Beating the Turkish hollow in the struggle for existence: Darwin, social Darwinism and the Turks

- Turkish creationists assert that Darwin promoted racism and anti-Turkish feelings.
- Darwin's views on Turks are exploited to defame Darwinism in Turkey.
- Darwin's opinions on races were more complicated than it has been assumed.
- Darwin's ideas on Turks were shaped by Victorian images of the Orient.
- The socio-political context of the 1990s made Darwin-hated-Turks argument attractive for conservative Turks.

Despite the vast literature on Darwinism and race, the way in which Darwin's opinions on race were received and used by non-Western circles has been little studied. In the case of the Turks, Darwin's comments have been related to British-Ottoman relations, and Darwin was blamed for stoking anti-Turkish sentiment within Europe. This allegedly resulted in the British occupation of Egypt in the 19th century, the demise of the Ottoman Empire, as well as contemporary Neo-Nazi arson attacks in Germany which targeted Turkish migrants. Consequently, Turkish anti-Darwinists perceive Darwinism to be not merely a false scientific theory, but also a political-ideological instrument of Western hegemony wielded against Turkey and the Islamic World. Turkish Darwinists who responded to those claims, on the other hand, presented Darwin as an egalitarian who could overcome the prejudices of his social class. Further scrutiny, however, proves both accounts to be over-simplistic. This paper aims to throw some light on the context within which Darwin expressed his opinions on Turks and thus contribute to the broader discussion of the relationship between Darwinism and race. More importantly, it aims to familiarise Western readers with one of the cultures of creationism which is very little known, despite its great impact on Muslim masses.