Sakarya University Faculty of Political Sciences Department of International Relations assistant professor Soner Tauscher said that the worry magnified by populist rhetoric in Europe regularly topics the Turkish-origin inhabitants to discrimination and that this example turns into bodily or psychological violence.
Soner Tauscher, who can also be the deputy director of the Diaspora Studies Center, defined the idea of Turkophobia or Turkish hostility. He talked about that this idea, previously often called Turkophobia and now known as “Türkiyefobi” in latest occasions, has advanced considerably with an influential ethnic identification ingredient, beginning with the affect of Islam within the 14th and fifteenth centuries.
Turkophobia, Islamophobia spiked after 2001
Tauscher identified that Turkophobia, thought-about as we speak a widespread and populist political argument within the West, has been on the rise since 2001 resulting from components such because the coronavirus pandemic, financial turmoil and populist political ideologies.
He made the next evaluation: “Especially since 2001, we can say that Turkophobic and Islamophobic perceptions have been increasingly established in the Western world. We see that the pandemic period and economic crises have led to an increase in anti-Turkish sentiment, influenced by new radical right-wing and populist right-wing movements. Previously, we had Nazis, then neo-Nazis. Now, in European politics, we see figures like Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen, and formations like AfD and Pegida in Austria and Germany. These have emerged as structures triggering anti-Turkish sentiment in Europe. They try not to repeat the mistakes of racists, defining themselves more based on cultural racism than biological racism. They do this very cleverly, in a subtle way.”
Tauscher additionally highlighted makes an attempt by politicians to “politicize society in terms of Turkophobia” and famous efforts to affect the general public, saying: “Here, they target Turkish customs, traditions and practices, but they cannot go beyond the intention of targeting them before the law. The new right-wing is inflating Turkophobia with this fear. They feed this element with fearful expressions like ‘If Turks come, every place will become a mosque, your women will cover their heads, you won’t be able to eat pork or drink alcohol,’ and they plan to turn this element into social action.”
Referring to a report printed by the German Ministry of the Interior in 2022, which noticed a rise in crimes motivated by far-right ideologies, primarily concentrating on Turks and Muslims, Tauscher emphasised: “The German Ministry of the Interior’s study detected an increase of more than 5% in crimes involving discriminatory elements compared to the previous year, with 23,083 crimes recorded from far-right sources. About 20,000 of these occurred on online platforms, with over 1,800 physical assault crimes reported.”
Tauscher identified that some assaults usually are not registered as hate crimes resulting from authorized choices and added that when unclassified assaults are included, Turks and Muslims face about 50,000 assaults yearly.
Turkophobia can result in violence
Tauscher said that Turks dwelling in Europe are subjected to psychological or bodily Turkophobic and Islamophobic violence virtually every day. He stated: “In addition to physical attacks, the Turkish population here faces psychological violence every day. The way people look at you when you leave your door, while shopping at the market, or when using German, or the behavior and addresses toward you change completely if you are veiled or have a beard.”
Being a department of xenophobia, Turkophobia differs from different types of xenophobia in that it targets not solely psychological but additionally bodily and even terroristic acts towards Turks, Tauscher continued. He added: “The reason we talk about this Turkophobia concept on behalf of Europe today is that it is not just simple opposition; it has become a concept inclined toward violence. Actions that go beyond passive fear and turn into active, aggressive behavior, such as targeting Turkish shops and homes, burning the Quran and ridiculing prophets, have been established. They are trying to build a fortress of Europe here. Today, these situations occur because Europe, instead of being solved through multiculturalism, harmony and communication, tries to solve this fear it created with violence and human rights violations.”
Stating that the Islamophobia-related Turkophobic assaults principally heard in Germany are literally an issue for all the West, Tauscher emphasised that the person acts of violence seen within the 80s and 90s have now became organized and terrorist acts.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
