Relations between Albanians and Turkey date back from the arrival of the Ottomans to the region in the 15th century.[1] Many Albanians during the Ottoman period converted to the official religion Islam and contributed through administrative, political and military positions to the Ottoman empire and culturally to the wider Muslim world.[1][2] The Albanian diaspora in Turkey was formed during the Ottoman era and early years of the Turkish republic through migration for economic reasons and later sociopolitical circumstances of discrimination and violence experienced by Albanians in Balkan countries.[3] The Balkan Wars (1912-1913) expanded the Albanian diaspora in Turkey as large numbers of Muslim refugees arrived in Istanbul and Anatolia overwhelming the abilities and resources of Ottoman authorities to provide food, shelter, personal registration and documentation.[4] Descendants from these Albanians form the largest portion of the Albanian community in Turkey.[3] Ottoman authorities aware of the demographics of Kosovo and Macedonia understood that a large portion of the unregistered refugees migrating toward Eastern Thrace and Anatolia were Albanian and many of them had congregated in urban centres like Karacabey, Edremit, Değirmendere, Karamürsel, Kirmasti and Bursa.[5][3]