As a Black Muslim migrant living in Turkey, my concept of Blackness has expanded for the better. Beyond the appeal of living and working in a Muslim-majority country, the call to understand the function of Black histories beckoned loudly to me. I have always been interested in different Black cultures and legacies, how they intersect, and how they are distinguishable in their own right. Anyone who has been around me long enough will often hear me speak highly of the cultural upbringing my parents provided me - one that appraised the idea of the African diaspora and Black solidarity. But it was not until I relocated to Istanbul, that I really had to reframe the notion of “diaspora”.
When we speak of diaspora, it’s understood that it comprises a specific geographic, spatial and historical subset of peoples of Black African descent. That is as Walter C. Rucker explains in his essay “The Black Atlantic and the African Diaspora” the “sustained contacts and connections among the peoples of Atlantic Africa, Europe, and the Americas beginning with the “Age of Reconnaissance” (1306-1484) and the “Age of Contact” (1482–1621).
This word “diaspora” has also become more prominent in online conversations that focus on cultural clashes among different Black ethnicities (“diaspora wars”), “pro-Black agendas” and “woke culture” that includes the Black Lives Matter movement. But as I discovered during my time in Turkey, the experiences, histories and peoples of African descent who are a part of the diaspora exist beyond this framework, and I wanted to explore how Blackness intersects in a country that has had an indelible impact on Africa.
Palestine, Africa, and Black America
In a new series entitled “Siyah” (which is translated to “Black” in Turkish), I showcase the work of researchers who divulge into various aspects of the relationship between the African diaspora, the Ottoman Empire and Turkish socio-cultural narratives. While it is not an exhaustive list of all things Black, Ottoman Empire and Turkish, this collection of written insights introduces some common themes and conversations within the discourse from Afro-Turks themselves, along with thought leaders. Some of the topics that are included are the nature of slavery within the Ottoman Turkish context; the Haitian Revolution’s impact on anti-Ottoman movements; the Ottomans’ role in the Scramble for Africa; the cultural and social responses of African-American GIs and Turkish workers in West Germany; the experiences of Blackness through the Afro-Turkish singer known as Esmeray, whose ancestors came from Morocco.
The first takeaway point that I have gathered since starting the series is that the social, political and ethnic realities tied to Blackness are as multifaceted and varied in this region, as they are elsewhere in Europe and the Americas. For older generations of Afro-Turks (whose ancestors were enslaved in the Ottoman Empire via Trans-Saharan routes), their identity is particularly tied to that of Turkish nationalism. Moreover, for them Blackness is defined primarily through skin colour and not through the prism of shared historical experiences with other Black peoples. This may explain why the Turkic peoples in the country and wider Asiatic region sit outside of the Pan-African tradition or Black consciousness movements. However, there is evidence to suggest that younger generations of Afro-Turks are taking a keener interest in what Blackness and their African heritage means for them, reviving African-heritage based customs, such as the annual traditional Calf festival which has been celebrated since the 19th century in and around Izmir, Turkey.
The second takeaway is, as with countries like the United States – which up until the mid to late 20th century had a generic singular narrative of Blackness predicated on the experiences of Africans in America – Turkey’s Black demographic is changing with the influx of Black migrants from the diaspora, particularly in urban centres such as Istanbul. This makes for interesting analyses on the experience of race and identity in a country. Within the broader investigation, an upcoming piece on the acclaimed writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin will allude to this within the context of the fight for Black civil rights, and how this is juxtaposed against the experiences of Black migrants in the era of Black Lives Matter. It will also provide an important overview of Afro-Turks' relation to African identity, cultures, and experiences, as a direct outcome from recent Black migratory patterns.
You can check out “Siyah” on the Afropean.com