The Cretan Turks (Greek Τουρκοκρητικοί or Τουρκοκρήτες, Tourkokritikí or Tourkokrítes, Turkish Giritli, Girit Türkleri, or Giritli Türkler), Muslim-Cretans or Cretan Muslims were the Muslim inhabitants of Crete (until 1923) and now their descendants, who settled principally in Turkey, the Dodecanese Islands under Italian administration, Syria (notably in the village of Al-Hamidiyah), Lebanon, Palestine, Libya, and Egypt, as well as in the larger Turkish diaspora. Under the Ottoman Empire, many Cretan Turks attained prominent positions.