# White Turks > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/White_Turks > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/White_Turks.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Turks > Source revision: 1346661131 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Social group of Turkey}} {{Lead too long|date=July 2022}} thumb|White Turks at a rally with the Turkish flag. '''White Turks''' ({{langx|tr|Beyaz Türkler}}) is a term used in [Turkey](/source/Turkey) for the [urban](/source/Urban_area) population that embraced or directly benefited from Turkey’s modernization. They are often generalized as embracing values such as [secularism](/source/Secularism_in_Turkey), [Western](/source/Western_world) enlightenment, [positivism](/source/positivism) and [republicanism](/source/Republicanism_in_Turkey). White Turks are in contrast to the so-called [Black Turks](/source/Black_Turks) ([Turkish](/source/Turkish_language): ''Kara Türkler'' or ''Siyah Türkler''), a name for the conservative, Islamic, and typically less privileged among the originally [rural](/source/Rural_area) [Anatolian](/source/Anatolia) population.{{Cite journal|last=Ramm|first=Christoph|date=2016-12-01|title=Beyond 'Black Turks' and 'White Turks' – The Turkish Elites' Ongoing Mission to Civilize a Colourful Society|journal=Asiatische Studien - Études Asiatiques|language=en|volume=70|issue=4|pages=1355–1385|doi=10.1515/asia-2016-0035|s2cid=21750302|issn=2235-5871|url=https://boris.unibe.ch/89367/1/Ramm%20Beyond%20%E2%80%98Black%20Turks%E2%80%99%20and%20%E2%80%98White%20Turks%E2%80%99%20%E2%80%93%20The%20Turkish%20Elites%E2%80%99%20Ongoing%20Mission%20to%20Civilize%20a%20Colourful%20Society%20Asiatische%20Studien%204-2016.pdf}} The two terms are related to the emergence of a middle class since the end of the 20th century, and is an expression of elite consciousness and also a contempt for a section of the population which is seen as backwards.{{Citation needed|date=June 2018}} Civilizing efforts had been part of the imagination of all Turkish elites since the [Tanzimat](/source/Tanzimat) reforms. thumb|White Turks at the grave of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic [Anand Giridharadas](/source/Anand_Giridharadas) describes the dichotomy between white and black Turks as "an extraordinary [culture war](/source/culture_war) over what it means to be a Turk":
The battle — waged in [national politics](/source/Politics_of_Turkey) but also in life’s daily minutiae — has become, literally, black and white. In one corner are “white Turks,” who revere the republic’s founder, [Kemal Atatürk](/source/Mustafa_Kemal_Atat%C3%BCrk), and his mission to remake Turkey in Europe’s image — [secular](/source/Secularism_in_Turkey), [republican](/source/Republicanism_in_Turkey), purged of its [Ottoman](/source/Ottoman_Empire) legacies. In the other corner are “black Turks,” conservative Muslims who, in a mostly [Muslim](/source/Muslim) nation, were marginalized for decades, excluded from the Turkish elite — until, in 2003, [one of their own](/source/Recep_Tayyip_Erdo%C4%9Fan) became a populist [prime minister](/source/Prime_Minister_of_Turkey) and began what many black Turks consider a healthy rebalancing and many white Turks, the [politics of resentment](/source/politics_of_resentment) or, worse, revenge.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/world/europe/01iht-currents01.html|title=In Turkey, Forging a New Identity|last=Giridharadas|first=Anand|date=2012-11-30|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-04-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408141649/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/world/europe/01iht-currents01.html|archive-date=2018-04-08|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
[Tayyip Erdoğan](/source/Recep_Tayyip_Erdo%C4%9Fan) often describes himself as a black Turk.{{Cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/turkey-s-powerful-prime-minister-who-can-challenge-erdogan-a-495683-2.html|title=Turkey's Powerful Prime Minister: Who Can Challenge Erdogan?|last=Mayr|first=Walter|date=2007-07-16|work=Spiegel Online|access-date=2018-04-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006231857/http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/turkey-s-powerful-prime-minister-who-can-challenge-erdogan-a-495683-2.html|archive-date=2017-10-06}} The term was also used by 2018 presidential candidate [Muharrem İnce](/source/Muharrem_%C4%B0nce) to describe himself, claiming that Erdoğan was no longer a black Turk.{{Cite news|url=http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/993799/ince__Erdogan_Beyaz_Turk__ben_Turkiye_nin_zencisiyim.html|title=İnce: Erdoğan Beyaz Türk, ben Türkiye'nin zencisiyim|date=2018-06-10|work=Cumhuriyet|access-date=2018-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612025658/http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/993799/ince__Erdogan_Beyaz_Turk__ben_Turkiye_nin_zencisiyim.html|archive-date=2018-06-12}} In an [ironic](/source/Irony) approach to the conceptual pair, [Mümin Sekman](/source/M%C3%BCmin_Sekman) wrote in his book "Türk Usulü Başarı" that, among other things, black Turks listen to [Arabesque](/source/Arabesque_(Turkish_music)) and [folk music](/source/Turkish_folk_music), while white Turks prefer Western music and [Turkish pop](/source/Turkish_pop_music); black Turks have [arranged marriages](/source/Arranged_marriage), while white Turks choose their own partners; white Turks meet at airports, while black Turks use bus terminals.{{Cite book|title=Türk Usulü Başarı|last=Sekmen|first=Mümin|publisher=Arıtan Yayınevi|year=2000|isbn=9789753167185|location=[Istanbul](/source/Istanbul)|pages=269–270}} [Ertuğrul Özkök](/source/Ertu%C4%9Frul_%C3%96zk%C3%B6k) of [Hürriyet](/source/H%C3%BCrriyet) considers himself a white Turk and generalizes the group as follows: {{quote|They live mainly in coastal regions, are sensitive when it comes to [secularism](/source/Secularism_in_Turkey), they drink alcohol, have a high purchasing power, a Western lifestyle and the women do not wear [hijabs](/source/Hijab).{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}}} He also stated in 2014 that under the current rule of the [AKP](/source/Justice_and_Development_Party_(Turkey)), white Turks have become the new oppressed group in Turkey after [Kurds](/source/Kurds) and [Alevis](/source/Alevism), and that the increasingly marginalized white Turks must "learn to fight by defending their lifestyles".{{Cite web|url=http://www.ensonhaber.com/ozkok-yeni-ezilen-kesim-beyaz-turkler-2014-04-05.html|title=Özkök: Yeni ezilen kesim Beyaz Türkler|date=2014-04-05|website=Ensonhaber|language=tr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408040200/http://www.ensonhaber.com/ozkok-yeni-ezilen-kesim-beyaz-turkler-2014-04-05.html|archive-date=2014-04-08|access-date=2018-04-08}} == Origins == These terms are believed to have originally been coined by the late journalist {{Interlanguage link|Ufuk Güldemir|tr||WD=}} in his 1992 book "Teksas [Malatya](/source/Malatya)". The term "white Turks" was meant to be analogous to the American [WASP](/source/White_Anglo-Saxon_Protestant),{{Citation needed|date=June 2018}} and was used to describe an old elite who opposed the then-Prime Minister [Turgut Özal](/source/Turgut_Ozal) because of his Kurdish origin, religiousness and lack of [military](/source/Turkish_Armed_Forces) service. The term was subsequently taken up by sociologist [Nilüfer Göle](/source/Nilufer_Gole) and popularized by Turkish columnists, journalists and political scientists who used it to refer to various social groups in Turkey. == Grey Turks == Some observers, such as [Ayşe Sözen](/source/Ay%C5%9Fe_S%C3%B6zen) and [Nilüfer Narlı](/source/Nil%C3%BCfer_Narl%C4%B1), also note the emergence of a third group of "Grey Turks", who are urbanized, well-educated and enjoy Western music and films, but are pious Muslims. Some use the term to refer to the aspiring black Turks that climbed the socio-economic ladder during the [Turgut Özal](/source/Turgut_%C3%96zal) era and gained momentum during the [AKP](/source/Justice_and_Development_Party_(Turkey))'s current rule.{{Cite web|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=288628|title=A new class of Hybrid Turks emerging between White and Black Turks|last=Akarçeşme|first=Sevgi|date=2012-08-05|website=Today's Zaman|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807205110/http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=288628|archive-date=2012-08-07|access-date=2012-12-04|url-status=dead}} ==See also== * [Erdoğanism](/source/Erdo%C4%9Fanism) * [Qara bodun](/source/Qara_bodun) * [Secularism in Turkey](/source/Secularism_in_Turkey) * [Conservatism in Turkey](/source/Conservatism_in_Turkey) * [Kemalism](/source/Kemalism) * [Islam in Turkey](/source/Islam_in_Turkey) * [Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's cult of personality](/source/Mustafa_Kemal_Atat%C3%BCrk's_cult_of_personality) * [Freedom of religion in Turkey](/source/Freedom_of_religion_in_Turkey) * [Brown Sahib](/source/Brown_Sahib) ==Further reading== *DEMIRALP, SEDA. “[https://www.jstor.org/stable/41507184?seq=10 White Turks, Black Turks? Faultlines beyond Islamism versus Secularism].” Third World Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 3, 2012, pp. 511–24. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41507184. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025. *{{cite web|url=https://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/1038777/index.pdf|title=White vs Black Turks: The Civilizing Process in Turkey in the 1990s|work=Bayza Sumer}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20151203014501/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-99311825.html White Turks, Black Turks - Der Spiegel (in Turkish)] {{Secularism in Turkey|state=autocollapse}} Category:Society of Turkey Category:Cultural politics Category:Republicanism in Turkey Category:Secularism in Turkey Category:Western culture --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [White Turks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Turks) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Turks?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.