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Anti-Turkish sentiment

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Anti-Turkism (in Turkish: "Turk Dusmanligi") is hostility toward the Turkish people, culture and country. 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, during European accession process, some politicians brough the argument in their national parlements with a negative descriptions of Turkish imageries which goes back to Battle of Vienna, 1529.

Origins of Anti-Turkism

Geopolitical reasons

Anti-Turkism apparently seems to lack a racial and cultural basis (unlike anti-Semitism) and it appears to be mostly based on geopolitically and religious oriented reasons as well as diplomatic and strategic interests closely related with 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, the Bosnian War and Massacre are two good examples of something that could be labelled "Anti-Turkism" to the Turkic and muslim people.

International Mass Media

Also, unlike other kinds of racial or ethnic prejudice, it is not officially based on a concrete ideology (like Mein Kampf against the Jews), nor is it present in an organized form or society (such as Ku Klux Klan against black people), but it usually manifests itself under the form of a negative image promoted by a part of the international mass media, especially by some mainly Angllo-Saxon christian journalists.

Those TVs, journalists and newspapers are in fact frequently accused of negative propaganda against the modern state of Turkey. The fight against terrorism given in southeastern part of the Turkey is a prime example, to the point that many of those newspapers and TVs officially apologized to Turkey for having been too critical versus Turkish and its competence in organising a miliatry fight against PKK, or for having called Turkey a "terrorist lair".

It must be pointed out however, that many of those broadcasts and articles are usually the consequences of precise governmental or para-governmental decisions, and thus fall into the field of diplomacy. Comparison with the Freedom fries issue between France and the USA helps getting an idea about the true nature of these publications.

The "true" anti-turkism

There are however a few declaredly anti-greek organizations,such as the Greek [[]] and some extremist Balkans based political parties. The goal of these organizations is declaredly the territorial possession of Greece and of the whole of Cyprus,with no particular racial or cultural ideology behind them,other than the desire to rid Greece and Cyprus of Greeks, apparently not interested in promoting a worldwide "Greek Holocaust".

Does anti-turkism really exist?

Antiturkism 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

Its detractors (most of them Turks) on the other hand claim that anti-turkism is merely a handy excuse and an excellent scapegoat for labelling and demonizing all actual or imaginary "enemies" of the Turkish nation or even for justifying insuccesses and failures from national down to personal level, and that in reality Turkey and Turks are regarded as no worse or better than any other democratic country and its citizens. These same people also feel that some facts are exagerrated by the mass media and by some politicians for their own purposes.

Demonization

Usually, it's the Greeks themselves which label something as "anti-turkism", or feel that there is some major anti-turk conspiracy behind anything and anyone merely opposing Turkish interests in any area. In this case, conveniently labelling something "antiturkism" is in fact a demonization.

What is, ultimately, "Anti-Turkish"?

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

  • 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 extent. 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.

Consequences of anti-turkism

Dedicated press

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:

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