People of Turkey
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- This article is about the Cultural historiography of the Turkey. For a statistical/ethnic distribution or snap shot see "Demographics of Turkey". Conceptual issues are cowered in Turkish people article.
The People of Turkey covers the changes to Turkish people during the 20th century. Turkey is a country that contains every extreme depiction of East and West culture and many gray tones. From the cultural view point, balkanization was the end of Ottoman Empire, however it is the beginning of the Republic of Turkey and Turkish People or People of Turkey. Turkish Republic adapted a unitary approach, which was forcing all the different cultures within its boarders to mix with each other under the name of Turkish. The mixing, instead of assimilation is the end result of many gray tones.
The transformation during the 20th century undeniably produced many grey colors of east-west duality in the Turkey. These besides its pains and hardships the Turkish experience in democracy was a cauldron of ideas and representations or of many different colors that exist in Turkey.
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[edit] Background
The country of Turkey has been the site of wide variety of empires and has literally been a crossroads for much of Eurasia. Some of the earliest known inhabitants include the Hattians also known as Hattis, 2500-2000 BCE, who were quite possibly an aboriginal people of Anatolia. They were followed by the Hittites, 2000-1750 BCE, an Indo-European people from the steppes of modern Russia and the Ukraine, who merged with the local population. Later invaders included Phrygians, Lydians, Assyrians, Persians, Urartians, Armenians, Kurds, Greeks, Romans, Galatians, Byzantines, Mongols, Arabs and of course Turkic tribes. Most, if not all, of these groups contributed to the modern identity of the Turks, although to varying degrees.
Ultimately, the linguistic and cultural contribution of the Turkic tribes cannot be ignored. Anatolia was an ethnic mosaic, a region with a wide variety of peoples, but dominated by the Greek-speaking Byzantines (who were themselves Hellenized Anatolians) and other prominent regional groups such as Armenians, Kurds, and others. Ultimately, it is absurd to speak of any ‘Turkish race’ in the tangled ethnic web of Anatolia. Race as a genetic-based social category that is in any case a concept of the XIXth century, is no longer accepted by most social scientists.
The Turks have successfully assimilated a wide variety of peoples and many reject any ethnic or ancestral distinctions. One Turkish saying clarifies this view, "We Turks resemble ourselves." As such, official Turkish history relates the population as derived from Oghuz Turks, although in recent years many historians have put forth the possibilities of long forgotten ancestors such as the Hittites as well.
[edit] Recovery from WWI
With the onset of Republic of Turkey, Turkish people found themselves in a country that was devastated. Turkish peasantry of Anatolia droped to 40% of the pre-war levels.[1].
[edit] The State Control Area
The state support in industry (such as Sumerbank) developed under the social support
[edit] The Beginning of liberal movement
The multi-party area generates a force against the social policies of the state.
[edit] The Ozal Area
The wide liberalization movement generates a new cultural segment which was symbolized as "One night millionaires".
