Turks

A random post that some may find interesting, others may dislike (just bear with me).

I am neither a Turk, nor someone of any nationality traditionally with any affinity towards the Turks, as if that matters.

Growing up in Europe in the 90s, not much of a reason to think much about it, another minority with a Middle-Eastern religion. Turkish and Arabic, probably the same thing (still, I pray thee, bear with me).

Then maybe some people get an education, learn about the many cultures of the world, learn about Europe, learn about the Middle East, learn about Asia... how our continents developed. Where one and others come from? What our history is?

Turkish despite being the official language of the Turkish Republic bordering on Europe, is not an Indo-European language.... ok. But it's next to Greece...

Balkan maybe? No, that's mostly Indo-European.

Fine, like the Arabs, probably some Middle-Eastern tongue. No. it's not a Semitic language. Apart from loanwords and maybe words with religious connotations, it isn't Arabic, isn't related to it, nor from that region.

So what the hell is it? How are the Turks even here next to Europe, or, part of certain minorities, in Europe?

Migration via a horde, or many thereof, of peoples from afar. Migrating peoples, tribes from the plains of Asia over hundreds, over a thousand years. Turkish is an Asian language. An Asian language like Chinese, Korean or Mongolian... it has cognates with the Mongolian language. The Turkish tribes adopted Islam long after they spoke their own tongue. Turkish, or Standardised Turkish, is part of a family that dots the landscape through Eastern Europe, Middle Asia all the way to the West of China. A nation whose ancestors the Chinese put into history and crowned into eternity with 厥 (part of 突厥) after the Sky Turks or "Göktürks" who they knew of.