ELTurco
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At another thread our dear friend @Surenas was insulting @rmi5. She insulted our iranian azeri friend @rmi5 just because he have Turk origin, so I decided to do a little research about Turcophobia and found this on Wikipedia.
Anti-Turkism, also known as Turcophobia (Turkophobia) or anti-Turkish sentiment, is the hostility, fear, intolerance or racism against the Turkish people, Turkish culture, Turkic people or Turkey itself (previously the Ottoman Empire).
Anti-Turkism does not only refer to intolerance against the Turks of Turkey, but also against the non-Turkish Balkan Muslims, particularly Albanians, Bosniaks and Macedonian Muslims, are occasional victims of anti-Turkism as well. It can also refer to racism against ethnic Turks living outside of Turkey in the Turkish diaspora
Early history
The roots of Turcophobia can be traced back to the Hunnic invasions of Europe, where Huns or Turks were ruthless foreign nomadic hordes in Europe and inspired fear amongst local Europeans. 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. By 1870, the anti-Turk phenomenon is defined by the term Turcophobia. 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, 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.
16th Century
Bishop Fabri of Vienna (1536–41) claimed that:"There are no crueler 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".
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.
During this time the Ottoman Empire had invaded the Balkans and had been besieging Vienna. There was much fear in Europe about the Ottoman advance, most profoundly in Germany. 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".
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. 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. 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". 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.
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"
Original prints from the 16th century at Hungarian National Museum depicting a Turkish warrior butchering infants
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". Authors projected an image of Turkish people that is "inaccurate but accepted". Regarding writings on Turkish people and their life styles, "accuracy [was] of little importance; what matters [was] the illusion".
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".
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."
18th century
Voltaire and other European writers criticized the Turks as tyrants who destroyed Europe's heritage
Contemporary Anti-Turkism
Before the 1960s, Turkey had "relatively low emigration". After the adoption of new constitution in 1961, Turkish citizens began migrating outside. Gradually, in certain Western countries, Turks became a "prominent ethnic minority group", and thus, become "increasingly visible and vocal". 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.
The term "Turk" has acquired the a meaning similar to "barbarian" or "heathen" in various European languages, or use "Turk" as a slur or curse. Due to that negative influence, it had instances of negative use and image in the U.S
Armenia
Armenia–Turkey relations have historically been hostile primarily due to Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. According to a 2007 survey, 78% of Armenians see Turkey as a threat. According to Vartan Harutiunian "Armenian nationalism is based on Anti-Turkism and the most patriotic Armenian is the most anti-Turkish. In general, for an Armenian, anti-Turkism and patriotism are directly proportional." Turks who lived in and around Nagorno-Karabakh during the early 1990s were ethnically cleansed when the Armenians took control of the area
Bulgaria
The Turkish population of Bulgaria before the country was reformed in 1878 is estimated at one third of the total.[46] By 1876, approximately 70% of the fertile arable land belonged to the Turks. After it,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.
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, speak Turkish in public places or wear traditional Turkish clothing. This eventually led to the biggest mass exodus in Europe since World War II ensued after the border with Turkey was opened in June 1989 and in the span of three months approximately 350,000 Turks left Bulgaria on tourist visas (hence the event is known as The Big Excursion and crossed the border into Turkey. Eventually, especially 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.
The former Bulgarian prime minister Boiko Borisov (2009-2013) has been accused of having anti-Turkish tendencies. In December 2009, 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.The Turkish prime minister "expressed his concern of rising anti-Turkish sentiments in Bulgaria" to Bulgarian prime minister. The Turkish Foreign Ministry also "expressed its concern over the rising heated rhetoric in Bulgaria" 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".
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) was were Turkish Cypriots ousted 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. 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. These Turkish Cypriots had become internally displaced and lived as refugees for at least ten years before the 1974 Turkish invasion. By the late 1960s, tension continued to grow and approximately 60,000 Turkish Cypriots left their homes and moved into enclaves. 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.
Germany
It has been observed that Turks are "the most prominent ethnic minority group in contemporary Germany". But discrimination against Turkish minority "occurs in various everyday situations" in Germany. After the adoption of the 1961 constitution, Turkish citizens began migrating outside the country. 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". After 1980, xenophobia targeting Turkish minorities grow parallel with unemployment rates and "latent anti-Semitism was transformed into open 'anti-Turkism'". 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". 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".As a result of all these discrimination, "serious behavioral consequences of prejudice against Turks is prevailing in Germany".
The number of violent acts by right-wing extremists in Germany increased dramatically between 1990 and 1992. On November 25, 1992, three Turkish residents were killed in a firebombing in Mölln (Northern Germany). The attack prompted even further perplexity since the victims were neither refugees nor lived in a hostel. 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. Several neighbours heard someone shout Heil Hitler! before dousing the front porch and door with gasoline and setting the fire to the home. However, most Germans condemned these attacks on foreigners and many marched in candlelight processions.
According to Greg Nees, "because Turks are both darker-skinned and Muslim, conservative Germans are largely against granting them citizenship."
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. The Western Thrace Turks has traditionally been estimated to number between 120,000 and 130,000. 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. 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
Malta
Having fought the Ottoman Empire, in the Siege of Malta of 1565, the Maltese still have colourful vocabulary regarding this event. For example, when there is the sun and the rain at the same time, they say "twieled tork" (a Turk was born), or when something goes wrong "Haqq ghat-torok" (curse on the Turks!). Religious representations reveal the extent of this historic rivalry, with a diplomatic incident nearly arising following the wrong depiction of the Turkish flag instead of that of the Ottoman Empire in a religious statue displayed for a village festa in Vittoriosa.
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". Even though progressive policies are installed, "especially compared with those in some other European countries such as Germany" Human Rights Watch criticized the Netherlands for new legislations violating the human rights of Turkish ethnic minority group. 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" 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. 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. 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".
Russia and 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 NKVD and the Red Army. 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. 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. However, numerous Turks died along the way.
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. 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.
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'.
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. 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.
Quotes and sayings
Quotes
“They [the Turks] were, upon the whole, from the black day when they first entered Europe, the one great anti-human specimen of humanity. Wherever they went, a broad line of blood marked the track behind them, and, as far as their dominion reached, civilization disappeared from view. They represented everywhere government by force, as opposed to government by law.”
—William Gladstone,
“The barbarian power, which has been for centuries seated in the very heart of the Old World, which has in its brute clutch the most famous countries of classical and religious antiquity and many of the most fruitful and beautiful regions of the earth... ignorantly holding in its possession one half of the history of the whole world.”
—Cardinal Newman (1801–1890)
“...tyrants of the women and enemies of arts...”
—Voltaire (1694-1778)
“...to chase away from Europe these barbaric usurpers...”
—Voltaire (1694-1778)
“I wish fervently that the Turkish barbarians be chased away immediately out of the country [Greece] of Xenophon, Socrates, Plato, Sophocles and Euripides. If we wanted, it could be done soon but seven crusades of superstition have been undertaken and a crusade of honour will never take place. We know almost no city built by them; they let decay the most beautiful establishments of Antiquity, they reign over ruins.”
—Voltaire (1694-1778), The Orient’s Christian Realm
“When I consider history, I find that there has been no nation that has practiced more blasphemy of God, brutally, shameful fornication, and every kind of wild and chaotic living than the Turks.”
—Philipp Melanchthon
“Lastly, I could show fight on natural selection having done and doing more for the progress of civilization than you seem inclined to admit. Remember what risk the nations of Europe ran, not so many centuries ago of being overwhelmed by the Turks, and how ridiculous such an idea now is! The more civilised so-called Caucasian races have beaten the Turkish hollow in the struggle for existence. Looking to the world at no very distant date, what an endless number of the lower races will have been eliminated by the higher civilized races throughout the world.”
—Charles Darwin
“I never disliked a Chinaman as I do these degraded Turks and Arabs, and when Russia is ready to war with them again, I hope England and France will not find it good breeding or good judgment to interfere.”
—Mark Twain, 1869
“Mosques are plenty, churches are plenty, graveyards are plenty, but morals and whiskey are scarce.”
—Mark Twain, 1869
“...and lied like a Turk when he said it.”
—Mark Twain, 1869
“…such individuals as the furthermost Turks found in the remote North, the Negroes found in the remote South, and those who resemble them from among them that are with us in these climes. The status of those is like that of irrational animals.”
So my question is:
Are they angry at the Turks because of the conquests in the past or what is the reason?
please discuss.
Anti-Turkism, also known as Turcophobia (Turkophobia) or anti-Turkish sentiment, is the hostility, fear, intolerance or racism against the Turkish people, Turkish culture, Turkic people or Turkey itself (previously the Ottoman Empire).
Anti-Turkism does not only refer to intolerance against the Turks of Turkey, but also against the non-Turkish Balkan Muslims, particularly Albanians, Bosniaks and Macedonian Muslims, are occasional victims of anti-Turkism as well. It can also refer to racism against ethnic Turks living outside of Turkey in the Turkish diaspora
Early history
The roots of Turcophobia can be traced back to the Hunnic invasions of Europe, where Huns or Turks were ruthless foreign nomadic hordes in Europe and inspired fear amongst local Europeans. 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. By 1870, the anti-Turk phenomenon is defined by the term Turcophobia. 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, 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.
16th Century
Bishop Fabri of Vienna (1536–41) claimed that:"There are no crueler 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".
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.
During this time the Ottoman Empire had invaded the Balkans and had been besieging Vienna. There was much fear in Europe about the Ottoman advance, most profoundly in Germany. 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".
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. 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. 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". 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.
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"
Original prints from the 16th century at Hungarian National Museum depicting a Turkish warrior butchering infants
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". Authors projected an image of Turkish people that is "inaccurate but accepted". Regarding writings on Turkish people and their life styles, "accuracy [was] of little importance; what matters [was] the illusion".
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".
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."
18th century
Voltaire and other European writers criticized the Turks as tyrants who destroyed Europe's heritage
Contemporary Anti-Turkism
Before the 1960s, Turkey had "relatively low emigration". After the adoption of new constitution in 1961, Turkish citizens began migrating outside. Gradually, in certain Western countries, Turks became a "prominent ethnic minority group", and thus, become "increasingly visible and vocal". 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.
The term "Turk" has acquired the a meaning similar to "barbarian" or "heathen" in various European languages, or use "Turk" as a slur or curse. Due to that negative influence, it had instances of negative use and image in the U.S
Armenia
Armenia–Turkey relations have historically been hostile primarily due to Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. According to a 2007 survey, 78% of Armenians see Turkey as a threat. According to Vartan Harutiunian "Armenian nationalism is based on Anti-Turkism and the most patriotic Armenian is the most anti-Turkish. In general, for an Armenian, anti-Turkism and patriotism are directly proportional." Turks who lived in and around Nagorno-Karabakh during the early 1990s were ethnically cleansed when the Armenians took control of the area
Bulgaria
The Turkish population of Bulgaria before the country was reformed in 1878 is estimated at one third of the total.[46] By 1876, approximately 70% of the fertile arable land belonged to the Turks. After it,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.
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, speak Turkish in public places or wear traditional Turkish clothing. This eventually led to the biggest mass exodus in Europe since World War II ensued after the border with Turkey was opened in June 1989 and in the span of three months approximately 350,000 Turks left Bulgaria on tourist visas (hence the event is known as The Big Excursion and crossed the border into Turkey. Eventually, especially 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.
The former Bulgarian prime minister Boiko Borisov (2009-2013) has been accused of having anti-Turkish tendencies. In December 2009, 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.The Turkish prime minister "expressed his concern of rising anti-Turkish sentiments in Bulgaria" to Bulgarian prime minister. The Turkish Foreign Ministry also "expressed its concern over the rising heated rhetoric in Bulgaria" 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".
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) was were Turkish Cypriots ousted 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. 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. These Turkish Cypriots had become internally displaced and lived as refugees for at least ten years before the 1974 Turkish invasion. By the late 1960s, tension continued to grow and approximately 60,000 Turkish Cypriots left their homes and moved into enclaves. 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.
Germany
It has been observed that Turks are "the most prominent ethnic minority group in contemporary Germany". But discrimination against Turkish minority "occurs in various everyday situations" in Germany. After the adoption of the 1961 constitution, Turkish citizens began migrating outside the country. 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". After 1980, xenophobia targeting Turkish minorities grow parallel with unemployment rates and "latent anti-Semitism was transformed into open 'anti-Turkism'". 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". 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".As a result of all these discrimination, "serious behavioral consequences of prejudice against Turks is prevailing in Germany".
The number of violent acts by right-wing extremists in Germany increased dramatically between 1990 and 1992. On November 25, 1992, three Turkish residents were killed in a firebombing in Mölln (Northern Germany). The attack prompted even further perplexity since the victims were neither refugees nor lived in a hostel. 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. Several neighbours heard someone shout Heil Hitler! before dousing the front porch and door with gasoline and setting the fire to the home. However, most Germans condemned these attacks on foreigners and many marched in candlelight processions.
According to Greg Nees, "because Turks are both darker-skinned and Muslim, conservative Germans are largely against granting them citizenship."
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. The Western Thrace Turks has traditionally been estimated to number between 120,000 and 130,000. 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. 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
Malta
Having fought the Ottoman Empire, in the Siege of Malta of 1565, the Maltese still have colourful vocabulary regarding this event. For example, when there is the sun and the rain at the same time, they say "twieled tork" (a Turk was born), or when something goes wrong "Haqq ghat-torok" (curse on the Turks!). Religious representations reveal the extent of this historic rivalry, with a diplomatic incident nearly arising following the wrong depiction of the Turkish flag instead of that of the Ottoman Empire in a religious statue displayed for a village festa in Vittoriosa.
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". Even though progressive policies are installed, "especially compared with those in some other European countries such as Germany" Human Rights Watch criticized the Netherlands for new legislations violating the human rights of Turkish ethnic minority group. 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" 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. 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. 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".
Russia and 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 NKVD and the Red Army. 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. 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. However, numerous Turks died along the way.
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. 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.
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'.
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. 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.
Quotes and sayings
Quotes
“They [the Turks] were, upon the whole, from the black day when they first entered Europe, the one great anti-human specimen of humanity. Wherever they went, a broad line of blood marked the track behind them, and, as far as their dominion reached, civilization disappeared from view. They represented everywhere government by force, as opposed to government by law.”
—William Gladstone,
“The barbarian power, which has been for centuries seated in the very heart of the Old World, which has in its brute clutch the most famous countries of classical and religious antiquity and many of the most fruitful and beautiful regions of the earth... ignorantly holding in its possession one half of the history of the whole world.”
—Cardinal Newman (1801–1890)
“...tyrants of the women and enemies of arts...”
—Voltaire (1694-1778)
“...to chase away from Europe these barbaric usurpers...”
—Voltaire (1694-1778)
“I wish fervently that the Turkish barbarians be chased away immediately out of the country [Greece] of Xenophon, Socrates, Plato, Sophocles and Euripides. If we wanted, it could be done soon but seven crusades of superstition have been undertaken and a crusade of honour will never take place. We know almost no city built by them; they let decay the most beautiful establishments of Antiquity, they reign over ruins.”
—Voltaire (1694-1778), The Orient’s Christian Realm
“When I consider history, I find that there has been no nation that has practiced more blasphemy of God, brutally, shameful fornication, and every kind of wild and chaotic living than the Turks.”
—Philipp Melanchthon
“Lastly, I could show fight on natural selection having done and doing more for the progress of civilization than you seem inclined to admit. Remember what risk the nations of Europe ran, not so many centuries ago of being overwhelmed by the Turks, and how ridiculous such an idea now is! The more civilised so-called Caucasian races have beaten the Turkish hollow in the struggle for existence. Looking to the world at no very distant date, what an endless number of the lower races will have been eliminated by the higher civilized races throughout the world.”
—Charles Darwin
“I never disliked a Chinaman as I do these degraded Turks and Arabs, and when Russia is ready to war with them again, I hope England and France will not find it good breeding or good judgment to interfere.”
—Mark Twain, 1869
“Mosques are plenty, churches are plenty, graveyards are plenty, but morals and whiskey are scarce.”
—Mark Twain, 1869
“...and lied like a Turk when he said it.”
—Mark Twain, 1869
“…such individuals as the furthermost Turks found in the remote North, the Negroes found in the remote South, and those who resemble them from among them that are with us in these climes. The status of those is like that of irrational animals.”
So my question is:
Are they angry at the Turks because of the conquests in the past or what is the reason?
please discuss.
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