Racism In so called Modern Turkey

By Hambersom Aghbashian- B.Sc. Elect.Eng.

Racism is one of the oldest issues in history and it is one of the most critical issues facing the world today. It is a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among
various Human races, and it is the feeling that one group of people with a particular biological make up is superior to another group with a differing biological make up.
The superior groups feel that they are allowed to gain economic power and social dominance over the other groups who are considered inferior.
Turkey has a long history in racismand ethnic discrimination. Racisminfiltrated in all aspects in Turkish society. In its core, racism in Turkey is an institutional ideology, which was fully supported and executed by Ottoman Sultans and the Young Turks ( Committee of Union and Progress) throughout their bloody history and continued during modern Turkey’s first President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and his successor’s era, and it is continuing today by Rejeb Tayeb Erdogan and his Justice and Development party. Turks always consider themselves (macho)s having a strong or exaggerated sense of power or the right to dominate, be on top of all races. Ali Suavi, an Ottoman Turkish intellectual stated in 1860s that Turks are superior to other races in political, military and cultural aspects and the Turkish language surpasses the European languages in its richness and excellence.
One of the reasons why Racism has historically been so fatal and devastating is that when it goes to the end, its bottom-line is a genocide, and that was what happened in 1915 during World War I,when the Turks (Ottomans) executed the first systematic GENOCIDE in the modern history of the human being and as a result of that 2 million Armenians were uprooted from their native lands and deported toward the Arabian Sahara, and 1.5 million of them were massacred or perished en route. One of the oldest nations and the first Christian nation, the Armenians in the Western part of their homeland, were exterminated. Ethnic
and racial differences, as well cultural and religious differences, economical success of Armenians, jealousy of Turks, dominance on the land and many other reasons led to the Armenian Genocide. The feeling of superiority of the Turainian Turks was overwhelming their mind. Armenians were talented in economy,Architect,music, business, and many other fields, but they were not distinguished or outstanding in the Ottoman Empires army as it was a closed
door, hence became a soft target.

Racism Is A Permanent Feature In Turkey

Is racism a permanent feature of Turkish society? How does racism affect today’s Turkish society? Why does racism exist in Turkey today? Yes, Racism’s a permanent issue in Turkish society, as the successive governments didn’t make any efforts to understand and accept
those unlike the Turks, even their Muslim brothers, the Kurds who are segregated in Turkey today, and the Arabs who are suffering from Erdogan’s dominant
ideologies. And as long as Turkey’s educational programs continue to teach the new generation that they are a superior nation, and they are denying the rights of minorities and the black pages of their history, racism will exist in Turkey.Armenians,Assyrians, Greeks and others were annihilated in Turkey. The Kurds are estimated 16 millions in modern Turkey today and yet Kurdish language can’t be taught as it was forbidden by Kemal Attaturk who named the Kurds as Mountainous Turks.
Racism and ethnic discrimination are prevalent in Turkish society , this appears mainly in the form of negative attitudes and actions by Turks towards people who
are not considered ethnically Turkish. Such discrimination is predominately towards non-Muslim minorities as well as hostility towards various deviations of Islam such as Alevis, Sufis, and other Muslim non-Turks such as Kurds. In a recent discovery by the Armenian newspaper Agos, secret racial codes were used to classify minority communities in the country.
History is in process. Turkish culture must be changed to become a part of the civilized international society. Racism took roots in modern Turkey, but efforts are
made by Turkish intellectuals like Orhan Pamuk; a Turkish novelist, academic and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature, Fethiye Çetin a Turkish lawyer, writer and human rights activist, Taner Akçam a Turkish historian and sociologist, one of the first Turkish academics to acknowledge and openly discuss the Armenian Genocide, Hasan Cemal, journalist and publicist, the grandson of Young Turk Party leader Camal Pasha, and many others to grant
freedomof speech, the right of differentminorities to express their own sense of ethnic identity, through the maintenance and development of linguistic and cultural aspects of that identity, apologize for the minorities massacres and the Armenian Genocide etc., but it seems that will take very long time .
Racism is devastating, it is destructive. When an effort ismade to understand other cultures, We can better understand ourselves.
Turkey that is grappling with a history of denial, nationalism and fears of political consequences in regards to the Armenian Genocide, must make it in a way
that Turkish coming generation will be proud of it . Racism, ethnic discrimination, intolerance ,Hate speech in mass media, hate crimes (like Hrant Dink’s case), confiscation of minorities properties, Denial of Armenian Genocide and many other inhuman measures can’t be continued if Turkey wants to be a part of the international community.
H.A.
The Article also featured in Nor Or Weekly – Thursday November 21, 2013