InTurkey,xenophobia anddiscrimination are present in its society and throughout its history, includingethnic discrimination,religious discrimination andinstitutional racism against non-Turkish, non-Kemalist,non-Muslim and non-Sunni minorities.[9] This appears mainly in the form of negative attitudes and actions by some people towards people who are not considered ethnicallyTurkish, notablyKurds,Armenians,Arabs,Assyrians,Greeks,Jews,[10] and peripatetic groups likeRomani people,[11]Domari,Abdals[12] andLom.[13] In recent years, racism in Turkey has increased towards Middle Eastern nationals such asSyrian refugees,Afghan,Pakistani, andAfrican migrants.[14][15][16][17][18][19]
There is also reported rising resentment towards the influx ofRussians,Ukrainians and maybeBelarusians andBulgarians in the country as a result of theUkrainian war from Turks who claim it is creating a housing crisis for locals.[20][21][22][23]
| Year | 1914 | 1927 | 1945 | 1965 | 1990 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muslims | 12,941 | 13,290 | 18,511 | 31,139 | 56,860 | 71,997 |
| Greeks | 1,549 | 110 | 104 | 76 | 8 | 3 |
| Armenians | 1,204 | 77 | 60 | 64 | 67 | 50 |
| Jews | 128 | 82 | 77 | 38 | 29 | 27 |
| Others | 176 | 71 | 38 | 74 | 50 | 45 |
| Total | 15,997 | 13,630 | 18,790 | 31,391 | 57,005 | 72,120 |
| % non-Muslim | 19.1 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
Racism and discrimination inTurkey can be traced back to theOttoman Empire. In the 1860s, some Ottoman Turkish intellectuals such asAli Suavi stated that:[25]
In the 1920s and 1930s racism became an influential aspect in Turkish politics which counted with the support of the Turkish Government.[26] Through theTurkish History Thesis and theSun Language Theory, a Turkish racial superiority was to be scientifically proven. The Turkish History Thesis claimed a Turkish racial origin of the modern European people, while the Sun Language Theory called the Turks as having been the first people to have spoken, therefore being Turkish the origin of all other languages.[26] Congresses to promote those ideas to the western scholar world were organized in Turkey.[27] The State Employee Law enacted in 1926 aimed at theTurkification of work life in Turkey.[28][29] This law defined Turkishness as a condition which was necessary for a person who wished to become a state employee.[28] As in 1932Keriman Halis Ece was electedMiss Universe, the Turkish PresidentMustafa Kemal (Atatürk) was pleased with the fact that an international jury found a woman representing the essence of theTurkish race the one.[30]
Early racists in Turkey wereNihal Atsız andReha Oğuz Türkkan, who both competed by applying the correct way in defining Turkishness.[31][32] The two were charged in theRacism–Turanism Trial in 1944 together with other 21 defendants which includedZeki Velidi Togan andAlparslan Türkeş. Several defendants were sentenced to jail terms, but after a retrial in October 1945 they were all acquitted.[33] The Turkishidealist movement is influenced byAdolf Hitler's views of racism. His bookMein Kampf (Turkish:Kavgam), is very popular amongst right-wing politicians, and asBülent Ecevit wanted to ban its sale in Turkey, they prevented it.[34]
In Turkey in 2002 the Ministry of Education adopted an educational curriculum with respect to the Armenians which was widely condemned as racist andchauvinistic.[35] The curriculum contained textbooks which included phrases such as "we crushed the Greeks" and "traitor to the nation."[35] Thereafter, civic organizations, including the Turkish Academy of Sciences, published a study which deplored all racism andsexism in textbooks.[35] However, a report which was published by theMinority Rights Group International (MRG) in 2015 states that the curriculum in schools continues to depict "Armenians and Greeks as the enemies of the country."[36] Nurcan Kaya, one of the authors of the report, concluded: "The entire education system is based on Turkishness. Non-Turkish groups are either not referred to or referred in a negative way."[37]
As of 2008 Turkey has also seen an increase in "hate crimes" which are motivated by racism,nationalism, and intolerance.[38] According toAyhan Sefer Üstün (tr), the head of the parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Commission, "Hate speech is on the rise in Turkey, so new deterrents should be introduced to stem the increase in such crimes".[39] Despite provisions in the Constitution and the laws there have been no convictions for a hate crime so far, for either racism or discrimination.[38] In Turkey since the beginning of 2006, a number of killings have been committed against people who are members of ethnic and religious minority groups, people who have a different sexual orientation and people who profess a different social/sexual identity. Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code imposes a general ban against publicly inciting people'shatred anddisgust.[38]
According to an article which was written in 2009 byYavuz Baydar, a senior columnist for the daily newspaper theZaman,racism and hate speech are on the rise inTurkey, particularly againstArmenians andJews.[41] On 12 January 2009, he wrote that "If one goes through the press in Turkey, one would easily find cases of racism and hate speech, particularly in response to the deplorable carnage and suffering inGaza. These are the cases in which there is no longer a distinction between criticizing and condemning Israel's acts and placing Jews on the firing line."[42] In 2011Asli Çirakman asserted that there has been an apparent rise in the expression of xenophobic feeling against the Kurdish, Armenian, and Jewish presences in Turkey.[10] Çirakman also noted that the ethno-nationalist discourse of the 2000s identifies the enemies—within as the ethnic and religious groups which reside in Turkey, such as theKurds, theArmenians, and theJews.[10]
In 2011, a Pew Global Attitudes and Trends survey of 1,000 Turks found that 6% of them had a favorable opinion ofChristians, and 4% of them had a favorable opinion ofJews. Earlier, in 2006, the numbers were 16% and 15%, respectively. The Pew survey also found that 72% of Turks viewedAmericans as hostile, and 70% of them viewedEuropeans as hostile. When asked to name the world's most violent religion, 45% of Turks citedChristianity and 41% citedJudaism, with 2% saying that it wasIslam. Additionally, 65% of Turks said the Westerners were "immoral".[43]
One of the main challenges which is facing Turkey according to theEuropean Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) is the need to reconcile the strong sense of national identity and the wish to preserve the unity and integrity of the State with the right of differentminority groups to express their own senses of ethnic identity within Turkey, for example, the right of a minority group to develop its own sense of ethnic identity through the maintenance of that ethnic identity's linguistic and cultural aspects.[44]
In a recent discovery by the Armenian newspaperAgos, secret racial codes were used to classify minority communities in the country.[45] According to the racial code, which is believed to be established during the foundations of the republic in 1923, Greeks are classified under the number 1, Armenians 2, and Jews 3.[45] Altan Tan, a deputy of thePeace and Democracy Party (BDP), believed that such codes were always denied by Turkish authorities but stated that "if there is such a thing going on, it is a big disaster. The state illegally profiling its own citizens based on ethnicity and religion, and doing this secretly, is a big catastrophe".[45]
According to research which was conducted byIstanbul Bilgi University, with the support of theScientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK) between 2015 and 2017, 90 percent of youths said they would not want their daughters to marry someone who was "from the 'other' group." While 80 percent of youths said they would not want to have a neighbor who was from the "other," 84 percent said they would not want their children to be friends with children who were from the "other" group. 84 percent said they would not do business with members of the "other" group. 80 percent said they would not hire anyone who was from the "other." Researchers conducted face-to-face interviews with young people between the ages of 18 and 29. When they were asked to state which groups they most perceived to be the "other," they ranked homosexuals first with 89 percent, atheists and nonbelievers ranked second with 86 percent, people from other faiths ranked third with 82 percent, minorities stood at 75 percent and extremely religious people ranked fifth with 74 percent.[46]
Mahmut Esat Bozkurt, a former Minister of Justice claimed in 1930 the superiority of the Turkish race over the Kurdish one, and permitted non-Turks only the right to be servants and slaves.[47]
TheZilan massacre of 1930[48][49][50] was a massacre[51][52] of theKurdish residents ofNorthern Kurdistan during theArarat rebellion in which 800–1500 armed men participated.[citation needed] According to the dailyCumhuriyet dated 16 July 1930, about 15,000 people were killed and Zilan River was filled withdead bodies as far as its mouth.[53][54][55][56] On 31 August 1930, the dailyMilliyet published the declaration of the Turkish prime ministerİsmet İnönü: "Only the Turkish nation has the right to demand ethnic rights in this country. Any other element does not have such a right.[57][58]" and "They are Eastern Turkish who were deceived by unfounded propaganda and eventually lost their way."[59]
Kurds have had a long history of discrimination and massacres which have been perpetrated against them by the Turkish government.[60] One of the most significant is theDersim massacre, where according to an official report of theFourth General Inspectorate, 13,160 civilians were killed by the Turkish Army and 11,818 people were taken into exile, depopulating the province in 1937–38.[61] According to the Dersimi, many tribesmen were shot dead after surrendering, and women and children were locked into haysheds which were then set on fire.[62] David McDowall states that 40,000 people were killed[63] while sources of the Kurdish Diaspora claim over 70,000 casualties.[64]
In an attempt todeny their existence, the Turkish government categorizedKurds as "Mountain Turks" until 1991.[65][66][67] Other than that, various historicalKurdish personalities were tried to beTurkified by claiming that there is no race called Kurdish and that the Kurds do not have a history.[68] Since then, the Kurdish population of Turkey has long sought to haveKurdish included as alanguage of instruction in public schools as well as a subject. Several attempts at opening Kurdish instruction centers were stopped on technical grounds, such as wrong dimensions of doors. Turkish sources claimed that running Kurdish-language schools was wound up in 2004 because of 'an apparent lack of interest'.[69] Even though Kurdish language schools have started to operate, many of them have been forced to shut down due to over-regulation by the state. Kurdish language institutes have been monitored under strict surveillance and bureaucratic pressure.[70] Using Kurdish language as main education language is illegal in Turkey. It is accepted only as subject courses.[71]
Kurdish is permitted as a subject in universities,[72] some of those are only language courses while others are graduate or post-graduate Kurdish literature and language programs.[73][74]
Due to the large number of Turkish Kurds, successive governments have viewed the expression of a Kurdish identity as a potential threat to Turkish unity, a feeling that has been compounded since the armed rebellion initiated by thePKK in 1984. One of the main accusations of cultural assimilation relates to the state's historic suppression of the Kurdish language. Kurdish publications created throughout the 1960s and 1970s were shut down under various legal pretexts.[75] Following themilitary coup of 1980, the Kurdish language was officially prohibited in government institutions.[76]
| Party | Year banned |
|---|---|
| People's Labor Party (HEP) | 1993 |
| Freedom and Democracy Party (ÖZDEP) | 1993 |
| Democracy Party (DEP) | 1994 |
| People's Democracy Party (HADEP) | 2003 |
| Democratic Society Party (DTP) | 2009 |
In April 2000, US CongressmanBob Filner spoke of a "cultural genocide", stressing that "a way of life known as Kurdish is disappearing at an alarming rate".[78] Mark Levene suggests that the genocidal practices were not limited to cultural genocide, and that the events of the late 19th century continued until 1990.[60] In 2019,Deutsche Welle reported that Kurds had been increasingly subject to violent hate crimes.[79]
Certain academics have claimed that successive Turkish governments adopted a sustainedgenocide program against Kurds, aimed at theirassimilation.[80] The genocide hypothesis remains, however, a minority view among historians, and is not endorsed by any nation or major organisation. Desmond Fernandes, a senior lecturer atDe Montfort University, breaks the policy of the Turkish authorities into the following categories:[81]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Video of the TRT news station stopping the broadcast of a speech made in Kurdish by politician Ahmet Türk. Following the interruption, the newscaster said, "since no language other than Turkish can be used in the parliament meetings according to the constitution of the Turkish Republic and the Political Parties Law, we had to stop our broadcast. We apologize to our viewers for this and continue our broadcast with the next news item scheduled."[82] |
In January 2013, the Turkish parliament passed a law that permits use of the Kurdish language in the courts, albeit with restrictions.[83][84] The law was passed by votes of the rulingAKP and the pro-Kurdish rights opposition partyBDP, against criticism from the secularist CHP party and the nationalistMHP, with MHP and CHP[citation needed] deputies nearly coming to blows with BDP deputies over the law. In spite of their support in the parliament, the BDP was critical of the provision in the law that the defendants will pay for the translation fees and that the law applies only to spoken defense in court but not to a written defense or the pre-trial investigation.[85] According to one source[84] the law does not comply with EU standards.[which?] Deputy prime minister of TurkeyBekir Bozdağ replied to criticism of the law from both sides saying that the fees of defendants who does not speak Turkish will be paid by the state, while, those who speak Turkish yet prefer to speak in the court in another language will have to pay the fees themselves.[86] European Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle welcomed the new law.[87]
In February 2013, Turkish prime ministerRecep Tayyip Erdoğan said during a meeting with Muslim opinion leaders, that he has "positive views" aboutimams delivering sermons in Turkish, Kurdish or Arabic, according to the most widely spoken language among the mosque attendees. This move received support from Kurdish politicians and human rights groups.[88]
Turkey has a history of stronganti-Arab sentiment. Systemic racism against Arabs in Turkey has deep historical roots, dating back to the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the modern Republic of Turkey. In Turkish history textbooks, theArab Revolt is portrayed as the main cause of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, while Arab contributions to the support of Ottoman sovereignty, like the alliance withEmirate of Jabal Shammar are ignored.[89] Therefore hatred and negative sentiments towards Arabs based on simplification and misunderstanding of history are very common in Turkish society and government.[90]
Following the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk introduced a policy of secularization and westernization that emphasized "Turkish" identity and extremely marginalize Arab elements in everyday life.Ataturk's reforms brutally eliminated Arab influence from Turkish socio-culture.[91][92] The elimination of Arab influence even touched the realm of religious rituals, with the forced use of theTurkish adhan to replace theIslamic adhan, which is universally recited inArabic.[93][94]
Hatred and racism against Arabs has been on a significant rise because of theSyrian refugee crisis.[14][15]Haaretz reported that anti-Arab racism in Turkey mainly affects two groups; tourists from the Gulf who are characterized as "rich and condescending" and theSyrian refugees in Turkey.[14] Haaretz also reported that anti-Syrian sentiment in Turkey is metastasizing into a general hostility toward all Arabs including thePalestinians.[14]Ümit Özdağ, a politician from theVictory Party, warned that Turkey risks becoming a "Middle Eastern country" due to the influx of Arab refugees, and he is also known for his racial rhetoric against Arab refugees and Arabs as a whole.[95][96]
There are also racist stereotypes in Turkish popular culture, where the term "Arab" was once used as a derogatory term for a black dog, reflecting deep-rooted racist views against Arab in Turkish society.[97]
Although it was possible for Armenians to achieve status and wealth in theOttoman Empire, as a community, they were accorded a status assecond-class citizens (under theMillet system)[98] and were regarded as fundamentally alien to the Muslim character of Ottoman society.[99] In 1895, demands for reform among the Armenian subjects of theOttoman Empire lead toSultan Abdul Hamid's decision to suppress them resulting in theHamidian massacres in which up to 300,000 Armenians were killed and many more tortured.[100][101] In 1909, a massacre of Armenians in the city ofAdana resulted in a series of anti-Armenianpogroms throughout the district resulting in the deaths of 20,000–30,000 Armenians.[102][103][104] DuringWorld War I, the Ottoman government massacred between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians in theArmenian genocide.[105][106][107][108] The position of the current Turkish government, however, is that the Armenians who died were casualties of the expected hardships of war, the casualties cited are exaggerated, and that the 1915 events could not be considered a genocide. This position has been criticized by international genocide scholars,[109] and by 28 governments, which have resolutionsaffirming the genocide.
"The new generations are being taught to see Armenians not as human, but [as] an entity to be despised and destroyed, the worst enemy. And the school curriculum adds fuel to the existing fires."
Some difficulties currently experienced by theArmenian minority in Turkey are a result of an anti-Armenian attitude byultra-nationalist groups such as theGrey Wolves. According toMinority Rights Group, while the government officially recognizes Armenians as minorities but when used in public, this term denotes second-class status.[111] In Turkey, the term 'Armenian' has often been used as an insult. Kids are taught at a young age to hate Armenians and the "Armenian" and several people have been prosecuted for calling public figures and politicians as such.[112][113][114][115][110]
The term 'Armenian' is frequently used in politics to discredit political opponents.[118] In 2008, Canan Arıtman, a deputy of İzmir from the Republican People's Party (CHP), called PresidentAbdullah Gül an 'Armenian'.[113][119] Arıtman was then prosecuted for "insulting" the president.[113][118][120] Similarly, in 2010, Turkish journalist Cem Büyükçakır approved a comment on his website claiming that President Abdullah Gül's mother was an Armenian.[121] Büyükçakır was then sentenced to 11 months in prison for "insulting President [Abdullah] Gül".[121][122][123]
Hrant Dink, the editor of theAgos weekly Armenian newspaper, was assassinated in Istanbul on 19 January 2007, by Ogün Samast. He was reportedly acting on the orders ofYasin Hayal, a militant Turkish ultra-nationalist.[126][127] For his statements on Armenian identity and the Armenian genocide, Dink had been prosecuted three times underArticle 301 of the Turkish Penal Code for "insulting Turkishness."[128][129] He had also received numerous death threats from Turkish nationalists who viewed his "iconoclastic" journalism (particularly regarding the Armenian genocide) as an act of treachery.[130]
Sevag Balikci, a Turkish soldier of Armenian descent, was shot dead on 24 April 2011, the day of the commemoration of the Armenian genocide, during his military service inBatman.[131] Through hisFacebook profile, it was discovered that killer Kıvanç Ağaoğlu was an ultra-nationalist, and a sympathizer of nationalist politicianMuhsin Yazıcıoğlu and Turkish agent / contract killerAbdullah Çatlı, who himself had a history of anti-Armenian activity, such as theArmenian Genocide Memorial bombing in a Paris suburb in 1984.[132][133][134][135] His Facebook profile also showed that he was aGreat Union Party (BBP) sympathizer, a far-right nationalist party in Turkey.[132] Balıkçı's fiancée testified that Sevag told her over the phone that he feared for his life because a certain military serviceman threatened him by saying, "If war were to happen with Armenia, you would be the first person I would kill".[136][137]
İbrahim Şahin and 36 other alleged members of Turkish ultra-nationalistErgenekon group were arrested in January, 2009 inAnkara. The Turkish police said the round-up was triggered by orders Şahin gave to assassinate 12 Armenian community leaders inSivas.[138][139] According to the official investigation in Turkey, Ergenekon also had a role in the murder ofHrant Dink.[140]
On 26 February 2012, theIstanbul rally to commemorate the Khojaly massacre turned into anAnti-Armenian demonstration which contained hate speech and threats towardsArmenia andArmenians.[142][143][144][145] Chants and slogans during the demonstration include: "You are all Armenian, you are all bastards", "bastards ofHrant can not scare us", and "Taksim Square today,Yerevan Tomorrow: We will descend upon you suddenly in the night."[142][143]
In February 2015, graffiti was discovered near the wall of an Armenian church in theKadıköy district of Istanbul saying, "You’re Either Turkish or Bastards" and "You Are All Armenian, All Bastards".[146][147][148] It is claimed that the graffiti was done by organizing members of a rally entitled "Demonstrations Condemning the Khojali Genocide and Armenian Terror." The Human Rights Association of Turkey petitioned the local government of Istanbul calling it a "Pretext to Incite Ethnic Hate Against Armenians in Turkey".[146][149] In the same month banners celebrating the Armenian genocide were spotted in several cities throughout Turkey. They declared: "We celebrate the 100th anniversary of our country being cleansed of Armenians. We are proud of our glorious ancestors." (Yurdumuzun Ermenilerden temizlenişinin 100. yıldönümü kutlu olsun. Şanlı atalarımızla gurur duyuyoruz.)[141][150]
TheAssyrians also shared a similar fate to that of the Armenians. The Assyrians also suffered in 1915 and they were massacred en masse.[151][152] TheAssyrian genocide or the Seyfo (as it is known to Assyrians) reduced the population of the Assyrians of Anatolia and the Iranian plateau from about 650,000 before the genocide to 250,000 after the genocide.[153][154][155]
Discrimination continued well intothe newly formed Turkish Republic. In the aftermath of theSheikh Said rebellion, theAssyrian Orthodox Church was subjected to harassment by Turkish authorities, on the grounds that some Assyrians allegedly collaborated with the rebellingKurds.[156] Consequently, mass deportations took place and Patriarch Mar Ignatius Elias III was expelled fromMor Hananyo Monastery which was turned into a Turkish barrack. The patriarchal seat was then transferred toHoms temporarily.
Assyrians historically couldn't become civil servants in Turkey and they couldn't attend military schools, become officers in the army or join the police.[157]
Afghan refugees and migrants have accused Turkish security personnel of violent attacks, includinglethal force against them for attempting to enter the country by shooting at them.[158] Turkish border guards have been accused of shooting and killing Afghans attempting to enter the country. Meanwhile, Turkish immigration officials have continued their efforts to deport millions of Afghan migrants living in the country.[159]
A 2023 research report published by a team of Turkish scholars explained the affiliation of Afghan migrants with crime in the country and reasons for public sentiments rising against them.[160] A video surfaced online showing Turkish ultra-nationalists beating an Afghan man and was circulated on social media.[161]
Alevis in Turkey have experienced systemicreligious discrimination since the early Republican era, particularly in access to education, and political representation.[162] AlthoughCemevi are the main places of worship for Alevis, Turkey does not recognized them as official places of worship; theEuropean Court of Human Rights ruled on 26 April 2016 that this denial violated the provisions on the right to religion and the prohibition of discrimination.[163]
The history of organized violence against Alevis includes theDersim massacre (1937–1938), and pogroms such as theMalatya massacre (1978),Maraş massacre (1978), and theSivas massacre (1993), some of those pogroms took place with the support of the military and ultra-nationalist groups.[164]
PunitiveTurkish nationalist exclusivist measures, such as a 1932 parliamentary law, barred Greek citizens living in Turkey from a series of 30 trades and professions fromtailoring andcarpentry tomedicine,law andreal estate.[165] TheVarlık Vergisi tax imposed in 1942 also served to reduce the economic potential of Greek businesspeople in Turkey.[166] On 6–7 September 1955anti-Christian riots were orchestrated in Istanbul by theTurkish military's Tactical Mobilization Group, the seat ofOperation Gladio's Turkish branch; theCounter-Guerrilla. The events were triggered by the news that the Turkish consulate inThessaloniki, north Greece—the house whereMustafa Kemal Atatürk was born in 1881—had been bombed the day before.[166] A bomb planted by a Turkish usher of the consulate, who was later arrested and confessed, incited the events. The Turkish press conveying the news in Turkey was silent about the arrest and instead insinuated that Greeks had set off the bomb. Although the mob did not explicitly call forGreeks to be killed, over a dozen people died during or after the pogrom as a result of beatings andarson.Kurds,Jews,Armenians,Assyrians, MinorityMuslims and Non-Muslim Turks were also harmed. In addition to commercial targets, the mob clearly targeted property owned or administered by theGreek Orthodox Church. 73 churches and 23 schools were vandalized, burned or destroyed, as were 8 asperses and 3monasteries.[citation needed]
The pogrom greatly accelerated emigration of ethnic Greeks from Turkey, and the Istanbul region in particular. The Greek population of Turkey declined from 119,822 persons in 1927,[167] to about 7,000 in 1978.[168] In Istanbul alone, the Greek population decreased from 65,108 to 49,081 between 1955 and 1960.[167]
The Greek minority continues to encounter problems relating to education and property rights. A 1971 law nationalized religious high schools, and closed theHalki seminary on Istanbul'sHeybeli Island which had trained Orthodox clergy since the 19th century. A later outrage was the vandalism of the Greek cemetery onImbros on 29 October 2010. In this context, problems affecting the Greek minority on the islands of Imbros andTenedos continue to be reported to theEuropean Commission.[169]
As of 2007, Turkish authorities have seized a total of 1,000 immovables of 81 Greek organizations as well as individuals of the Greek community.[170] On the other hand, Turkish courts provided legal legitimacy to unlawful practices by approving discriminatory laws and policies that violated fundamental rights they were responsible to protect.[171] As a result, foundations of the Greek communities started to file complaints after 1999 when Turkey's candidacy to the European Union was announced. Since 2007, decisions are being made in these cases; the first ruling was made in a case filed by thePhanar Greek Orthodox College Foundation, and the decision was that Turkey violated Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which secured property rights.[171]
In the 1930s, groups publishinganti-Semitic journals were formed. JournalistCevat Rıfat Atilhan published a journal inİzmir calledAnadolu and which contained anti-Semitic writing.[25] When the publication was outlawed, Atilhan went to Germany and was entertained byJulius Streicher for months. InDer Stürmer, a publication by Streicher, a large article was published about Cevat Rifat Atilhan on 18 August 1934.[25] Upon returning to Turkey, Atilhan started the journalMilli İnkılap which was very similar toDer Stürmer. Consequently, it is argued that much of the anti-Semitic theories in Turkey stem from much of the opinions and material that Atilhan took from Germany.[25]
TheElza Niego affair was an event regarding the murder of a Jewish girl in Turkey named Elza Niego in 1927. During the funeral, a demonstration was held in opposition of the Turkish government which created an anti-Semitic reaction in the Turkish press.[172][173] Nine protestors were immediately arrested under the charge of offending "Turkishness".[173][174][175][176]
The1934 Resettlement Law was a policy adopted by the Turkish government which set forth the basic principles of immigration.[177] Although the Law on Settlement was expected to operate as an instrument for Turkifying the mass of non-Turkish speaking citizens, it immediately emerged as a piece of legislation which sparked riots against non-Muslims, as evidenced in the 1934 Thrace pogroms against Jews in the immediate aftermath of the law's passage. With the law being issued on 14 June 1934, the Thrace pogroms began just over a fortnight later, on 3 July. The incidents seeking to force out the region's non-Muslim residents first began inÇanakkale, whereJews received unsigned letters telling them to leave the city, and then escalated into anantisemitic campaign involving economic boycotts and verbal assaults as well as physical violence against the Jews living in the various provinces of Thrace.[178] It is estimated that out of a total 15,000–20,000 Jews living in the region, more than half fled to Istanbul during and after the incidents.[179]
TheNeve Shalom Synagogue inIstanbul has been attacked three times.[180] First on 6 September 1986, Arab militants killed 22 Jewish worshippers and wounded 6 duringShabbat services at Neve Shalom. This attack was blamed on thePalestinian militantAbu Nidal.[181][182][183] The Synagogue was hit again during the2003 Istanbul bombings alongside theBeth Israel Synagogue, killing 20 and injuring over 300 people, bothJews andMuslims alike. Even though a localTurkish militant group, theGreat Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front, claimed responsibility for the attacks, police claimed the bombings were "too sophisticated to have been carried out by that group",[181] with a seniorIsraeli government source saying: "the attack must have been at least coordinated with international terror organizations".[183]
In 2015, an Erdogan-affiliated news channel broadcast a two-hour documentary titled "The Mastermind" (a term which Erdogan himself had introduced to the public some months earlier), which forcefully suggested that it were "the mind of the Jews" that "rules the world, burns, destroys, starves, wages wars, organizes revolutions and coups, and establishes states within states."[184] According to theAnti-Defamation League 71% of Turkish adults "harbor anti-Semitic views".[185]
A common perception among the Turkish society is thatracism against black people in Turkey is not a big issue because the country does not have a history of colonialism or segregation as in many Western countries. On the contrary, sociologists such asDoğuş Şimşek strongly reject this point of view, stressing that this misperception resulted from the fact that Africans in Turkey often live in the shadows andAfro-Turks, the historical black population of Turkey, are mostly confined to tiny communities in Western Turkey.[186]
In April 1992, afterNelson Mandela declined Turkey’sAtatürk International Peace Prize in protest of Ankara’s treatment of its Kurdish minority, segments of the Turkish press responded with overtly racist epithets, most notoriously branding him "Ugly African" (Turkish: Çirkin Afrikalı) and labeling him a "terrorist Mandela" in front‐page headlines. However, in 1999, Mandela reversed his decision and accepted the award.[187][188][189]
A 2001Human Right Association (HRA) inquiry found that over 205 Africans were detained in Istanbul based solely on skin colour, held in inhuman conditions without food or water, and then forcibly expelled to the Greece border zone, where some died or were raped.[190] African immigrants, whose numbers were estimated to be 150,000 as of 2018 have reported to experience sexual abuse and discrimination based on racial grounds regularly in Turkey.[191][192] In July 2023, amateur videos circulated showing Turkish police officers violently stopping, questioning, and physically assaulting African migrants in central Istanbul. ASenegalese man seen in a video being slapped by a Turkish police officer, said he was visiting Turkey legally.[193]
In March 2024, a series of posts on an Instagram account called "Karabük University Confessions" falsely claimed that African students inKarabük University had infected Turkish classmates with HIV and HPV after sexual encounters, triggering widespread racist backlash on social media.[194] The Karabük Provincial Health Directorate swiftly issued a statement on 23 March 2024, declaring that there had been no recent hospital admissions for HIV or HPV in the province and that case numbers remained stable, effectively debunking the rumors.[195] African student associations, representing nearly 6,000 students from 35 African countries at Karabük University, reported that the false disease allegations exacerbated existing xenophobia, leading to heightened discrimination and verbal harassment on campus.[196]
Anti-American sentiment and related discriminatory incidents in Turkey have occurred intermittently, often shaped by political tensions and risingTurkish nationalism. In November 2014, a group of Turkish nationalists affiliated with theYouth Union of Turkey (TGB) assaulted threeU.S. Navysailors in Istanbul. The assailants attempted to place sacks over the sailors’ heads. The attack was widely publicized and criticized, with both Turkish and American officials stressing that such actions endangered diplomatic and military cooperation.[197][198]
Tensions resurfaced in September 2024 when twoU.S. Marines from theUSS Wasp were assaulted in the city of Izmir, again by members of the TGB. The attackers targeted the servicemen in broad daylight, attempting to sack their heads while chanting "Yankee, go home." Videos of the incident quickly circulated online, prompting condemnation from theU.S. National Security Council and leading to the detention of 15 suspects by Turkish authorities.[199][200] The event revived concerns about the security of American personnel stationed in or visiting Turkey.[201]
According to a 2013 survey, 75% of Turks look at Iran unfavorably.[202] In some Turkish political discourses, Iran is disparaged as the "Persian Satan", as a form of political xenophobia against Iranian culture and Iran regional politics.[203]
Political scientistShireen Hunter writes that there are two significant groups in Turkey that are hostile towards Iran: "the military establishment and the ultra-Kemalist elite" and the "ultranationalists withpan-Turkist aspirations" (such as theGrey Wolves).[204] Canadian authorKaveh Farrokh also suggests that pan-Turkist groups (the Grey Wolves in particular) have encouraged anti-Iranian sentiments.[205]
In Turkey, one common habit is to assume one's ethnicity from the place of origin, often based on an inaccurate perception of the demographics of a specific area. Likewise, ethnic Turks who come from eastern parts of the country can be discriminated against based on the assumption that they are Kurds, even though they are not.[206] ManySyrian Turkmen who took refuge in the country face racism as other Syrian refugees.[207]
Discrimination against Turks whom are of religious sects besides the Sunni majority such asAlevis, Shias and other non-Sunni Turks is also widely reported.[208] Turkish scholars have also illustrated the sub-cultural prejudices against other Turks. They have argued the so-calledWhite Turks hold racist-like intent towards the so-calledBlack Turks because of sub-cultural differences.[209] Throughout the Turkish Republic’s history, Kemalist Turks have systematically marginalized non-Kemalist Turks through a range of state policies and social practices. Kemalist Turk enforcement oflaïcité included aheadscarf ban in universities, public-sector employment, and parliament until 2013, ostracizing devout Turkish Muslim women from education and the professional sphere.[210]
Romani people,Domari,Abdals andLom, have many problems in everyday life, e.g., in jobs, professions, as well as the report of mysterious death of a young east thracianTurkish Roma soldier in May 2021, who served his military service in Itlib, because he was a Rom, exclusion from corona aid 2020, exclusion from earthquake aid 2023,Domari Refugees of the Syrian civil war in Turkey, have big problems too. Expelled from places there live since century likeSulukule in 2007 andBayramiç in 1970. Due to exclusion, many of this Groups deny their gypsy origins as much as possible and pretend to be Turks or Turkmen.[12][211]
Free speech is now in a state reminiscent of the days before EU accession talks. Journalists or academics who speak out against state institutions are subject to prosecution under the aegis of loophole laws. Such laws are especially objectionable because they lead to a culture in which other, more physically apparent rights abuses become prevalent. Violations of freedom of expression can escalate into other rights abuses, including torture, racism, and other forms of discrimination. Because free speech is suppressed, the stories of these abuses then go unreported in what becomes a vicious cycle.
Comprehensive reading of the newspaper articles show that the negative attitude towards the non-Muslim minorities in Turkey does not operate in a linear fashion. There are rises and falls, the targets can vary from individuals to institutions, and the agents of discrimination can be politicians, judicial offices, government-operated organisations, press members or simply individuals in society.
In the Turkish context, the solution to minority rights is to handle them through improvements in three realms: elimination of discrimination, cultural rights, and religious freedom. However, reforms in these spheres fall short of the spirit generated in the Treaty of Lausanne.
The persistence of genocide or near-genocidal incidents from the 1890s through the 1990s, committed by Ottoman and successor Turkish and Iraqi states against Armenian, Kurdish, Assyrian, and Pontic Greek communities in Eastern Anatolia, is striking. ... the creation of this "zone of genocide" in Eastern Anatolia cannot be understood in isolation, but only in light of the role played by the Great Powers in the emergence of a Western-led international system.
In the last hundred years, four Eastern Anatolian groups—Armenians, Kurds, Assyrians, and Greeks—have fallen victim to state-sponsored attempts by the Ottoman authorities or their Turkish or Iraqi successors to eradicate them. Because of space limitations, I have concentrated here on the genocidal sequence affecting Armenians and Kurds only, though my approach would also be pertinent to the Pontic Greek and Assyrian cases.
In it, Muslims had full legal and social rights, while non-Muslim 'people of the book', that is, Jews and Christians, had a second-class subject status that entailed, among other things, higher taxes, exclusion from the military and political spheres, and strict limitations on legal rights.
Dink had received numerous death threats from nationalist Turks who viewed his iconoclastic journalism, particularly on the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century, as an act of treachery.
:Translated from Turkish: 'On May 1, 2011, after investigating into the background of the suspect, we discovered that he was a sympathizer of the BBP. We also have encountered nationalist themes in his social networks. For example, Muhsin Yazicioglu and Abdullah Catli photos were present' according to Balikci lawyer Halavurt.
Translated from Turkish: 'We discovered that he was a sympathizer of the BBP. We also have encountered nationalist themes in his social networks. For example, Muhsin Yazicioglu and Abdullah Catli photos were present' according to Balikci lawyer Halavurt.
Title translated from Turkish: Doubts emerge on the death of Sevag
Title Translated from Turkish: 'From the fiance: If we were to go to war with Armenia, I would kill you first'
One banner carried by dozens of protestors said, 'You are all Armenians, you are all bastards.'
'Mount Ararat will Become Your Grave' Chant Turkish Students
6-7 Eylül olaylarından önce İstanbul'da 135 bin Rum yaşıyordu. Sonrasında bu sayı 70 bine düştü. 1978'e gelindiğinde bu rakam 7 bindi.
