Hemshin peoples

The Hemshin people (Armenian: Համշենցիներ, Hamshentsiner; Turkish: Hemşinliler), also known as Hemshinli or Hamshenis or Homshetsi, are an ethnographic group of Armenians who mostly practice Sunni Islam after their conversion from Christianity in the beginning of the 18th century and are affiliated with the Hemşin and Çamlıhemşin districts in the province of Rize, Turkey.

They are Armenian in origin, and were originally Christians and members of the Armenian Apostolic Church, but evolved into a distinct community over the centuries and converted to Sunni Islam after the conquest of the region by the Ottomans during the second half of the 15th century. In Turkey, Hemshin people do not speak the Homshetsi dialect apart from the "Eastern Hamsheni" group living in provinces of Artvin and Sakarya and their mother tongue is now Turkish.