Union of European Turkish Democrats- 10.03.

2010

The second visit during our trip, our meeting with the Union of European

Turkish Democrats, and NPO, was a little more laid back than the first. We met with

Mehmet Alparslan Sagygun, the secretary general of UETD.

UETD is an independent civilian organization, accredited to the European

Parliament, which focuses on the “optimization of the statuette of European Turks,

at both the political and socio-economic level.” It was during the meeting with UETD

that I first heard the term Euro-Turks, essentially, European citizens of Turkish origin

who wish to retain the rights of a European citizen without forsaking their Turkish

culture.

Mr. Sagyun expressed one of the goals of his mission statement as the

promotion of the socio-identity of the previously mentioned Euro-Turks, which

brought, for me, light to two new situations: the issue of the discrimination against

Europeans of Turkish descent and the backlash received by those promoting the

Euro-Turk identity from others of Turkish origin who do not identify themselves as

Europeans.

I was unable to make a fair assessment of the level of discrimination and

backlash the Euro-Turk identity suffers during my short stay in Brussels. However,

because I tend to draw personal comparisons in order to better understand the

emotions involved in a situation, the question of -Turk identity seemed particularly

similar to the question of identity posed to people of mixed-races. As one from a

slew of varying ethnicities, I often find that people apply stereotypes to me when

assessing my nationality. It is not enough to say that I am American. To many of

my white friends, I am white, plus some. To the majority of my black friends, the

“one-drop” rule applies. Since I choose not to identify myself as one or the other
(because I should not be forced to choose between two parts of myself), I am

American for all intensive purposes.

As I understand it, the Euro-Turks face the same questions, with a slight twist.

“Where are you from?” is the pervading question, and the answer “Belgium” is

deemed the politically-correct term, unacceptable to those who apply stereotypes

to identify others. Again, the idea of being forced to choose between two equal

parts that compose a man’s identity is absurd.

To combat these questions of identity, Mr. Sagyun listed the commencement

of an inter-cultural dialogue as a way to inform others and offer them an otherwise

unheard perspective as an objective. Within this objective, UETD hopes to create an

intelligent voice to speak on behalf of the Euro-Turk community.

Among the other objectives of the UETD was the goal to improve EU-Turkish

relations, with the ultimate goal being accession. One of the interesting points we

discussed dealt with defining Europe geographically (Cyprus, a country south of

Turkey and thus geographically less “European” has been granted accession.)

The burdens this NPO has chosen to bear became increasingly more evident

to me during our visit. Not only do members of the UETD seek acceptance as

Europeans from their neighbors within Europe, they must also justify their identity

choice to those of Turkish origin, as well as promote the idea of the Euro-Turk to the

European Parliament in order to create a voice for themselves in Brussels and to

maintain that voice in their government. They also strive to prove their point that

the Ottoman Empire had friendly relations with current members of the EU (as a

way to eschew claims that the Ottoman Empire was strictly tyrannical) through

correspondences recorded in Ottoman history. It almost seems too overwhelming.

 But the optimistic spirit of Mr. Sagyun ensures some success, even if minimal

in the grand scheme of the organization’s goals. His tactic is simple: to continue to

express his views, over and over again.