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Turkification is a term used to describe a cultural change in which something or someone who is not a Turk becomes one, voluntarily or by force. It can be used in contexts in connection with Albanians, Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Jews, Roma, various Slavic peoples (Bosniaks, Bulgarians), Iranian peoples (mainly Kurds), as well as Georgians and various ethnicities of the Black Sea basin and the North Caucasus. The use of the term does not assert a denial of the existence of individuals who feel pride or are comfortable in their Turkishness, nor a questioning of their identity.

Anatolia

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Anatolia (modern day Turkey) has always been an ethnically diverse area containing many distinct peoples, languages and even beliefs. In 1071 the Seljuks defeated the Byzantines during the battle of Malazgirt, this lead to the eventual conquest of Anatolia by Turkic tribes.

Shortly after the Turkic conquests of Anatolia Sufism had arrived in the region. Many Sufi orders sprang up. Sufism quickly became very popular in Anatolia and many Sufi lodges quickly appeared across the land. These lodges were based in places like crossroads and roads in isolated and mountainous places. Many people were attracted to this form of Islam (which incorporated Anatolian, Central Asian and Shamanistic rites) and as a result many people from Anatolia had converted to Islam. Adoption of Turkish identity usually followed conversion to Islam. Evliya Çelebi noted that there were many non Turkish minorities in Anatolia which indicates that many areas weren't Turkified even as late as the 17th century. Even though they were a small minority, the invading Turkic tribes inter-mixed heavily with local populations and were by and large assimilated themselves. As a result, most modern Turks west of Central Asia exhibit Caucasoid features today, rather than Mongoloid, indicating a turkified and non-Turkic ancestry.

It is most likely that force was not used in most cases to Turkify these regions until the modern period and it should be noted that not all ethnic groups in the regions were Turkified. Kurds, Zaza's, Talysh's, and the Laz, among others, survived Turkification, however, in smaller numbers with the exception of Kurds.

Armenians

In 1915, Talat Pasha (Minister of the Interior), under Mehmed V, ordered the forced evacuation of hundreds of thousands—possibly over a million—Armenians. Over the next 8 years, it is estimated that over 1 million Armenians died as a result of the evacuations as well as mass killings, though there is no clear consensus on the exact number. Armenians as well as a number of Western and Russian historians claim that the event was an act of genocide. The Turkish government, as well as some scholars, deny this and dispute the numbers. During this period a number of young Armenians were given refuge by Turkish (and Kurdish) families and as a result of this most of these Armenians grew up without ever learning the Armenian language. When these Armenian children were integrated into their adoptive families they learned to speak Turkish (or Kurdish), and in the case of Muslim families to practise Islam. Other Armenians remaining in Turkey after the events, were pressured by the Turkish government to assimilate into the Turkish mainstream.

Kurds

The Turkish government has, since its inception systematically sought to assimilate the Kurdish population of Turkey. From the birth of the state until 1991, the existence of a separate Kurdish identity was denied. During the 1930s and 1940s, the government had disguised the presence of the Kurds statistically by categorizing them as "Mountain Turks", denying their ethnic identity. According to CNN TÜRK, today there are media events as well as privately-sponsored education in the Kurdish language, although the general interest shown is rather limited. Some people believe that the closed Kurdish courses aren't because of lack of interest but because of so many years of restricting the use of the language—making it socially still not right and because the courses aren't economically well backed.

Pomaks

The Muslim Bulgarian community in Turkey is not recognized by the Turkish government as an ethnic minority and has been largely assimilated. The Bulgarian language is declining rapidly in usage and Turkish has largely replaced it as the first language even among those who primarily identify as Pomaks.

Greeks

Since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, the Turkish backed government in control of the north of the island has been accused by both Turkish and Greek Cypriots of having pursued a policy of Turkification.The Greek Muslims in Turkey have been subjected to forced or voluntarily Turkification, mainly due to mass migration to the large cities, high linguistic assimilation to Turkish, and the fact that their language has no official status.

Black Sea groups

Georgians, Hamshenis and Laz live along the eastern Black Sea coastline. These areas have witnessed a considerable depopulation during the second half of the 20th century as many people have moved to the big cities of northwest Turkey. Assimilation within urban centres is high and the descendants of such emigrees typically lose all traces of their ethnic identity within the span of a few generations.

See also

• Cultural assimilation
• Devshirmeh
• Janissary

References

1. Seyahatname By: Evliya Çelebi
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4735171.stm
3. Turkey - Linguistic and Ethnic Groups - U.S. Library of Congress
4. http://www.cnnturk.com/TURKIYE/haber_detay.asp?PID=318&HID=2&haberID=114032 Kurdish courses close one after the other because of lack of interest, July 2005
5. http://www.ozgurpolitika.org/2005/07/19/hab21.html
6. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/3309899.stm

• Cultural assimilation