Anti-Turkism

This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (January 2010)

This article or section may contain previously unpublished synthesis of published material that conveys ideas not attributable to the original sources. See the talk page for details. (April 2010)

A World War I Russian propaganda poster depicting an oriental imagined Turk running away from a Cossack.

Anti-Turkism, also known as Turcophobia^[1] (Turkophobia) or anti-Turkish sentiment, is the hostility, intolerance or racism against the Turkish people, Turkish culture, or Turkey (previously the Ottoman Empire).^[2][3]

Anti-Turkism does not only refer to intolerance against the Turks of Turkey, but also against the Turkic-speaking post-Soviet states, including Azerbaijan,^[4] Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as against the Turkic-speaking minorities in Armenia, Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Iran, Iraq, Germany, Greece, Moldova, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine and the autonomous Xinjiang Uyghur region of China. The non-Turkic Balkan Muslims, particularly Bosniaks and Macedonian Muslims, are occasional victims of anti-Turkism as well.^[5][6][7] It can also refer to racism against ethnic Turks living outside of Turkey in the Turkish diaspora.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Early history

The roots of Turcophobia can be traced back to the Hunnic invasions of Europe, where Huns or Turks were regarded as ruthless nomadic hordes in Europe and inspired fear amongst local Europeans.^[12] The later evidence of anti-Turkism in Europe originated in 1453/54 in the form of lithurgical masses against Turks, missa contra Turcos in Latin.^[13] By 1870, the anti-Turk phenomenon is defined by the term Turcophobia.^[14] Turcophobia is traced to the fall of Constantinople and the Turkish Wars of the Late Middle Ages, viz. the attempts of Western Christianity to stem the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. By the middle of the 15th century special masses called missa contra turcas (translated as "mass against Turks") were celebrated in various places in Europe,^[15] the message of these masses was that victory over the Turks was only possible with the help of God and that a Christian community was therefore necessary to withstand the cruelty of the Turks.^[13][16][17]

16th Century

Original prints from the 16th century at Hungarian National Museum

Bishop Fabri of Vienna (1536–41) claimed that:

"There are no crueller and more audacious villains under the heavens than the Turks who spare no age or sex and mercilessly cut down young and old alike and pluck unripe fruit from the wombs of mothers".^[15]

In the 16th century about 2,500 publications about the Turks were spread around Europe (over a thousand of which were in German), in these publications the image of the 'bloodthirsty Turk' was imprinted on reader. In fact in the period of 1480 to 1610, twice as many books were published about the Turkish threat to Europe than about the discovery of the continents of America.^[15]

During this time the Ottoman Empire had conquered the Balkans and had been besieging Vienna. There was much fear in Europe about the Ottoman advance, most profoundly in Germany.^[18] Luther cleverly used these fears by asserting that "the “Turks” were the agents of the Devil who, along with the Antichrist located in the heart of the Catholic Church, Rome, would usher in the Last Days and the Apocalypse".^[19]

Martin Luther had the view that the Turks' invasion of Europe was God's punishment of Christianity because it had allowed the corruption of both the Holy See and the Church.^[20] In 1518 when he defended his 95 theses, Luther claimed that God had sent the Turks to punish the Christians in the same way as he had sent war, plagues and earthquakes. The reply of Pope Leo X was the famous papal bull in which he threatened Luther with excommunication and attempted to portray Luther as a troublemaker who advocated capitulation to the Turks.^[15] In his writings On War Against the Turk and Military Sermon Against the Turks Martin Luther is "consistent in his theological conception of the Turks as a manifestation of God's chastising rod".^[21] Luther and his followers "particularly" made "important" contributions to the view that the war between Habsburgs and Ottomans was also a war "between Christ and antichrist" or "between God and the devil.^[22]

The Portuguese Empire, seeking to invade more lands in east Africa and other parts of the world, used any encounter with the "Terrible Turk" provided them with "a prime opportunity to establish credentials as champions of the faith on par with other Europeans"^[23]

Stories of the Wolf-Turk also gave Europe this negative image of the Turks. The Wolf-Turk was claimed to be a man-eating being, half animal half human with a Wolf’s head and tail. Military power and cruelty were the recurring attributes in all these claims about the origins of the Turks.^[15]

17th Century

During the 17th century Turks and Turkish life style continued to be portrayed negatively because of political and ideological reasons. The use of accounts of Turkish customs and Turkish people written during the 17th and 18th centuries, "served as an "ideological weapon" during the Enlightenment's arguments about the nature of government".^[24] Authors projected an image of Turkish people that is "inaccurate but accepted".^[25] Regarding writings on Turkish people and their life styles, "accuracy [was] of little importance; what matters [was] the illusion".^[26]

In Sweden, the Turks were designated the arch-enemy of Christianity. This is evident in a book entitled Luna Turcica eller Turkeske måne, anwissjandes lika som uti en spegel det mahometiske vanskelige regementet, fördelter uti fyra qvarter eller böcker ("Turkish moon showing as in a mirror the dangerous Mohammedan rule, divided into four quarters or books") which was published in 1694 and was written by the parish priest Erland Dryselius of Jönköping. In sermons the country's clergy preached about the Turks' general cruelty and bloodthirstiness and of how they systematically burned and plundered the areas they conquered. In a Swedish school book published in 1795 Islam was described as "the false religion that had been fabricated by the great deceiver Muhammad, to which the Turks to this day universally confess".^[15]

In Orientalism, Edward Said noted that:

"Until the end of the seventeenth century the 'Ottoman peril' lurked alongside Europe to represent for the whole of Christian civilization a constant danger, and in time European civilization incorporated that peril and its lore, its great events, figures, virtues, and vices, as something woven into the fabric of life."^[27]

18th century

Voltaire and other European writers criticized the Turks as tyrants who destroyed Europe's heritage.^[28]

Within the Ottoman Empire

Within the Ottoman Empire, the name "Turk" was sometimes used to denote the Turkmen backwoodsmen, bumpkins, or the illiterate peasants in Anatolia. "Etrak-i bi-idrak", for example, was an Ottoman play on words, meaning "the ignorant Turk".^[29]

Özay Mehmet in his book Islamic Identity and Development: Studies of the Islamic Periphery mentions:^[30]

Handan Nezir Akmeşe is another author who describes the attempts of the Young Turk movement to ingrain nationalism among the Turkish speakers of the Ottoman empire prior to World War I.^[31]

China

Kazakhs are a Turkic group living in Kazakhstan and western China. In 1936 when Sheng Shicai expelled 20,000 Kazakhs from Xinjiang, to Qinghai, the Chinese Muslim General Ma Bufang and his Chinese Muslim army massacred their fellow Muslim Kazakhs, until there were 135 of them left.^[32][33]

Chinese Muslims also reacted violently to the establishment of the First East Turkestan Republic, with the 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army) defeating the Turkic Uyghur and Kirghiz armies of the First East Turkestan Republic, and destroyed the Republic during the Battle of Kashgar (1934), Battle of Yangi Hissar and Battle of Yarkand.^[34] The Chinese Muslim Generals Ma Fuyuan and Ma Zhancang declared the destruction of the rebel forces and the returning of the area to the control of the Republic of China government, Chinese Muslim forces then executed the Turkic Muslim Emirs Abdullah Bughra and Nur Ahmad Jan Bughra. The Chinese Muslim General Ma Zhongying then entered Idgah Mosque in Kashgar, and lectured the Turkic Muslims on being loyal to the Chinese government.

Contemporary Anti-Turkism

Before the sixties Turkey had "relatively low emigration".^[35] After the adoption of new constitution in 1961, Turkish citizens began migrating outside.^[36] Gradually, in certain Western countries, Turks became a "prominent ethnic minority group",^[37] and thus, become "increasingly visible and vocal".^[38] But since the beginning Turks were subject to discrimination against them. Even when host countries launched a shift in policy regarding their immigrants "only the Turkish workers were excluded" from them.^[39]

The term "Turk" has acquired the a meaning similar to "barbarian" or "heathen" in various European languages,^{[15][40][41][42][43]} or use "Turk" as a slur or curse.^[15][44] Due to that negative influence, it had instances of negative use and image in the U.S.^[45]

Bulgaria

Distribution of clothing for Bulgarian Turkish refugees in Shumla (1877).

Turkish refugees from the Tirnova district coming into Shumla (1877).

The Turkish population of Bulgaria before the country was reformed in 1878 is estimated at one third of the total,^[46] though some scholars (especially Turkish ones) estimate that they were the majority^[47] By 1876, approximately 70% of the fertile arable land belonged to the Turks. A Turkish historian, Turhan Çetin, has claimed that the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) was a means to cleanse the Balkans of Turks.^[48] An estimated 220,000 Turks migrated to Turkey between 1923 and 1949, though the Turkish government encouraged the emigration. Then, another wave of Turks left Bulgaria, some 155,000 were either expelled or allowed to leave in 1949-51, though the emigration occurred following an agreement with the Turkish government.^[47][49]

In 1984, the Bulgarian government started a Bulgarisation process whereby policies were instigated to limit the cultural and ethnic characteristics of Bulgarian Turks. Approximately 800,000 Turks were forced to change their names to Bulgarian names. Furthermore, Turks were not allowed to attend the Muslim religious ceremonies,^[50] speak Turkish in public places or wear traditional Turkish clothing.^[51] Since 1986, the anti-Turkism in Bulgaria has once again intensified.^[52] This eventually led to the biggest mass exodus in Europe since World War II ensued when approximately 350,000 Turks were forced to leave Bulgaria and crossed the border to Turkey. This event occurred between June to August 1989 and is known as the 'The Big Excursion'.^[53] After the removal of Todor Zhivkov from power, over 150,000 Turks returned to Bulgaria, but more than 200,000 chose to remain in Turkey permanently.^[54]

Boiko Borisov, who has been accused of having anti-Turkish tendencies^[55] came to power in the July 2009 elections. In December 2009, PM Borisov "declared himself in favor of a motion put forth by the nationalist party ATAKA and its leader for holding a referendum over the broadcast of daily Turkish language news emissions on the Bulgarian National TV", but he later withdrew support.^[56] The Turkish prime minister "expressed his concern of rising anti-Turkish sentiments in Bulgaria"^[57] to Bulgarian prime minister. The Turkish Foreign Ministry also "expressed its concern over the rising heated rhetoric in Bulgaria"^[58] on the issue of the Turkish language news. According to a report by Ivan Dikov, "not just ATAKA but a large number of Bulgarians have resented the news in Turkish".^[56]

Cyprus

The island of Cyprus became an independent state in 1960, with power sharing between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots under the 1960 Zurich agreements. In December 1963, the events known as Bloody Christmas (tr:Kanlı Noel)^[59] was were Turkish Cypriots defected from the Republic and Greek Cypriots initiated a military campaign against them, which led to the beginning of ethnic clashes between the two communities that were to continue for 11 years.^[60] At this time, Turkish Cypriots bore the heavier cost in terms of casualties and some 25,000 Turkish Cypriots became internally displaced accounting to about a fifth of their population.^[61] These Turkish Cypriots had become internally displaced and lived as refugees for at least ten years before the 1974 Turkish invasion.^[61] By the late 1960s, tension continued to grow and approximately 60,000 Turkish Cypriots left their homes and moved into enclaves.^[62] This resulted in an exodus of Turkish Cypriots with the majority migrating to the United Kingdom whilst others went to Turkey, North America and Australia.^[63]

Germany

The Solingen arson attack of 1993 was one of the most severe instances of anti-foreigner violence in modern Germany when neo-Nazis set fire to a Turkish family's home.

It has been observed that Turks are "the most prominent ethnic minority group in contemporary Germany".^[64] But discrimination against Turkish minority "occurs in various everyday situations"^[65] in Germany. After the adoption of the 1961 constitution, Turkish citizens began migrating outside the country.^[36] While the population of Turkish immigrant workers reached 3 million, Turkish minorities have become "well-known butts of welfare chauvinism and racial violence in Germany".^[66] After 1980, xenophobia targeting Turkish minorities grow parallel with unemployment rates and "latent anti-Semitism was transformed into open 'anti-Turkism'".^[67] Turks subjected to destructive jokes and public discourse and were shown "ludicrously different in their food tastes, dress, names, and even in their ability to develop survival techniques".^[68] Those "eye-opening" jokes contain such a great deal of animosity and aggressive tendencies so that it is "reflected in the actual increasing violence towards Turks".^[69] As a result of all these discrimination, "serious behavioral consequences of prejudice against Turks is prevailing in Germany".^[65]

The number of violent acts by right-wing extremists in Germany increased dramatically between 1990 and 1992.^[70] On November 25, 1992, three Turkish residents were killed in a firebombing in Mölln (Western Germany).^[71] The attack prompted even further perplexity since the victims were neither refugees nor lived in a hostel.^[72] The same was true for the incident in a Westphalian town on May 29, 1993; where another arson attack took place in Solingen on a Turkish family that had resided in Germany for twenty-three years, five of whom were burnt to death.^[73] Several neighbours heard someone shout Heil Hitler! before dousing the front porch and door with gasoline and setting the fire to the home.^[74] However, most Germans condemned these attacks on foreigners and many marched in candlelight processions.^[75]

According to Greg Nees, "because Turks are both darker-skinned and Muslim, conservative Germans are largely against granting them citizenship."^[76]

Greece

A Turkish community currently live in Western Thrace which is located in the north-eastern part of Greece. In 1922, Turks owned 84% of the land in Western Thrace, but now the minority estimates this figure to be between 20–40%. This stems from various practices of the Greek administration whereby ethnic Greeks are encouraged to purchase Turkish land with soft loans granted by the state.^[77][78] The Western Thrace Turks has traditionally been estimated to number between 120,000 and 130,000.^[79][80] However, the Greek government refers to the Turkish community as Greek Muslims or Hellenic Muslims, and does not recognise a Turkish minority in Western Thrace.^[79] Greek courts have also outlawed the use of the word 'Turkish' to describe the community. In 1988, the Greek High Court affirmed a 1986 decision of the Court of Appeals of Thrace in which the Union of Turkish Associations of Western Thrace was ordered closed. The court held that the use of the word 'Turkish' referred to citizens of Turkey, and could not be used to describe citizens of Greece; the use of the word 'Turkish' to describe 'Greek Muslims' was held to endanger public order.^[81]

Netherlands

The Netherlands has a sizable Turkish minority group as well as Germany. Turkish ethnic minority group is the "second largest ethnic minority group living in the Netherlands" and their culture is considered to "differ substantially from Dutch culture".^[82] Even though progressive policies are installed, "especially compared with those in some other European countries such as Germany"^[83] Human Rights Watch criticized the Netherlands for new legislations violating the human rights of Turkish ethnic minority group.^[84] The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance published its third report on Netherlands in 2008. In this report Turkish minority group is described as a notable community which have been particularly affected by "stigmatisation of and discrimination against members of minority groups"^[85] as a result of controversial policies of the governments of Netherlands. The same report also noted that "the tone of Dutch political and public debate around integration and other issues relevant to ethnic minorities has experienced a dramatic deterioration".

Recently, use of the word "allochtonen" as a "catch-all expression" for "the other" emerged as a new development. European Network against Racism, an international organisation supported by European Commission reported that, in Netherlands, half of the Turks reported having experienced racial discrimination.^[86] Same report points "dramatic growth of islamophobia" parallel with antisemitism. Another international organisation European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia highlighted negative trend in Netherlands, regarding attitudes towards minorities, compared to average EU results.^[87] The analysis also noted that compared to most other Europeans, in the Netherlands, majority group is "more in favour of cultural assimilation of minorities" rather than "cultural enrichment by minority groups".

Former Soviet Union

Within the Soviet Union, ethnic cleansing of Turks during World War II took the form of mass deportations carried out by the Soviet secret police and the Red Army.^[88] The reason for the deportation was because the Soviet Union was preparing to launch a pressure campaign against Turkey. In June 1945 Vyacheslav Molotov, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, formally presented a demand to the Turkish Ambassador in Moscow for the surrender of three Anatolian provinces (Kars, Ardahan and Artvin). Moscow was also preparing to support Armenian claims to several other Anatolian provinces. Thus, war against Turkey seemed possible, and Joseph Stalin wanted to clear the strategic Turkish population (especially those situated in Meskheti) located near the Turkish-Georgian border which were likely to be hostile to Soviet intentions.^[89] The deportation is relatively poorly documented, but Soviet sources suggests that an estimated 115,000 Turks were deported mainly to Central Asia, most of which settled in Uzbekistan.^[90]

In 1989, ethnic clashes between the Uzbeks and Turks occurred. According to official figures, 103 people died and over 1,000 were wounded. Moreover, 700 houses were destroyed and more than 90,000 Meskhetian Turks were driven out of Uzbekistan.^[91] The events of 1989 are considered by the Turks as their 'second deportation'. Those that remained in Uzbekistan complained (in private due to the fear of repercussions) of ethnic discrimination.^[92]

Turks who lived in and around Nagorno-Karabakh during the early 1990s were forced to flee when the Armenians took control of the area.^[93] Although some have returned to Meskheti, a problem has constantly been that Georgians and Armenians who settled into the homes of the Turks have vowed to take up arms against any return movements. Moreover, many Georgians have advocated that the Meskhetian Turks should be sent to Turkey, 'where they belong'.^[93]

More recently, some Turks in Russia, especially those in Krasnodar, have faced hostility from the local population. The Krasnodar Meskhetian Turks have suffered significant human rights violations, including the deprivation of their citizenship. They are deprived of civil, political and social rights and are prohibited from owning property and employment.^[94] Thus, since 2004, many Turks have left the Krasnodar region for the United States as refugees, which is now becoming their third deportation. They are still barred from full repatriation to Georgia.^[95]

Quotes and sayings

Quotes

Sayings

The term "Turk" acquired the a meaning similar to "barbarian" or "heathen" in various European languages, as evident from the following dictionary entries:

• Websters New Collegiate Dictionary: "One who is cruel or tyrannical." (noted as archaic)^[15][40]
• Concise Oxford Dictionary: "Ferocious, wild or unmanageable person."^[15][41]
• Random House Dictionary: "A cruel, brutal and domineering man."^[15]

Many vices in the world came to be associated with the Turks as they moved westward towards Europe. The following is an incomplete list of sayings about Turks in various countries of Europe and the Middle East.

 Armenia

• "Թուրք" ("Turk") is commonly used to question someone's loyalty or criticize one's moral qualities: "հո թուրք չես" ("Are you a Turk?")^[100]
• "թուրքի տուն" ("Turk's house") is a phrase to describe disordered and a very dirty house^[101]

 Austria

• Die Türken kommen ("The Turks are coming") is sometimes used to describe a nearby danger, taken from the Ottoman invasions of Austria, like the Siege of Vienna

 Estonia

• Türklane ("a Turk") is used when calling someone uncivilized or stupid. Türa sa oled mingi türklane või? ("Damn it, are you some kind of a Turk?")

 France

• Turc was once used in proverbial expressions such as C'est un vray Turc ("He's a real Turk"), used to indicate that a person was harsh and pitiless.^[102]

 Greece:

• Έγινε Τούρκος ("He became a Turk") denotes extreme anger towards someone or because of something ("He was so angry that he resembled a Turk").^[103]

 Iran

• Tork-e khar ("Turkish donkey") is a derogatory joke usually directed against Turkic Azeris of Iran, Azerbaijani Turks.^[104][105] The derogatory term was originally started towards Ottoman Turks.

 Italy

• bestemmia come un Turco ("he swears like a Turk")^[106]
• Mamma li Turchi! ("Oh mother, the Turks are coming!") is one of the most used Italian phrase to suggest an imminent danger, as when the Ottoman Turks threatened Europe^[107][108]
• Fumare come un Turco ("To smoke like a Turk") is a phrase that describes a person who smokes a lot.

 Latvia

• "Strādā kā turks" ("Works like a Turk") is a phrase referring to persons who participate in long lasting or heavy manual labour. The reference is probably made to Turkish foreign workers, however Turks do not constitute a persistant or a significant diaspore of foreign workers in Latvia.

 Malta:

• "Tork" is someone feared and unwanted due to his nature
• "Mela jien xi Tork, jew?" ("Am I a Turk, or what?") is a phrase used by someone who is left out or forgotten from a share between a group
• "Tgħammed Tork!" ("A Turk was baptised!") is a phrase that is used when a rare event occurs, because a Turk turning to Christianity from Islam is seen as a rare event.^{[citation needed]}

 Netherlands See also:nl:Turk (scheldwoord) Turk (insult) in Dutch Wiki

• "eruit zien als een Turk" ("to look like a Turk") means to be dirty, disgusting
• "rijden als een Turk" ("driving like a Turk") means someone is a bad driver
• For decades after the Turkish immigrants came to The Netherlands most encyclopedias and dictionaires, including the Van Dale, still referred to a Turk as someone who is dirty, barbaric and bloodthirsty, instead of someone who lives in Turkey^[109]

 Norway

• "Sint som en tyrker" is a saying which means "Angry like a Turk"^[110][111]

 Romania

• "Măi, turcule" (You, Turk) or "a fi turc" (to be a Turk) is an expression used to address or to refer to a person who fails to comprehend, is ignorant, stubborn or narrow-minded^[44][112]
• "a fuma ca un turc" ("to smoke like a Turk") is an expression used to denote a person who smokes a lot^[112][113]
• "doar nu dau/vin turcii" (roughly "Hold your horses!", literally "the Turks aren't coming[, are they?]") is an expression used to ironically calm someone's impulsiveness down^[112]

 Russia

• "Незваный гость хуже Татарина" ("An unwanted guest is worse than a Tatar", with Tatars being a Turkic people living in Russia).^[114]
• *"турок" ("Turk") is commonly used to describe someone's stupidity.

 Serbia (and other ex-Yugoslavia countries)

• "puši ko Turčin / пуши ко Турчин" is a phrase that means "he smokes like a Turk" describing a person who smokes a lot^[115]

 Spain

• "Turco" word that was used by some Spanish people to make disparaging remarks about a person^{[citation needed]}

 Bulgaria

• "Лежи като рязан турчин" is a pharse that means "He recline like a Turk" describing a person who is very lazy.

See also

• Turkification
• Islamophobia
• Anti-semitism
• Red Jews
• Bulgarization of Turks in Bulgaria
• Volen Siderov
• Persecution of Muslims
• 1990 Komotini events
• The Lustful Turk

References

Bibliography

External links

• Turkey in the Eye of the Beholder:Tracking Perceptions on Turkey through Political Cartoons by Sinan Erensü and Yaşar Adanalı
• Patriotism versus Patria by Vartan Harutiunyan
• Representation of Turkishness in Hollywood by Aslihan Tokgoz
• TURKOPHOBIA:Its Social and Historical Roots By Sabirzyan BADRETDIN
• The Unspeakable Turk political cartoons
• (Turkish) Marco Türklere ders vermek istemiş!

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anti-Turkism