Turkification of the Azerbaijanis derives from the Turkic settlements in the area now known as Azerbaijan, which began and accelerated during the Seljuk period.
In the year 1025, about 40,000 families of Oghuz Turks migrated to the area of Caucasian Albania (present-day Azerbaijan), which was predated by the settlement of 12,000 Turkic Khazars in the 7th–8th centuries.
The migration of Oghuz Turks from present-day Turkmenistan, which is attested by linguistic similarity, remained high through the Mongol period, as many troops under the Ilkhans were Turkic.
By the Safavid period, the Turkic nature of Azerbaijan increased with the influence of the Qizilbash, a Turkic group that was the backbone of the Safavid Empire.

Most academics view the linguistic Turkicisation of predominantly non-Turkic-speaking indigenous peoples and assimilation of small populations of Turkic tribes as the most likely origin for the people of Azerbaijan.
Some genetic research on the Azerbaijani people supports the view that the Azerbaijanis originate from a native population long resident in the area who adopted a Turkic language through a process of "elite dominance", i.e. a limited number of Turkic settlers had a substantial cultural impact but left only weak patrilineal genetic traces.
Turkification of the Azerbaijanis derives from the Turkic settlements in the area now known as Azerbaijan, which began and accelerated during the Seljuk period. In the year 1025, about 40,000 families of Oghuz Turks migrated to the area of Caucasian Albania (present-day Azerbaijan), which was predated by the settlement of 12,000 Turkic Khazars in the 7th–8th centuries. The migration of Oghuz Turks from present-day Turkmenistan, which is attested by linguistic similarity, remained high through the Mongol period, as many troops under the Ilkhans were Turkic. By the Safavid period, the Turkic nature of Azerbaijan increased with the influence of the Qizilbash, a Turkic group that was the backbone of the Safavid Empire.
Most academics view the linguistic Turkicisation of predominantly non-Turkic-speaking indigenous peoples and assimilation of small populations of Turkic tribes as the most likely origin for the people of Azerbaijan. Some genetic research on the Azerbaijani people supports the view that the Azerbaijanis originate from a native population long resident in the area who adopted a Turkic language through a process of "elite dominance", i.e. a limited number of Turkic settlers had a substantial cultural impact but left only weak patrilineal genetic traces.
Azerbaijanis