Afro-Turks join global outcry over George Floyd killing
The little-known community that largely traces its roots to the Ottoman slave trade is speaking out about police brutality in America, saying their own example of coexistence is an example for the West.
ISTANBUL — Turkey’s Black minority has joined the global protest against the killing of African-American George Floyd, part of the community’s greater expression of its identity in a country that is often loath to embrace its diversity.
Turks of African descent gathered in the western port city of Izmir earlier this month to condemn US police brutality as protests spread from Minneapolis, where Floyd’s May 25 killing was caught on video, across the United States to Europe and the Middle East, transforming the Black Lives Matter movement into a global cry for social justice.
Often called Afro-Turks, Turkey's tens of thousands of Black citizens live mainly in Izmir and towns near the Aegean coast, many of them descendants of slaves brought to the Ottoman Empire. In recent years, they have established associations, organized cultural events, run for political office and are working with researchers to record their underdocumented history.
An annual highlight is the Calf Festival, once celebrated by slaves and revived in 2007. Each spring hundreds of residents, both Black and white, don African-style masks and dress to dance in a parade through Izmir’s city center. This year, the coronavirus outbreak forced organizers to cancel.
