Racists baffled by fair-skinned Turk

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Burcu Esmersoy is currently co-hosting the TV show 'Survivor.' Hürriyet photo

Users of a racist online forum were trying to figure out how a Turkish person could have blue eyes and blonde hair after seeing a picture of a renowned Turkish TV hostess.

A discussion started on racist forum www.stormfront.org after user "White Brigade" posted a picture of Turkish TV hostess Burcu Esmersoy and asked "Can you believe she is Turkish?" in January 2011.

White Brigade also commented on the picture he posted, saying, "She isn't the only white person I've researched in Turkey, it seems there are quite a bit of 'white Turks' like her ... I thought Turks were originally Mongols, or more darker skin people, what is with there being ethnically white Turks that look exactly like Europeans?"

The question sparked a discussion that lasted for a year, with other users joining in to question Esmersoy's ancestry and the overall quality of the Turkish "race." One user claimed Esmersoy was of Circassian origin, and not a Turk, which according to him explained the fair skin. User "White Gasko," opposed this view, saying Turks "wiped out or rode out the entire population of Anatolia and replaced the indigenous people," thus reaching the conclusion that Esmersoy must be a European living in Turkey. Another responded to this claim by saying Turks, when invading Anatolia, let white women live and collected them as trophies and slaves, therefore there still were white people living in Turkey today.

Most users did not believe a Turk could be blonde and insisted Esmersoy bleached her hair and wore contacts to look "European."

"She most likely isn't pure white. Mixed people can appear white. Doesn't mean they are!" posted user "Blaidd Drwg."

The thread remained open with the latest post added on May 6, 2012.