Turkestan (Turkistan), now divided into a number of republics in Soviet Central Asia, a former Russian gouvernement-general conquered by Russia in 1859-65, with the chief cities Tashkent, Bukhara, and Samarkand. In 1880 Mennonites from the Molotschna and Am Trakt Mennonite settlements came to Turkestan to establish settlements at Ak-Mechet in Khiva and Auli-Ata, under the leadership of Claas Epp and Abraham Peters. Under the Soviet regime Turkestan was broken up into the Kazakh, Kirghiz, Uzbek, Tadzhik, and Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republics. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, these republics gained their independence. During and after World War II the former Turkestan received an influx of population from European Russia which includes many Mennonites. (See Soviet Central Asia.)

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 755. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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