 Similarly to those of the North Caucasus, large groups of local Muslim population refused to live within Russian boundaries and migrated to Turkey (or Iran) settling in its eastern regions, especially in the Şenkaya district of Erzurum and the Taşlıçay district of Ağrı.The Turkish dialect of Erzurum has been grammatically influenced by the Azerbaijani language.Phonemic analyses indicate that Azeri-influenced dialects are spoken as far as Elâzığ and Van's Erciş district.