Nóesis. Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades ISSN: 0188-9834 [email protected] Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez México Moore, Aaron; Mathewson, Kent Latin America’s Los Turcos: Geographic Aspects of Levantine and Maghreb Diasporas Nóesis. Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, vol. 22, núm. 43-2, 2013, pp. 290- 308 Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez, México Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=85960321009 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Latin America’s Los Turcos: Geographic Aspects of Levantine and Maghreb Diasporas Aaron Moore* Kent Mathewson** *Nacionalidad: Estadounidense. Grado: Undergraduate. Especialización: Political Science Mayor. First Year Law Student, University of Texas. Adscripción: Lousiana State University. Correo de contacto: [email protected] **Nacionalidad: Estadounidense. Grado: Doctor. Book Review Editor. Annals of the AAG. Especialización: Geography and Anthropology. Adscripción: Professor at Department of Geography & Anthropology. Louisiana State University. Correo de contacto: [email protected] Fecha de recepción: 23 de agosto de 2012 Fecha de aceptación: 28 de octubre de 2012 Resumen Los turcos en América Latina comprenden un grupo étnico, cultural y re- ligioso diverso de inmigrantes en la región. A pesar del éxito y la visibilidad de este grupo y su número en muchos países de América Latina, la investi- gación sobre estos descendientes de los pueblos del Medio Oriente, ha sido sorprendentemente carente en algunas áreas. Este documento, elabora do a partir de la mayoría de la literatura disponible, examina las similitudes entre ellos, lo cual ayudó a diferenciarlos más de los del Medio Oriente, no solo de las pobla ciones de nativos, sino también de otros inmigrantes a América Latina, pues persiste la incorrecta etiqueta de “turco” para señalar a una su- puesta minoría étnica y como un marcador cultural compartido por varios subgrupos. En este trabajo también se analiza el registro de los turcos en varios países (Argentina, Brasil, Chile y Honduras). El documento pone de relieve aspectos importantes de la experiencia de este grupo, como parte de la diáspora de Oriente Medio en América Latina. Palabras clave: diáspora, inmigración, los turcos, levante, Magreb. Abstract Latin America’s los turcos comprise an ethnically, culturally and religiously diverse group of immigrants to the region. Despite the success and visibility of this group and their numbers in many countries throughout Latin Ameri- ca, research on these Middle Eastern-descended peoples has been surprisin- gly lacking in some areas. This paper, drawn from the much of the available literature, examines similarities-which helped to further differentiate the Middle Easterners not only from the native-born populations but also from other immigrants to Latin America and helped the inaccurate label turco to persist as an ethnic and cultural marker shared by a number of subgroups. This paper also looks at the record of los turcos in several countries (Argen- tina, Brazil, Chile and Honduras). The paper highlights important aspects of this group’s experiences as part of the Middle Eastern diaspora in Latin America. Key Words: diaspora, immigration, los turcos, Levant, Maghreb Introduction “Los turcos” may be Latin America’s least studied ethnic formation, yet they are present in every nation, and with significant concentrations in some regions and cities. While hardly ubiquitous, they are at once familiar figures in the cultural, political, and economic life of Latin America, yet genealogically they represent a phantom category. Des- pite their name, very few are of Turkish decent. The turcos are almost entirely descended from non-Turkish peoples who emigrated from parts of the Ottoman Empire, hence the misnomer “Turk” or “turco.” Despite ethnic and religious differences, they have followed similar trajectories in both coming to the Americas, and in becoming Latin Americans. As a result, this has solidified their image as a single entity in the popular imagination. Yet each ethnic fraction continues to think of itself in different ways, while maintaining an ambivalent identity as “turcos.” In this paper we discuss some of the aspects and contours of the turco diaspora and presence in Latin America. It would seem that it is a wide-open research topic. We have found surprisingly little published scholarly material on some of the groups of turcos and their place in Latin America. Historical Background Latin America’s Los Turcos: Geographic Aspects of Levantine and Maghreb Diasporas Aspects of Levantine and Maghreb Geographic Diasporas Turcos: Los Latin America’s Immigration from the lands of the former Ottoman Empire and the rest of the Middle East to the Americas began in the 19th century. The Sephardic Jews from Morocco- which was the only territory along the southern, eastern, and northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean that had not been at one time under the control of the Ottomans- were among the first to immigrate in the 1850s (Klich and Lesser 1996). By the late 1850s the ravages of the Crimean War set another group in motion. One pioneering group of Palestinians left at this time for Chile (Holston 2005). The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 had major impacts on the Eastern Mediterranean region. Trade via land Nóesis routes declined, bringing economic disruptions to various regions and peoples. In turn, violence against the Christians in Lebanon caused 292 the Turks to relocate these people to the less fertile regions. Maronites and various groups of Orthodox Christians began a mass migration to the New World. Smaller numbers of Muslims and a few Druze also headed to the Americas (Karpat 1985). Some Armenians, especially following the Turkish eradication campaigns, sought refuge in Latin America (Grün 1996). Arabs from the other parts of Southwest Asia and a small number of ethnic Turks also came to Latin America. In total population numbers, Syria and Lebanon provided the most im- Aaron Mathewson Moore/Kent migrants (Karpat 1985). On the whole, “push” factors (war, ethnic-religious strife, eco- nomic conditions) propelled most of the “turco” immigration. Howe- ver, there were some “pull” factors at work as well. In 1877 Dom Pedro II visited the Ottoman Empire and fomented a great deal of inter- est in Brazil and South America among the Lebanese and Syrians. Throughout his reign, Dom Pedro II promoted immigration from abroad. Many turcos-to-be heeded the call. Some were young men dodging the Ottoman military draft, others were simply seeking new opportunities. Steady waves kept coming over until World War I cut off this flow. After the Treaty of Versailles, large numbers began again to leave the Levant for Latin America (Karpat 1985). A third wave of Sephardic Jews left North Africa as the rising wave of Arab nationa- lism became more hostile towards them in the early 1950 (Klich and Lesser 1998). Shared Traits Whether Jewish, Armenian or Arab, one of their common traits was their disinclination for manual agricultural work. Most host country formal immigration programs sought future farmers or farm workers. The Levantine and North African immigrants chose instead to work as peddlers (Karam 2007; Karpat 1985; Klich and Lesser 1998). This brought initial condemnation by both public officials and the press. However, most of the itinerant peddlers soon became fixed merchants and insinuated themselves into the economic, if not always social, II • 2013 Tomo 22 • número 43 • Vol. fabric of their communities and regions. Another common charac- 293 teristic of these groups were closely bound families. In addition, the patterns of settlement all seemed to concentrate in urban areas, on the coast or near rivers, such as Guayaquil, Buenos Aires and São Paulo (Almeida 1996; Almeida 2004; Morrison 2005). While a few immi- grant groups (such as the Arabs in Colombia or Sephardic Jews in Cuba) did not immediately settle in an urban area, they rarely stayed in the countryside past the first generation (Klich and Lesser 1998; Almeida 2004). The host societies struggled to categorize the Jewish, Armenian and Arab groups. What protected them from being labe- led as undesirables was their economic success (Karpat 1985). Finally, while there was definitely acculturation, each group was somewhat of an outsider in society. A noticeable split occurs among the group in terms of their ori- ginal intention to make their home in the New World. Certainly the Armenians did not plan on returning to live in their homeland again. However, the Palestinians in Chile and Honduras, some of the Sephardic Jews from North Africa, the Orthodox Christians from what is today Syria as well and many Maronites intended to go back home. As a result, there was an unusually high rate of return- perhaps as much as a third of the Middle Eastern immigrants returned to the Eastern Mediterranean (Karpat 1985). Among those that remained, something of a hybrid identity was Latin America’s Los Turcos: Geographic Aspects of Levantine and Maghreb Diasporas Aspects of Levantine and Maghreb Geographic Diasporas Turcos: Los Latin America’s forged. Although the label “turco” may not be fully embraced by those that fall under its rubric, it is generally understood by both those of Levantine and North African origins and the rest of Latin Ameri- can society that the “turcos” are distinctive, yet they have succeeded in largely assimilating into the local and national cultures in which they reside. The creation of the label Syro-Lebanese has been one of the most interesting outcomes of this immigration. This is a term that has no root in the Middle East. The Orthodox peoples from what is now Syria and Maronites from Lebanon (the vast majority of the im- migrants from these two countries belonged to these denominations) have always been aware of their differences and certainly were aware Nóesis of the creation of these two nations.