I do not know how this weird idea was spread out there, but we pupils believed that the Greeks had blue blood whereas our blood was red. This may have been something to do with the colors of the flags of both countries. But it is obvious that we, as children, were trying to find a reasonable explanation for all the fuss and the hostile atmosphere in Turkey.
I also remember my family trying to convince me that not only Turks but all human beings actually have red blood. Their explanation back then had left me with even more confusion. If everyone had red blood, why were the Greeks and Turks fighting each other?
I just remembered this memory from my childhood when I heard the racist remarks of our chief of General Staff. Apparently he was furious about the publications and coverage of military-related issues by the Taraf daily and he rebuked them by saying, “They have no Turkish blood running in their veins.”
What is amazing about racism in Turkey is the utter lack of awareness about its existence in spite of the fact that it is a part of our political and social life and it is endemic. The racist dimension of Turkish nationalism is rarely acknowledged and has not attracted the attention it deserved.
It is hard to believe, but 64,000 individuals’ skulls were measured in the context of a “survey” that was directly sanctioned back then by Atatürk himself. The purpose of the survey was to find out the measurements of the Turkish skull. Racist tendencies in the early republic days were not limited to this incident. It can be observed in the speeches and writings of the founders and prominent figures of the Turkish Republic.
The following historic speech, delivered by Mahmut Esat Bozkurt, who served as justice minister between 1923 and 1930, is one of the pure examples of racist mentality. He said, “Those who are not of pure Turkish stock can have only one right in this country, the right to be servants and slaves.”
Recep Peker, who served as the secretary-general of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), which was established by Atatürk, between 1931 and 1936, stated that “while mankind’s history opens its doors to the 21st century, nothing but Turkish blood stayed pure.”
The Sun Language Theory, which claims that all languages of the world stem from Turkish, was also developed in those years.
Turkish nationalism is based on the exclusion of the non-Muslims of Turkey, namely Greeks, Armenians and Jews. The young republic was declared just eight years after Armenians were wiped out from Turkey in 1915. Although there is a strong connection between these atrocities and racist tendencies in the newly established republic, I believe they are not enough to explain everything.
There is something which, I believe, stemmed from a much deeper fear. Unlike the countries surrounding Turkey, from which the virus of nationalism descended upon this country, we do not have a “clear-cut” race.
French historian, Jean-Paul Roux, in his explanation of the “Turkish race” in the “History of the Turks,” is extremely thought-provoking in this sense:
“Turks do not have a racial profile.
“Because Turks have a tendency to marry outsiders, choose spouses from among those who are not Turkish, mix with every tribe they accidentally encounter, their languages possesses a great quality of attraction and many groups have embraced this language, there is no longer a possibility of determining a physical characteristic that is pertaining to Turks. We know that there is no such thing as a pure race in the world. But at this point, we must go a step further and say that Turks are not a pure race. Turks don’t have a racial profile. Consequently we can’t speak of a Turkish race in itself.
“The blood running through Turkish veins are more foreign, Mongol, Chinese, Persian, Greek, Caucasian, Russian and African than it is old Turkish blood -- with protruding cheek bones and slanted eyes.”
Maybe this simple fact made us so obsessive about “Turkish blood.” Being unable to find a race on which we could base our nation-state might be the root cause of our racism.
This simple fact might be devastatingly disappointing for Turkish racists and for those who have “historical enmities” against the “Turkish race,” but I think it is a blessing for us to create a much more democratic society which embraces and welcomes all differences in the society and which would also help us to confront the past atrocities committed on this soil.
Turkey finding and embracing its real identity will not only be beneficial for the people of this country but also would help all people who live in surrounding countries who have long been suffering from the deadly effects of the viruses of nationalism. After all, as I realized when I was 6 years old, what is the point in having all these fights and crises if we all have red blood?
