Afro-Turks

Afro-Turks

1st row: Defne Joy Foster • Mehmet Aurélio • Ahmet Ali Çelikten • Bashi-bazouk
Regions with significant populations
Muğla Izmir Antalya
Languages
Turkish
Religion
Islam

Afro-Turks, African Turks, or Turkish Africans are people of African descent in Turkey. "Afro-Turk" is a neologism; they have been colloquially named as Arap (Arab) or zenci in Turkish, and are now also referred to as Afrika kökenli Türkler (Turks with African roots).^{[citation needed]}

History

Beginning several centuries ago, a number of Africans, usually via Zanzibar and from places like Niger, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Kenya and Sudan.^[1] came to the Ottoman Empire settled by the Dalaman, Menderes and Gediz valleys, Manavgat, and Çukurova. African quarters of 19th century İzmir like Sabırtaşı, Dolapkuyu, Tamaşalık, İkiçeşmelik, and Ballıkuyu have mention in contemporary records.^[2] Some came from Crete following the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923. They settled on the Aegean coast, mainly around İzmir.^[3] Afro-Turks in Ayvalık declare that their ancestors from Crete spoke Greek when they came to Turkey and learned Turkish later.^[4] Afro-Turks living in İzmir had celebrated the traditional spring festival Dana Bayramı ("Calf Festival") until the 1960s. Dana Bayramı is currently revived among the younger generation of Afro-Turks.^[2]

Ulcinj in Montenegro had its own black community – descendent of the Ottoman slave trade that had flourished here.^[5] As a consequence of the slave trade and privateer activity, a considerable number of Ulcinj inhabitants until 1878 were black.^[6] The Ottoman Army counted thousands of Black African soldiers in its ranks. The army sent to Balkans during the Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18 included 24,000 men from Africa.^[7]

Today

Areas with significant populations are in the Aegean Region, especially İzmir, Aydın, and Muğla. At the time of Barack Obama's inauguration, a group of Afro-Turks from the districts Ortaca, Dalaman, and Köyceğiz gathered in Ortaca for celebration.^[8] There are also people of African ancestry living in some villages and municipalities of Antalya and Adana provinces.^[9] Some of the descendants of African settlers remain, mixed with the rest of the population in these areas, and many migrated to larger cities.^[3] These factors make it difficult to guess the number of Turks of African ancestry.^[10]

Notable Afro-Turks

Arts

• Esmeray, singer
• Tuğçe Güder, adopted by Turkish parents, model and actress
• Kuzgun Acar, sculptor
• Mansur Ark, musician
• Safiye Ayla, musician
• Yasemin Esmergül, actress
• Defne Joy Foster, television presenter (African American father)
• Ahmet Kostarika, actor
• Dursune Şirin, actress
• İbrahim Şirin, classical Ottoman musician
• Neşe Sayles, actress (Jamaican father)
• Cenk Sökmen, musician
• Melis Sökmen, actress, musician (Guinean grandmother)
• Sait Sökmen, ballet dancer, choreographer (Guinean mother)
• Sibel Sürel, ballerina
• Tuncay Vural, choreographer

Sports

• Elvan Abeylegesse, Naturalized, Ethiopian long distance runner
• Marco "Mehmet" Aurélio, naturalized, Brazilian born footballer
• Alemitu Bekele Degfa, Naturalized, Ethiopian long distance runner
• Fercani Bey, footballer
• Ömer Besim Koşalay, athlete, journalist
• Vahap Özaltay, footballer
• Hadi Türkmen, former vice-president of the Turkish Football Federation
• Sadri Usuoğlu, football manager
• Gökçek Vederson, naturalized, Brazilian born footballer
• Mustafa Yıldız known as "Arap Mustafa", wrestler

Literature

• Mustafa Olpak, writer and activist

Politics

• Zenci Musa, Teşkilât-ı Mahsûsa member

Military

• Ahmet Ali (Arap Ahmet), Ottoman military pilot

See also

• Afro-Arab
• Afro Iranian
• Afro Iraqis
• Black people in the Ottoman Empire
• Black people in Turkey
• Slavery in the Ottoman Empire

Notes

External links

• (Turkish) Afro-Turk Website of the Afro-Turks' association in Ayvalık
• (Turkish) Sessiz Bir Geçmişten Sesler Website of a research project on Afro-Turks
• (English) Turks with African ancestors want their existence to be felt, Today's Zaman, 25 June 2008

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