The Turks in Tunisia, also known as Turco-Tunisians and Tunisian Turks, (Arabic: أتراك تونس‎‎ French: Turcs de Tunisie Turkish: Tunus Türkleri) are the ethnic Turks who constitute a minority group in Tunisia. In 1534, with about 10,000 Turkish soldiers, the Ottoman Empire took control and settled in the region when Tunisia's inhabitants called for help due to fears that the Spanish would invade the country. Thus, during the Ottoman rule, the Turks colonized and dominated the political life of the region for centuries; as a result, the ethnic mix of Tunisia changed with the migration of Turks from Anatolia and the evolvement of the "Kouloughlis" who are people of mixed Turkish and central Maghrebi blood.