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It is unclear who is meant by "the commoners".

If the question is referring to the indigenous population of Anatolia, that initially resisted the Seljuk incursions from what is now Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, these people were absorbed into the Seljuk Empire. Under Seljuk and Ottoman Occupation, these people who were originally Byzantine citizens, began to identify as Turks, speak Turkish as their native language, practice Sunni Islam instead of Orthodox Christianity. This Anatolian population remains to this day and constitutes the majority of the current Turkish population.

Of course, there were those former Byzantine citizens who had unique identities that were not lost under Seljuk conquest, such as the Armenians and the Kurds.

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12y ago

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