they are Arabized and do not speak Kurdish very well. In 1973 Professor Moshe Ma'oz said that the non-Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslim Kurds formed 8.3% of the population. By 1979 Dr. Nikolaos van Dam claimed that the Syrian Kurds (forming 8.5% of the population at the time) were almost exclusively Sunni Muslims. Dr Henry Munson said that Sunni Muslim Kurds formed 9% of the population in 1988, whilst Professor Alasdair Drysdale and Professor Raymond Hinnebusch said that they formed 8.5% in 1991. In recent decades, the population of other religious minorities (particularly Christians and Jews) has decreased, therefore, estimates on the proportion of Sunni Kurds has increased. For example, Dr. Pierre Beckouche has said that before 2011 the Sunni Muslim Kurds formed 9-10% of the country's population. Turkmen The Turkish-speaking Turkmen are the third largest ethnic group in the country (approximately 4% to 5% of the country's population) and are mainly Sunni Muslims. They mainly live in the urban centres and countryside of the following six governorates: the Aleppo Governorate, the Damascus Governorate, the Homs Governorate, the Hama Governorate, the Latakia Governorate and the Quneitra Governorate. In 1973 Professor Moshe Ma'oz said that the non-Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslim Turkmen formed 3% of the population. According to Dr. Nikolaos van Dam the Syrian Turkmen/Turkoman (forming 3% of the population at the time) were almost exclusively Sunni Muslims. Similarly, Dr Henry Munson said that Sunni Muslim Turkmen formed 3% of the population in 1988, as did Professor Alasdair Drysdale and Professor Raymond Hinnebusch in 1991. In recent decades, the population of other religious minorities (particularly Christians and Jews) has decreased, therefore, estimates on the proportion of Sunni Turkmen has increased. For example, Dr. Pierre Beckouche said that before 2011 the Sunni Muslim Turkmen/Turkoman formed 4% of the country's population. However, the Sunni Turkmen population is believed to be considerably higher if Arabized Turkmen are also taken into consideration (i.e. Arabic-speaking Turkmen who no longer speak their mother tongue), and some estimates indicate that the total Turkmen population (who are mostly Sunni) might be the second biggest group in the country, outnumbering the Kurds. Circassians Most Circassians in Syria are Sunni Muslims. They form the fifth largest ethnic group in the country but the fourth largest Sunni Muslim community in Syria. They live mostly in three Syrian governorates: Hama, Homs, and Quneitra. In 1991 Professor Alasdair Drysdale and Professor Raymond Hinnebusch said that less than