"According to another theory, Karamanlides descend
from Turkic tribes who had fled to Anatolia from the
Mongolian invasion of Central Asia and Persia during
the 13th century. They were then converted to
orthodoxy under the rule of the Byzantine Empire.
They may have numbered in the several hundred
thousands and migrated to the Karaman and Cappadocia
regions of what is now central
Turkey".
