‘No racism here’: Modern Turkey and the question of race and national identity

 

 

Fenerbahçe fans pointing bananas to Galatasaray players, Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Eboue

 

By Bulent Gokay[1] and Darrell Whitman[2]

 

ABSTRACT: Many in Turkey, including its political leaders, don't accept there is racism in Turkey. They will say they are proud of their traditional hospitality and generosity towards foreigners. Similarly, academic accounts also generally assume Turkish nationalism is neither ethnic nor cultural nationalism, but rather an inclusive civic nationalism. We directly challenge this conviction by arguing there is a dark side of Turkish nationalism, based on clear evidence there is an ethnic and racial discourse that shaped Turkish nationalism from the early years of the republic, and that this discourse plays a significant role in defining modern 21st Century Turkish nationalism. Thus, this modern Turkish nationalism includes, rather than excludes, an ethnic and racially defined narrative, which is a central tenet in defining modern Turkish identity.

 

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