Turkey and racism
Slavery White/Black on "Esir" or "Yesir" ‘’Eunuchs were in demand, and the most popular seem to have been blacks from Africa. They played an important role in the Ottoman palace since they were able to be the interface between the women of the harem and the outside world.’’ ‘’Circassians, Syrians and Nubians were the three primary races of females who were sold as sex slaves in the Ottoman Empire. Circassian girls were light skinned ------They were the most expensive, reaching up to 500 pounds sterling and the most popular with the Turks.’’ ‘’The trade continued up until World War I. Henry Morgenthau, Sr., who served as the U.S. Ambassador in Constantinople from 1913 until 1916, alleges in his Ambassador Morgenthau's Story that there were gangs trading white slaves during his term in Constantinople’.’’ Slavery Boys/Females on "Esir" or "Yesir" ‘’In the 19th century, meyhanes (taverns) opened in many places throughout Istanbul-------Usually the servants in these places were beautiful young boys, although the entertainment might be provided by women dancing and singing. By this time trafficking in women from the Balkans was well established in Istanbul, with gangs recruiting and circulating women through a number of destinations such as Izmir and Trieste. ---------Muslim women were technically forbidden from engaging in prostitution. However, the latter were known to be operating in houses in Muslim districts -------- While westerners tend to think of prostitutes as female, Ottoman culture was such that a great deal of emphasis was placed on the beauty of young boys. Walter G. Andrews and Mehmet Kalpaklı reflect on this situation in their book, “The Age of Beloveds” ‘’The survey 2011-2013 asked individuals what types of people they would refuse to live next to, and counted how many chose the option 'people of a different race' as a percentage for each country. With 20 - 39.9% Turkey is one of the least racially tolerant countries. In the same categorie is France, Bulgaria, Algeria, Morocco, Mali, Zambia, Thailand, Malaysia,The Philippines, Bangladesh & Hong Kong. Other countries are Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Korea, India, Jordan "We love to cry 'Islamophobia' when we talk about the way Muslim minorities are treated in the West and yet we never stop to consider how we treat minorities and the most vulnerable among us." While noting that racist incidents are condemned in the United States, she said that in Egypt, as well as in the Arab world, there is a culture of silence toward racist incidents which reflects negatively on Arab society’’ According to Mona Eltahawy is a columnist for Egypt's Al Masry Al Youm and Qatar's Al Arab. She is based in New York
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