A rude awakening

http://www.irr.org.uk/news/turkish-speaking-communities-in-britain-a-rude-awakening/

“On a global level, these issues remain unresolved and Turkey finds itself in a precarious position. It is not totally accepted by the ‘Christian nations’ of Europe, partly but not entirely because of its notorious human rights record and repressive policies towards the Kurdish population. Neither is Turkey accepted by its Muslim neighbours, whom it has made such a big effort to distance itself from. The delay in Turkey’s accession to the European Union (EU) has many causes but one is the fact that it is one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. Helmut Kohl’s description of the EU as a ‘Christian club’ is a perfect reminder of this. These debates on the international level have both a direct and indirect effect on Turkish speakers living in Britain; both in terms of how we perceive ourselves in relation to others and in the way that others perceive us. Thus, most of us are aware that, although we can be called ‘Mediterranean’, we are not as acceptable culturally, politically and religiously as others who come under this category, such as Greeks, Italians, Spaniards and the Portuguese. And we are, therefore, more likely to face both overt and covert forms of racism.

STEREOTYPES

As Turkish speakers, we are constantly aware of and affected by negative stereotypes. On a day-to-day level, we are repeatedly reminded of the fact that organised crime, and criminal activities related to drug use and selling, are there in Turkish-speaking communities. But of course the majority of us are not involved in such crime and have no wish to be. And we want to avoid a situation in which all members of the community are labelled as drug suppliers and our young men are pathologised as gangsters and thugs. “