Anti-Turkish sentiment: Difference between revisions

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Anti-Turkism (Turkish: Turk Dusmanligi) is hostility toward the Turkish people, Turkish culture and the Republic of Turkey.

General Information

When compared with apparently similar phenomena, it turns out to be, at least in its recent form, more of a deliberate misconstruction than an actual hate. However, some hold that the negative Turkish imagery which has been brought forth by legislators in various European parliaments during the European Union accession process, is evidence of Anti-Turkism.

Anti-Turkism apparently lacks a racial and cultural basis, and appears to be mostly based on geopolitics and religion in addition to diplomatic and strategic interests involving the modern state of Turkey. The Cyprus Dispute and the Bosnian War are two examples of possible Anti-Turkism. These facts themselves don't necessarily imply a direct hate towards Turks as a nation, but reflect the various diplomatic tensions of the moment.

Detractors

Anti-Turkism's detractors (most of them Turks) claim on the other hand that Anti-Turkism is merely a handy excuse which has been used to label and demonize all actual or imaginary enemies of the Turkish nation and that Anti-Turkism has been used excessively to justify personal and national failures. They believe that the Turkish state and the Turkish people are no worse than any other democratic country and citizens. The detractors also feel that some facts are exaggerated by the mass media and by some politicians for their own purposes.

What is Anti-Turkish?

Although there is no clear definition of what makes something or someone "Anti-Turkish", there are possible clues:

Territorial claims and disputes connected with the modern state of Turkey: This is perhaps the most realistic of all fears, since there are actually Greek and other middle eastern extremist groups (such as the PKK) which claim part or all of Turkey's land and sea.
Publications and articles which criticize Turkey and Turkish people to various extents. These include:
- Traveller guides, especially if they conjure the existence of terrorism or contain too many negative warnings and stereotypes.
- Newspaper articles, if making undocumented connections between international terrorism and the Cyprus dispute or the PKK.

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+'''Anti-Turkism''' ([[Turkish language|Turkish]]: ''Turk Dusmanligi'') is hostility toward the [[Turkish people]], [[Culture of Turkey|Turkish culture]] and the [[Republic of Turkey]].
-=== General Information ===
+== General Information ==
-'''Anti-Turkism''' ([[Turkish language|Turkish]]: ''Turk Dusmanligi'') is hostility toward the [[Turkish people]], [[culture|Turkish culture]] and the [[Republic of Turkey]]. When compared with apparently similar phenomena (like [[Anti-Semitism]]) it turns out to be, at least in its recent form, more of a deliberate misconstruction than an actual hate movement. However, some hold that the negative Turkish imagery--including allusions to the infamous [[Battle of Vienna]] in the time of the [[Ottoman Empire]]--which has been brought forth by legislators in various European [[parliament]]s during the ongoing [[European Union]] accession process is evidence of Anti-Turkism's belligerent nature.
+When compared with apparently similar phenomena, it turns out to be, at least in its recent form, more of a deliberate misconstruction than an actual hate. However, some hold that the negative Turkish imagery which has been brought forth by legislators in various European [[parliament]]s during the [[European Union]] accession process, is evidence of Anti-Turkism.
-Anti-Turkism apparently lacks a racial and cultural basis (unlike [[Anti-Semitism]]), and it appears to be mostly based on geopolitics and religion in addition to diplomatic and strategic interests involving the modern state of Turkey. These facts by themselves don't imply a direct hate towards Turks as a nation, but rather reflect the various diplomatic tensions of the moment. The [[Cyprus Dispute]] and the [[Bosnian War]] and Massacre are two examples of possible Anti-Turkism against Turkic and [[Muslim]] peoples.
+Anti-Turkism apparently lacks a racial and cultural basis, and appears to be mostly based on geopolitics and religion in addition to diplomatic and strategic interests involving the modern state of Turkey. The [[Cyprus Dispute]] and the [[Bosnian War]] are two examples of possible Anti-Turkism. These facts themselves don't necessarily imply a direct hate towards Turks as a nation, but reflect the various diplomatic tensions of the moment.
-Also, unlike other kinds of racial or ethnic [[prejudice]], it is not officially based on
-a concrete ideology (such as described in [[Adolf Hitler]]'s ''[[Mein Kampf]]''), nor is it present in an organized form (such as with the [[Ku Klux Klan]] in the [[United States of America]]). Instead, it usually manifests itself as a negative perception of Turks which some claim is promoted by the [[mass media]].
-Anti-Turkism itself, as a concept, is not debated in Turkey. Some Turkish people firmly believe that there is an underground international conspiracy aimed at destroying Turkish language and culture, but apparently not the Turks themselves.
 === Detractors ===
+Anti-Turkism's detractors (most of them Turks) claim on the other hand that Anti-Turkism is merely a handy excuse which has been used to label and demonize all actual or imaginary enemies of the Turkish nation and that Anti-Turkism has been used excessively to justify personal and national failures. They believe that the Turkish state and the Turkish people are no worse than any other democratic country and citizens. The detractors also feel that some facts are exaggerated by the mass media and by some politicians for their own purposes.
-Anti-Turkism's detractors (most of them Turks) claim on the other hand that Anti-Turkism is merely
-a handy excuse which has been used to label and demonize all actual or imaginary enemies of the Turkish nation and that Anti-Turkism has been used excessively to justify personal and national failures. They believe that the Turkish state and the Turkish people are regarded no worse than any other democratic country and its citizens. These same people also feel that some facts are exaggerated by the mass media and by some politicians for their own purposes.
-== What is, ultimately, "Anti-Turkish"? ==
-Although there is no clear definition of what makes something or someone "Anti-Turkish", there are some possible clues:
+== What is Anti-Turkish? ==
-*Territorial claims and disputes connected with the modern state of Turkey: Maybe the most realistic of all antihellenic fears, since there are actually Greek and other middle eastern extremist groups (such as the [[PKK]]) which claim part or all of Turkey's land and sea.
-*Publications and articles which criticize [[Turkey]] and Turkish people to various extents. These include:
-** Traveller guides,especially if they conjure the existence of [[terrorism]] or contain too much negative warnings and [[stereotypes]]. It is not a pleasant thing in general when country A issues negative traveller guides for country B, but one doesn't see why Turkey and Turkish should feel particularly offended by a similar fact.
-** Newspaper articles,especially if they write about the [[Cyprus dispute]], the [[PKK]], make undocumented connections with international [[terrorism]] or merely report actual negative statistics and promote stereotyped ideas about Turkey. Also, any piece of article merely showing interest or positively promoting one of Greeces "enemies" is promptly labelled as anti-Turkish.
+Although there is no clear definition of what makes something or someone "Anti-Turkish", there are possible clues:
-== Consequences of anti-turkism ==
+*Territorial claims and disputes connected with the modern state of Turkey: This is perhaps the most realistic of all fears, since there are actually Greek and other middle eastern extremist groups (such as the [[PKK]]) which claim part or all of Turkey's land and sea.
-=== Dedicated press ===
+*Publications and articles which criticize Turkey and Turkish people to various extents. These include:
-Perceptions of anti-turkism in [[Turkey]] are also fueled by (and fuel in turn) a flourishing market of publications promoting [[National Mysticism]]. The arguments treated by those publications are:
+** Traveller guides, especially if they conjure the existence of [[terrorism]] or contain too many negative warnings and [[stereotypes]].
-**The supposed absolute superiority of the [[Turkish culture]] and [[Turkish language]].
+** Newspaper articles, if making undocumented connections between international [[terrorism]] and the [[Cyprus dispute]] or the [[PKK]].
 [[Category:Turkic peoples]]