern Turkish. 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 Eastern Turkish 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 Eastern Turkish?
Modelled with deep ancestral reference populations, the Eastern Turkish average is about 29.7% Anatolian Neolithic farmers, 21.7% Iranian Neolithic farmers and 18.4% Caucasus hunter-gatherers. These proportions are model estimates for a group average, not exact values for any one person.
Which populations are genetically closest to Eastern Turkish?
Leaving aside other regional samples listed under the same name in the G25 sheet (such as Turkish (Erzincan)), the closest modern populations to the Eastern Turkish average are Azerbaijani (Republic Shaki), Azeri (Azerbaijan Nakhchivan) and Kurdish Kurmanji (Turkey Gumushane). The closest ancient matches are Armenia Hellenistic Aghitu (Orontid), Iran IA Hasanlu (Irano-Mesopotamian Profile) and Armenia High Medieval Agarak.
Can a DNA test tell me if I am Eastern Turkish?
No DNA test can confirm an ethnicity or a nationality. What DNA can show is how similar your genome is to the sampled Eastern Turkish 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 Eastern Turkish ancestry?
For the Eastern Turkish 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.