This is a complex question with no simple answer. The terms “Caucasian” and “white” have been used and defined in different ways throughout history. Modern genetic studies show that the ancestry of Turkish people reflects the country’s geographic location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, with genetic contributions from European, Caucasian, Middle Eastern and Central Asian populations.
What does “Caucasian” mean?
The term “Caucasian” originated from anthropologists in the 1800s who classified human racial groups based on skull measurements. They deemed the “Caucasian race” to include most Europeans, West Asians and North Africans, based on the belief that these populations originated from the Caucasus region of Europe.
However, modern genetic analysis shows that the peoples indigenous to the Caucasus region have distinct genetic markers from the broader “Caucasian race” suggested in early racial classification systems. In fact, the Caucasian classification encompassed genetically diverse populations spanning from Europe to North Africa to West Asia.
So the original “Caucasian race” classification reflects outdated notions of race from the 19th century and does not correspond to any single ancestral population. The term Caucasian persists today in the U.S. mainly as a synonym for “white” but has little scientific meaning as a hereditary racial category.
Are Turkish people considered white?
Whiteness is also a fluid concept that has changed over time. In the early 20th century, Turkish people were often excluded from the “white” category in the U.S. due to anti-immigrant prejudices.
For instance, court battles in 1909-1910 saw immigrants from the Ottoman Empire (which included Turkey) denied eligibility for naturalized citizenship on the grounds that they were “non-white” under the Naturalization Act of 1790.
However, Turkish immigrants successfully fought to be legally considered white. The influential 1922 court case United States v. Cartozian affirmed people from the Ottoman Empire, including Turkey, as eligible for naturalized citizenship.
Following this decision, Turkish immigrants were able to integrate and intermarry with European immigrant groups. Over time, the Turkish community generally came to be considered part of the white mainstream.
Modern census and survey data from the U.S. and other Western countries classify Turkish respondents as white. But some Turks still report experiencing “off-white” racialization or stereotypes that distance them from whiteness.
So Turkish identity exists in a kind of middle ground where Turkish immigrants and their descendants are largely assimilated as white, but may not be seen as fully or prototypically white by all.
Genetic ancestry of Turkish people
Genetically speaking, Turkish people reflect millennia of migration, conquest and intermixing of different populations across Turkey and surrounding regions. Today’s Turkish gene pool derives largely from ancestors in:
- Anatolia (Asian Turkey) – Indigenous populations like the Hittites, Greek settlers, and Armenian, Kurdish and other groups
- The Balkans – Influxes of European groups like Slavs, Albanians and Roma during the Ottoman Empire
- The Caucasus – Circassian, Georgian and other groups
- The Middle East – Centuries of connections with Arabs, Iranians, and other neighbors
- Central Asia – Turkic groups like the Oghuz Turks who migrated to Anatolia starting around the 11th century
This genetic diversity can be seen in DNA ancestry tests of Turkish people, which show a mixture of European, Middle Eastern, Caucasus and Central Asian ancestry markers. The precise mix varies by region. For example:
- Turks from Istanbul tend to have more Balkan and European heritage.
- Turks from central and eastern Anatolia have more Caucasian, Iranian and Central Asian markers.
- Turks along the Mediterranean coast show stronger Middle East and North African genetic affinities.
Despite this diversity, genome-wide studies consistently show that Turkish people have more genetic overlap with European populations than Middle Easterners or Central Asians.
Genetic overlap of Turkish DNA with other populations:
Population | Degree of genetic similarity to Turks |
---|---|
Greeks | 89% similar |
Italians | 84% similar |
French | 78% similar |
Iranians | 71% similar |
Palestinians | 66% similar |
Northern Han Chinese | 34% similar |
Yoruba people (Nigeria) | 19% similar |
This high genetic affinity with Southern European and Balkan populations reflects centuries of interaction across the Bosporus Strait and eastern Mediterranean. It forms part of the geographic cline, or gradual change, in genetic markers seen as you move from Europe into West Asia.
Based on autosomal DNA alone, Turkish people cannot be easily distinguished genetically from other Caucasian populations around the Mediterranean basin. However, the presence of Central Asian mitochondrial DNA in many Turks shows evidence of ancient East Asian ancestry.
Conclusion
The answer to whether Turkish people are Caucasian depends on how you interpret the term “Caucasian.” Early racial science falsely linked Caucasians to the Caucasus region.
Modern genetic analysis shows Turkish people derive ancestry from European, Caucasian, Middle Eastern and Central Asian sources. They exhibit high genetic overlap with European groups especially from the Balkans and Greece.
Socially and legally, Turkish immigrants and their descendants are categorized as white in countries like the U.S., although their “whiteness” continues to be contested by some.
Overall, Turkish people cannot be neatly classified into U.S.-centric racial categories. Their complex population history reflects millennia of migration and mixture between continents and cultures. Genetically they represent a blend of European and West Asian ancestry, with ties to the Caucasus region among other areas. Though simplistic racial labels fail to capture this nuance, Turks broadly share an ancestral genetic legacy with other Mediterranean peoples.