 This Oghuz Turk clan converted from Islam to Orthodox Christianity after settling in the Eastern Balkans (nowadays in Bulgaria) and were called Gagauz Turks.In 1812 Bessarabia, previously eastern half of the Principality of Moldavia became part of the Russian Empire, and Nogai tribes that inhabited several villages in south Bessarabia (or Budjak) were forced to leave.Between 1812 and 1846, Russians settled the Gagauz people from what is nowadays eastern Bulgaria (which remained under Ottoman Empire) to the orthodox Bessarabia, mainly in the settlements vacated by the Nogai tribes.