*** Turkey minorities








Turkish Minorities

Turkish minirities
Figure 1.-- This Greek boy had his portrait taken by Parnasse in Constantinople. It looks like a First Communion portrait. We are not sure when this portrait was taken, but would guess the very early-1900s.

Minorities in Turkey are a historical question of some imprtance. And there were both ethnic and religious minorities. The Turks were an ethnic, but not eligious minority in the Ottoman Empire. The Christians in the Balkans and the Arabs outside of Anatolia outnumbered the Turks. The Balkan Christian werebothan ethnic and religious minority. The Arbs were an ethnic minority, but not religious minorty. The Balkan Christians gradually obtained their independence during the 19th century. The Ottomans lost their Middle East provinces with Arab populations during World War I. Within Anatolia there were also minorities, including Greek Orthodox Christians, Armenian Christians, and Kurds in the east. There were also small numbers of Jews. Turkey after World War I emerged as a much more ethnically pure country. The Turks eliminated the Armenians in a holocaust dufing the War. After the murder of the Armenuans, the only important Christian minority left was the Greeks. And they were mostly expelled after the Greco-Turkish war (1919-22). The Turks did not move as brutally toward the Kurds, perhaps because they were fellow Muslins. The Kurds in eastern Anatolia, however, have proved a continuing problem as Turkey attempts to Turkify them and the Kurds resist.

Ottoman Minorities

The Ottomans were one of a number of nomadic Turkish tribes originating in the vast Eurasian steppe. They were not the first to emerge from the Steppe preceeded by other fierce warrior people like the Huns. The first Turkic people to enter the Mideast were the Selejuk Turks. The Turkic tribes followed a primitive shamanistic religion. Once in contact with settled populations they accepted Islam and under Islamic influence, the Seljuks played a key role in the development of the Mideastern Turko-Persian tradition. They helped bring Persian culture to Anatolia. It also led to the settlement of other Turkic tribes in the northwestern peripheral parts of the empire. This played the strategic purpose of fending off invasions from other Steppe tribes and neighboring states and resulted in the Turkicization of the area. The Selejuks wre weakened by wars with the Crusaders. The Ottoman rose out of one of the various Turkic tribes that had been drawn into the Mideast, the Oguz Turks, Their time came as the Mongols devestated the major states of the Mideast. Led by Osman, they began a spectacular rise in the power vacuum created as the Mongols fell back to Central Asia. by the The Turks were the core of the Ottoman Empire, but as they conquered other people, primarily the Christian Balkans and Arab lands, they became a minority in their own empire. The Christians in the Balkans and the Arabs outside of Anatolia outnumbered the Turks. The Balkan Christian werebothan ethnic and religious minority. The Arbs were an ethnic minority, but not religious minorty. The Balkan Christians gradually obtained their independence during the 19th century. The Ottomans lost their Middle East provinces with Arab populations during World War I.

Turkey Republic: Minorities

The new Turkish Republic inherited what was left of the Ottoman Empire after the Balkan Wars (1911-13) and then World War I (1914-18). These wars reduced the Ottoman Empire primarily to its core Anatolian terrtory and a small area in Europe across the Dardanelles. This included Constantinople/Istambul. Even within Anatolia there were also minorities, including Greek Orthodox Christians, Armenian Christians, and Muslim Kurds in the east. There were also small numbers of Jews. Turkey after World War I and the Young Turks Armenian Genocide emerged as a much more ethnically pure country. The Turks eliminated the Armenians Christians in the Armenian Genocide during the War, calculated it would be lost in the fog of war, nuct as the NAZIs planned with the Jews. The killing was done during the Ottoman period, but by the same military leadership that orgabized the new Republc of Turkey. After the murder of the Armenians, the only important Christian minority left in Turkey was the Greeks. And they were mostly expelled after the Greco-Turkish war (1919-22). The Turks did not move as brutally toward the Kurds, perhaps because they were fellow Muslins. The Kurds in eastern Anatolia, however, have proved a continuing problem as Turkey attempts to Turkify them and the Kurds resist.








HBC






Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]





Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Turkish pages:
[Return to the Main Turkish country page]
[Turkish choirs] [Turkish folk costumes] [Turkish movies] [Turkish royals] [Turkish schools] [Youth groups]




Created: 10:18 PM 2/16/2008
Last updated: 1:29 AM 4/3/2017