Commenting on the rising Islamophobia and Turkophobia in Europe, Bilgin told the AA correspondent that Turkophobia and hate speech against Turks, which have historical roots in Europe, are being tried to be kept alive through cultural means.
Bilgin pointed out that Turkophobia has spread in a planned manner, especially in the countries where Turks live in Europe, and emphasized that attacks against Turks are ignored through liberal discourses.
– “MUSLIMS AND TURKS ARE THE OTHERS IN EUROPE’S SEARCH FOR IDENTITY”
Stating that Europe often presents Muslims and Turks as “others” in its search for identity, Bilgin said:
“That’s why Turkophobia, hatred of Turks, hostility towards Turks can remain alive in the new generations who grow up with this process of constantly building national beliefs and national identity. Governments change in Greece, but opposition to Turkey never changes. Their hatred is so great that not even a single Turkish work has been destroyed.” “You cannot see the mosque in Greece.”
“The West’s perception of the other since the Crusades has always been about the Turks. Because they have always seen the East and the Islamic civilization through the Turks.” Bilgin said that there is an identity construction in Europe through anti-Turkish sentiment.
Giving an example from Greece, Bilgin pointed out that the reference to the murderer of 30 thousand Turks in the Greek National Anthem is the “incarnation” of Turkophobia.
Bilgin stated that one of the biggest proofs that Turkophobia in Greece continues is the Western Thrace problem, and that Greece deepens the problem by not even calling the people living in Western Thrace Turks.
– “HOLLYWOOD IS USED LIKE A WEAPON”
Stating that this “hostility” shown to the Turks in Western Thrace at the social and state level is one of the most vivid examples of Turkophobia, Bilgin said: “Depriving them of the rights recognized even in Lausanne, such as electing their own mufti, is a typical understanding of Turkophobia. Just like the understanding that cannot tolerate a single mosque in Athens.” “This is also a connection of this, because hostility towards Turks and hostility towards Islam are always equivalent.” he said.
Noting that attacks such as the Solingen massacre in Germany or the döner kebab murders were tried to be covered up, Bilgin said, “Anti-Muslim and Turkish hostility in Europe is being tried to be covered up with discourses such as democracy and human rights. Turks’ houses were burned with people inside them, and then it was understood that this was actually “The arson incidents were actually a part of organizations made with many deep relationships.” he said.
Bilgin said, “There is a cultural, academic, intellectual and political hegemony that systematically increases hostility towards Islam in the world.” He stated that the crimes committed in India, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Palestine and the rising far right in Europe legitimized themselves through this discourse.
Stating that Hollywood is used like a weapon, Bilgin said that there are also portraits and stories that have bad connotations of Muslims and Turks.
– “TURKOPHOBIA IS INCREASING IN TURKEY”
Reminding that Turkophobia is common in Turkey and that this discrimination is marketed on social media and culturally, Bilgin said, “The bad characters in recent TV series and movies are of Turkish origin, while the good characters are of foreign origin. The scriptwriters, directors, producers and actors of these films are Turks. In other words, the writers, directors, producers and actors of these films are of Turkish origin.” “It is a process in which Turkophobia is produced by the Turks themselves. This actually reminds me a little of Nietzsche’s concept of slave morality.” made his assessment.
Stating that Turkishness is spread through phenomena as a reason for humiliation on social media, Bilgin said, “It is not random that in daily life, especially on social media, people constantly try to establish the psychology of not being able to live in Turkey, and negative things about Turkey are exaggerated or even made up. We are faced with a systematic cultural war here.” shared his opinion.
Noting that Turkophobia in Turkey needs to be brought to the agenda, studied, exposed and caricatured, Bilgin concluded his words as follows:
“With a complex mentality that sees it as superior to look like a Westerner, to be like a Westerner, to live, act, feel, and have fun like a Westerner, and to be like a Turk or a Muslim as inferior, such a person who hates himself, what Westerners call self-hatred, actually hates what he sees in the mirror, that is, his own person.” We are faced with sick psychologies that hate us. Those who say we should not say Turkish literature do not speak out when we say French literature, German literature or English literature. The issue is neither ethnicity nor race. We are talking about the word Turkish. “This understanding, which is even disturbing, is itself a racist understanding. Some of the owners of this understanding do this to look cute to that dominant cultural hegemony.”
