Ethnicity Identity

Yesterday, as I was walking down Istikal (the main street in Taksim), I spotted a clamorous Uyghur protest. Uyghurs is a muslim group that make up 1 of China's 56 ethnic minority groups. Their ancestry can be traced back to Turkey, but they do not speak Turkish. Marking the Xinjiang Incidence in the summer of 2009, the Uyghur protest once again brought ethnic issues into the forefront of my thoughts.

My awareness of ethnic conflicts has really sharpened since high school. Amber, one of my best friends in high school, was the daughter of the Santa Barbara Free Tibet organizer. Of course, we did not see eye to eye on the issue of Tibet's future. Her being the president of JSA and me being the president of Asian Culture Club, Tibet was a frequent topic of heated debate between us.

The summers of 2008 and 2009 were marked by Tibetan and Xinjiang ethnic minority problems in China, and this summer in Istanbul has made me even more sensitive to ethnic issues. My first day on the job was marked by the Gaza Flotilla Incidence, which resulted in the death of 9 Turkish people at the hands of Israeli soldiers. The Turkish government demanded that Israel issue a formal apology, compensate the families for their lost loved ones, and lift the embargo that deprives the Palestinian people of proper medicine, food, and electricity in the Gaza Strip. In recent years, Turkey has been Israel's strongest Muslim ally, but over the course of the past year, their relationship has become heavily strained. Just today, the Turkish government issued an ultimatum--unless Israel accepts its conditions, they will sever friendly relations with Israel.

While the Turkish government condemns China for the 2009 Uyghur incident, Turkey too has its own ethnic problems. In many ways, I think Turkey's dilemma is similar to China's. Like the Tibetans and the Uyghurs of China, the Kurdish people, a large minority concentrated in a remote part of Turkey, accuses the government of maltreatment and wants independence. Interestingly, whereas in Tibet, people are upset because the central government is bringing development, in Turkey, Kurds are upset because they want the government to provide more development. Of course, there are other issues as to why people are upset, but sometimes it seems that people will be upset no matter what.

There is so much on this topic that I have wanted to say and have never expressed. Sometimes I’m not certain what my beliefs are, sometimes I don’t want to upset my family and friends, and sometimes I don’t want to think about it because it gives me a head ache. Now that my family and closest friends are reading this blog, I want to finally take the time to formalize my inner reflections on ethnic identity into words.