Why so many Turks/Kurds

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Judith Box on March 27, 2015 at 11:33

Actually Ian I disagree.  The words we choose are powerful, as your rephrasing of the original post shows.

Yes - let's have a discussion about the history of Turkish settlement in Harringay - that is a very interesting and valid area of interest to anyone living here.  The semiotics of the original post is what people are reacting to:-

look at the phrasing:

First the title:  You choose your title to be attention grabbing - you know that this is what is going to attract people to open your post. So why not title it 'History of Turkish/Kurdish people in Harringay?'  Why so many.... is pretty inflammatory - especially considering he states in his opening line this is part of an ongoing question he is seeking answers to -thereby showing he is actually more than aware of the cultural sensitivity around the issue.

'I have no problem with' feels in this usage to be synonymous with 'I'm not racist but' - the effect of this is enhanced by collating it with the turkish eateries.  Try ' I have no problem with the Pakistani people, they bring great curry my area' - really?  Are we really still collocating multiple generation immigration just with their food?  

And the closing remark - 'Surely they can't all be refuges' - given the tone of everything preceding this one can only assume this is some veiled reference to other forms of immigration.

So yes - I think the original poster is trying to be inflammatory.

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Permalink Reply by Sharon on March 27, 2015 at 12:12

I agree. I must say, I had an eyebrow raised when I read Philip's post. A quick trawl on the internet would've answered his own question. From reading Philips previous posts and interesting contributions I think it's obvious that he isn't racist. It's glaringly obvious that this particular post is provocative.

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Permalink Reply by JJ B on March 28, 2015 at 1:32

Nonsense...he asked a simple question and it turned into a stupide debate before a few people gave some answers later on in the thread.

Too much tip toeing around the issues just allows UKIP to fester!

Very interesting to learn how a bus route can influence where newbies settle.

And I am a brown skinned economic immigrant!

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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on March 27, 2015 at 13:07

Philip.. Turkish and Greek Cypriots (as opposed to Greek & Turkish nationals) settled in Harringay decades before the 70s.. Which may seem a long time ago to you, but wasn't the beginning of a Cypriot community in North London.

I can recall Cypriot kids, both Turkish and Greek joining our classes during 1959/60 and had many Cypriot school friends during the sixties. Mostly living in the Gardens and on the Ladder. Even back then, there were Cypriots shops on Green Lanes.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus_dispute#EOKA_campaign_and_creat...

I read somewhere that there was a Cypriot community in Camden Town much earlier on than that. Apparently, living on bus route 29 had something to do with their spread northwards to Harringay and on beyond to the promised lands of Palmers Green, Southgate, Winchmore Hill and Enfield.

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on March 27, 2015 at 14:25

I think once you're an immigrant yourself and see how difficult it is to be allowed to stay here, you do wonder. But the problem is that the immigration rules to the UK try to be discriminatory and end up looking, from some angles, a little racist.

I came to this country 19 years ago with my next door neighbour from New Zealand. I had an Ancestry Visa because I had an English grandfather. She had a two year working holiday visa. After her two years was up, she had to return to New Zealand. My daughter was born in London but after taking her home as a baby to see family there was a conundrum at the airport coming back as neither her mother nor I had British passports. She was eventually given a stamp in her passport amounting to the visa that I now exist on "Indefinite leave to remain".

As for the person who called the local immigrants economic migrants... they can't be. My next door neighbour was an economic migrant, we both were! I came here primarily for work. She had to go home.

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