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Turkification

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Turkification (Turkish: Türkleşme when voluntary and Türkleştirme when involuntary) is a process of cultural or political change in which something or someone who is not a Turk becomes one, voluntarily or involuntarily. This has occurred for Anatolian, Balkan, Caucasian and Middle Eastern peoples from different ethnic origins, including Albanians, Arabs, Armenians, Greeks, Vlachs, Jews, Roma, various Slavic peoples (such as Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks, Bulgarians and Pomaks), Iranian peoples (Kurds, Zazas), as well as Kartvelian Lazs from all the regions of Ottoman Empire and Iran. An early form of Turkification occurred in the time of the Seljuk Empire among the indigenous peoples of Anatolia, involving religious conversion, cultural and linguistic assimilation, genetic admixture.

Appearance of Turks in Anatolia

Anatolia was home to many different peoples in ancient times, including the Assyrians, Hittites, Persians, Luwians, Hurrians, Armenians, Greeks, Cimmerians, Scythians, Georgians, Colchians, Carians, Lydians, Lycians, Phrygians, Arameans, Arabs, Corduenes, Cappadocians, Cilicians, and scores of others. The presence of many Greeks, and the process of Hellenization, gradually caused many of these peoples to abandon their own languages in favor of Greek, especially in cities and along the western and southern coasts, a process reinforced by Romanization. Nevertheless, in the north and east, especially in rural areas, many of the native languages continued to survive, including both many extinct and a few extant languages such as Armenian and Assyrian Aramaic.[1] Byzantine authorities routinely conducted large-scale population transfers in an effort to impose religious uniformity and the Greek language. They were particularly keen to assimilate the large Armenian population. To that end, in the eleventh century, the Armenian nobility were removed from their lands and resettled throughout western Anatolia. An unintended consequence of this resettlement was the loss of local military leadership along the eastern frontier, opening the path for the inroads of Turkish invaders.[2] Beginning in the eleventh century, war with Turks led to the deaths of many in the native population, while others were enslaved and removed.[3] As areas became depopulated, Turkic nomads moved in with their herds.[4]

Once an area had been conquered, and hostilities had ceased, agricultural villagers may have felt little inconvenience with the arrival of these pastoralists, since they occupied different ecological zones within the same territory.[5] Turkic pastoralists remained only a small minority, however, and the gradual Turkification of Anatolia was due less to in-migration than to the conversion of many Christians and Pagans to Islam, and their adoption of the Turkish language. The reasons for this conversion were first, the weak hold Greek culture had on much of the population, and second, the desire by the conquered population to "retain its property or else to avoid being at a disadvantage in other ways."[6] One mark of the progress of Turkification was that by the 1330s, place names in Anatolia had changed from Greek to Turkish.[7]

Andrew Mango describes the diversity of phenotypes amongst the Turkish people as follows:[8]

The Turkish nation took shape in the centuries of Seljuk and Ottoman power. The nomadic Turkish conquerors did not displace the original local inhabitants: Hellenized Anatolians (or simply Greeks), Armenians, people of Caucasian origins, Kurds, Assyrians and – in the Balkans – Slavs, Albanians and others. They intermarried with them, while many local people converted to Islam and 'turned Turk'. They were joined by Muslims from the lands north of the Black Sea and the Caucasus, by Persian craftsmen and Arab scholars, and by European adventurers and converts, known in the West as renegades. As a result, the Turks today exhibit a wide variety of ethnic types. Some have delicate Far Eastern, others heavy local Anatolian features, some, who are descended from Slavs, Albanians or Circassians, have light complexions, others are dark-skinned, many look Mediterranean, others Central Asian, many appear Persian. A numerically small, but commercially and intellectually important, group is descended from converts from Judaism. One can hear Turks describe some of their fellow countrymen as 'hatchet-nosed Lazes' (a people on the Black Sea coast), 'dark Arabs' (a term which includes descendants of black slaves), or even 'fellahs'. But they are all Turks.

The imprecise meaning of Türk

During the 19th century, the word Türk was a mildly opprobrious term used to refer to Anatolian villagers; the Ottoman elite identified themselves as Ottomans, not as Turks.[9] In the late 19th century, as European ideas of nationalism were adopted by the Ottoman elite, and as it became clear that the Turkish-speakers of Anatolia were the most loyal supporters of Ottoman rule, the term Türk took on a much more positive connotation.[10] During Ottoman times, the millet system defined communities on a religious basis, and a residue of this remains today in that Turkish villagers will commonly consider as Turks only those who profess the Sunni faith, and will consider Turkish-speaking Jews, Christians, or even Alevis to be non-Turks.[11] The imprecision of the appellation Türk can also be seen with other ethnic names, such as Kürt, which is often applied by western Anatolians to anyone east of Adana, even those who speak only Turkish.[11] On the other hand, Kurdish-speaking or Arabic-speaking Sunnis of eastern Anatolia are often considered to be Turks.[12] Thus, the category Türk, like other ethnic categories popularly used in Turkey, does not have a uniform usage. In recent years, centrist Turkish politicians have attempted to redefine this category in a more multi-cultural way, emphasizing that a Türk is anyone who is a citizen of the Republic of Turkey.[13] Now article 66 of the Turkish Constitution defines a "Turk" as anyone who is "bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship".

Genetic testing of language replacement hypothesis in Anatolia, Caucasus and Balkans

The region of the Anatolia represents an extremely important area with respect to ancient population migration and expansion, and the spread of the Caucasian, Semitic, Indo-European and Turkic languages, as well as the extinction of the local Anatolian languages. During the late Roman Period, prior to the Turkic conquest, the population of Anatolia had reached an estimated level of over 12 million people.[14][15][16] The extent to which gene flow from Central Asia has contributed to the current gene pool of the Turkish people, and the role of the 11th century invasion by Turkic peoples, has been the subject of several studies. These studies conclude that local Anatolian groups are the primary source of the present-day Turkish population.[17] DNA results suggests the lack of strong genetic relationship between the Mongols and the Turks despite the historical relationship of their languages.[18]

Anatolians do not significantly differ from other Mediterranean populations, indicating that while the Asian Turks carried out an invasion with cultural significance (language and religion), the genetic significance is only weakly detectable.[19] Recent genetic research has suggested the local Anatolian origins of the Turkic Asian peoples might have been slight.[20] These findings are consistent with a model in which the Turkic languages, originating in the Altai-Sayan region of Central Asia and northwestern Mongolia, were imposed on the indigenous peoples with relatively little genetic admixture, possible example of elite cultural dominance-driven linguistic replacement.[21] These observations also may be explained by Anatolia having the lowest migrant/resident ratio at the time of Turkic migrations. Analysis suggested that, genetically, Anatolians are more closely related also with Balkan populations than to the Central Asian populations.[22][23] Analogical results have been received in neighbouring Caucasus region by testing Armenian and Turkic speaking Azerbaijani populations, therefore representing language replacements, possibly via elite dominance involving primarily male migrants.[24] In conclusion, today the major DNA components in Anatolian population are shared with European and neighboring Near Eastern populations and contrast with only a minor share of haplogroups related to Central Asian, South Asian and African affinity, which supports the language replacement hypothesis in the region.[25]

A 2011 study concluded "that the profile of Anatolian populations today is the product not of mass westward migrations of Central Asians and Siberians, or of small-scale migrations into an emptied subcontinent, but instead of small-scale, irregular punctuated migration events that engendered large-scale shifts in language and culture among the diverse" indigenous inhabitants (p. 32). [26] Results of a 2012 genetic study by Hodoğlugil and Mahley showed the admixture of Turkish people, which were primarily European and Middle Eastern, with a small Central Asian (9%-15%) component. [27]

Turkification in Central Asia

Many instances of Turkification of Mongolic speakers occurred during the reign and decline of the Mongol empire. The Chagatai Khanate was a Mongol, and later linguistically Turkicized, khanate that comprised the lands ruled by Chagatai Khan (alternative spellings Chagata, Chugta, Chagta, Djagatai, Jagatai, Chaghtai), second son of the Great Khan Genghis Khan, and his descendents and successors.[citation needed] Initially it was considered a part of the Mongol Empire, but it later became fully independent. The Mughals initially spoke Chagatai, a Uyghuric dialect spoken by the Chagatai Khanate who were a Turkified Mongol Khanate formally speaking the Mongolic languages, thus stating Mongol ancestry among the Mughals.[citation needed] During The Golden Horde, many Mongolic speakers language shifted to Turkic languages, then assimilated into the greater Bulgar, Kipchak as well as Cuman (the remnants that didn't go to Hungary) population, possibly converting to Islam afterwards.[citation needed]

Turkification of modern Turkey

The process of forced Turkification started with the first years of the republic with the "Citizen speak Turkish!" campaign which aimed at forcing Turkish as the sole language of education and culture. A "names and surnames law" in 1934 was passed that required everyone in the republic to replace their original names with turkified ones.[28]

Lexicology

The term is used in the Greek language since late-byzantine era as "τούρκεμα". It literally means "becoming muslim or Turk". For example: "Είχε τουρκέψει κάτω από βία, τον καιρό της άτυχης εκείνης επανάστασης του 1770, τούρκεμα κανονικό με "σουνέτι" (περιτομή) από Τούρκο παπά (Χότζα)", i.e. "He had been turkified by force, at the time of the unfortunate revolution of 1770. A real turkification, with circumcision by a Turkish priest (Hodja)".[29]
Apart from persons, it may refer also to cities that were conqered by Turks or churches that were converted to mosques.
It is more frequently used in the form of the verb "τουρκεύω" (turkify, become muslim or Turk).[30][31][32]

See also

References

  1. ^ Mitchell, Stephen. 1993. Anatolia: land, men and gods in Asia Minor. Vol. 1, The Celts, and the impact of Roman rule. Clarendon Press. pp.172–176.
  2. ^ Charanis, Peter. 1961. "The Transfer of Population as a Policy in the Byzantine Empire." Comparative Studies in Society and History 3:140–154.
  3. ^ (Vryonis 1971: 172)
  4. ^ (Vryonis 1971: 184–194)
  5. ^ (Langer and Blake 1932: 479-480)
  6. ^ (Langer and Blake 1932: 481-483)
  7. ^ (Langer and Blake 1932: 485)
  8. ^ (Mango 2004:17–18)
  9. ^ (Kushner 1997: 219; Meeker 1971: 322)
  10. ^ (Kushner 1997: 220-221)
  11. ^ a b (Meeker 1971: 322)
  12. ^ (Meeker 1971: 323)
  13. ^ (Kushner 1997: 230)
  14. ^ Late Medieval Balkan and Asia Minor Population. Josiah C. Russell. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Oct., 1960), pp. 265–274
  15. ^ Estimating Population at Ancient Military Sites: The Use of Historical and Contemporary Analogy. P. Nick Kardulias. American Antiquity, Vol. 57, No. 2 (Apr., 1992), pp. 276–287
  16. ^ J.C. Russell, Late Ancient And Medieval Population, published as vol. 48 pt. 3 of the Transactions Of The American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, 1958.
  17. ^ (2001) HLA alleles and haplotypes in the Turkish population: relatedness to Kurds, Armenians and other Mediterraneans Tissue Antigens 57 (4), 308–317
  18. ^ Tissue Antigens. Volume 61 Issue 4 Page 292–299, April 2003. Genetic affinities among Mongol ethnic groups and their relationship to Turks
  19. ^ Tissue Antigens Volume 60 Issue 2 Page 111-121, August(2002) Population genetic relationships between Mediterranean populations determined by HLA allele distribution and a historic perspective. Tissue Antigens 60 (2), 111–121
  20. ^ Y-chromosomal diversity in Europe is clinal and influenced primarily by geography, rather than by language.
  21. ^ The Eurasian Heartland: A continental perspective on Y-chromosome diversity.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 98, No. 18 (Aug. 28, 2001), pp. 10244–10249.
  22. ^ Alu insertion polymorphisms and an assessment of the genetic contribution of Central Asia to Anatolia with respect to the Balkans. Department of Biological Sciences, Middle East Technical University, 06531 Ankara, Turkey. American Journal of Physical Anthropoly 2008 May;136(1):11-8.
  23. ^ Alu insertion polymorphisms in the Balkans and the origins of the Aromuns. Annals of Human Genetics.Volume 68 Issue 2 Page 120-127, March 2004.
  24. ^ Testing hypotheses of language replacement in the neighbouring Caucasus: evidence from the Y-chromosome. Human genetics. 2003, vol. 112, no3, pp. 255–261. ISSN 0340-6717
  25. ^ Excavating Y-chromosome haplotype strata in Anatolia. Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305-5120, USA.
  26. ^ Yardumian, A., & Schurr, T. G. (2011). Who Are the Anatolian Turks?. Anthropology & Archeology Of Eurasia, 50(1), 6-42. doi:10.2753/AAE1061-1959500101
  27. ^ Hodoğlugil, U., & Mahley, R. W. (2012). Turkish Population Structure and Genetic Ancestry Reveal Relatedness among Eurasian Populations. Annals Of Human Genetics, 76(2), 128-141. doi:10.1111/j.1469-1809.2011.00701.x [1]
  28. ^ Kieser, Hans-Lukas (2006). Turkey beyond nationalism: towards post-nationalist identities. I.B.Tauris. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-84511-141-0.
  29. ^ Giannes Manousakas, The fugitive, 1980, p. 108. (in Greek).
  30. ^ Skarlatos D. Vyzantios, Dictionnaire Grec-Francais et Francaise-Grec, Athenes, 1856, p. 408 (French part), under term "TURBAN".
  31. ^ Thumb Albert, Handbuch der neugriechischen Volkssprache, Trübner, 1895, p. 233.
  32. ^ Emile Louis Jean Legrand, Chrestomathie grecque moderne, 1899, p. 479. "τουρκεύω, rendre turc, se faire turc.

Sources

  • Langer, William L. and Robert P. Blake. 1932. “The Rise of the Ottoman Turks and its Historical Background.” The American Historical Review 37:468-505.
  • Kushner, David. 1997. “Self-Perception and Identity in Contemporary Turkey.” Journal of Contemporary History 32:219-233.
  • Mango, Andrew. 2004. The Turks Today. Overlook Press.
  • Meeker, M. E. 1971. “The Black Sea Turks: Some Aspects of Their Ethnic and Cultural Background.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 2:318-345.
  • Vryonis, Speros. 1971. The decline of medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the process of Islamization from the eleventh through the fifteenth century. University of California Press.
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