İyi Günler (Hi),
I am from Türkiye (Turkia, Turcia, a.k.a. Turkey in English) and I am a Turk. In Türkiye when we say we are Turks, it doesn't have the literal meaning that we are ethnic Turks. We are a mixture of everything. We are the Turks, Kurds, Alevis, Greeks, Armenians and Jews of Anatolia. Nobody can claim that the Turkish people in Anatolia are the direct descendants of the only a few hundred horsemen coming to Anatolia a thousand years ago. I have Albanian, Macedonian, Ossetian, Turcoman, Circassian, Greek descendants in my own family. Being a Turk and claiming to be a Turk means we are the inhabitants of Anatolia united under one flag, and speaking one official language (along with our ethnic languages). I personally embrace all the cultures of the peoples of Anatolia which constituted and contributed to the traditions of people of modern Turkey.
I have been following Wikipedia since 2003. I like to read and discuss about international politics and world history. When I have time I frequently contribute to articles mostly related to Türkiye and Turkish people. I like to establish connections and dialog between different cultures and peoples. I believe prejudice and ignorance are epidemics for the humanity and the only way to overcome is eagerness to learn and discover each other with empathy. I wish there will be no prejudice and hatred not only against my people but also between no ethnicities in Wikipedia in the future. However, I am really tired of infinite discussions due to misunderstanding, structured bias, misinformation and unwillingness to compromise.
Here [1], you can find my contributions to the Wikipedia articles/dicussions.
You can leave me a message here.
CYE (My Talk)
Last updated on March 30th, 2008
