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Slavery in Turkey is illegal, though like many other countries, it suffers from issues relating to human trafficking. Historically, slavery in Turkey was significant during the Ottoman Empire period. It is estimated there are 1.32 million modern slaves in Turkey today. [1] According to Walk Free, Turkey ranks 5th in the world and first in Europe and Central Asia in number of modern slaves. [2]
Slavery was a significant part of the Ottoman Empire's economy. Slaves were supplied from Europe via the Barbary slave trade, the Crimean slave trade and the Circassian slave trade; and from Africa via the Trans-Saharan slave trade, the Red Sea slave trade and the Indian Ocean slave trade. From 1830 onward, the Ottoman Empire issued a number of reforms gradually restricting slavery and slave trade. Among the reforms representing the process of official abolition of slavery in the Ottoman Empire where the Firman of 1830, the Disestablishment of the Istanbul Slave Market (1847), the Suppression of the slave trade in the Persian Gulf (1847), the Prohbition of the Circassian and Georgian slave trade (1854–1855), the Prohibition of the Black Slave Trade (1857), and the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1880, [3] followed by the Kanunname of 1889 and the excluding of slavery from the Constitution of 1908.
However, these reforms were mainly nominal. They were introduced for diplomatic reasons after pressure from the West, and in practice, both slavery and the slave trade were tolerated by the Ottoman Empire until the end of the Empire in the 20th-century.
Turkey is one of the top destinations for victims of human trafficking, according to a report produced by the UNDOC. [4] In 2023 it is estimated there are 1.32 million modern slaves in Turkey today. [1] Turkey is the leading slave state in Europe and Central Asia. [1] It is thought some of the 3000 Yazidi women and children enslaved by ISIS are held today in Turkey. [1] A Walk Free report indicated that the Turkish government is one of the countries taking the least action against slavery. [1] Turkey ranks 5th in the world in terms of modern slavery according to Bianet. [2]
A 2016 report based on the Global Slavery Index estimated that there may be about "480,000 people in Turkey [who] live like modern slaves". [5]
Many members of the Afro-Turk minority are descendants of the former slaves. [6]
Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor that results in sexual activity, forced marriage and sex trafficking, such as the sexual trafficking of children.
The concept of Circassian beauty is an ethnic stereotype of the Circassian people. A fairly extensive literary history suggests that Circassian women were thought to be unusually beautiful and attractive, spirited, smart, and elegant. Therefore, they were seen as mentally and physically desirable for men, although most Circassians traditionally refused to marry non-Circassians in accordance with Adyghe Xabze. A smaller but similar literary history also exists for Circassian men, who were thought to be especially handsome.
White slavery refers to the enslavement of any of the world's European ethnic groups throughout human history, whether perpetrated by non-Europeans or by other Europeans. Slavery in ancient Rome was frequently dependent on a person's socio-economic status and national affiliation, and thus included European slaves. It was also common for European people to be enslaved and traded in the Muslim world; European women, in particular, were highly sought-after to be concubines in the harems of many Muslim rulers. Examples of such slavery conducted in Islamic empires include the Arab slave trade, the Barbary slave trade, the Ottoman slave trade, and the Black Sea slave trade, among others.
Prostitution in Turkey is legal and regulated. The secularization of Turkish society allowed prostitution to achieve legal status during the early 20th century. Known as "general houses" (genelevler) in the country, these are state run brothels which must receive permits from the government to operate. In turn, the regulatory agencies issue identity cards to sex workers that give them rights to some free medical care and other social services. However, many local governments now have a policy of not issuing new registrations, and in some cities, such as Ankara and Bursa, brothels have been demolished by court order. In 2012, it was estimated there are 100,000 unliscenced prostitutes in Turkey, half of whom are foreign born.
Slavery was a major institution and a significant part of the Ottoman Empire's economy and traditional society.
Prostitution in Syria is illegal, but the law is not strictly enforced. UNAIDS estimate there are 25,000 prostitutes in the country.
Crimean–Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe were the slave raids, for over three centuries, conducted by the military of the Crimean Khanate and the Nogai Horde primarily in lands controlled by Russia and Poland-Lithuania as well as other territories, often under the sponsorship of the Ottoman Empire, which provided slaves for the Crimean slave trade.
The history of slavery in the Muslim world was throughout the history of Islam with slaves serving in various social and economic roles, from powerful emirs to harshly treated manual laborers. Slaves were widely employed in irrigation, mining, and animal husbandry, but most commonly as soldiers, guards, domestic workers, and concubines. The use of slaves for hard physical labor early on in Muslim history led to several destructive slave revolts, the most notable being the Zanj Rebellion of 869–883, and led to the end of the practice. Many rulers also used slaves in the military and administration to such an extent that slaves could seize power, as did the Mamluks.
The Black Sea slave trade trafficked people across the Black Sea from Europe and the Caucasus to slavery in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The Black Sea slave trade was a center of the slave trade between Europe and the rest of the world from antiquity until the 19th century. One of the major and most significant slave trades of the Black Sea region was the trade of the Crimean Khanate, known as the Crimean slave trade.
Cariye was a title and term used for category of enslaved women concubines in the Islamic world of the Middle East. They are particularly known in history from the era of Ottoman Empire, where they existed until the early 20th century, when the Ottoman Imperial Harem was closed.
Avret Pazarları, or female slave bazaar, was a market of female slaves located in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, operating from the mid-15th century to the early 20th century. Many households owned female slaves, employing them as domestic servants. The Ottoman state regulated the slave market and imposed taxes on every slave transaction.
Slavery in Egypt existed up until the early 20th century. It differed from the previous slavery in ancient Egypt, being managed in accordance with Islamic law from the conquest of the Caliphate in the 7th century until the practice stopped in the early 20th-century, having been gradually phased out when the slave trade was banned in the late 19th century. British pressure led to the abolishment of slavery trade successively between 1877 and 1884. Slavery itself was not abolished, but it gradually died out after the abolition of the slave trade, since no new slaves could be legally acquired, and existing slaves where given the right to apply for freedom. Existing slaves were noted as late as the 1930s.
Slavery existed in the territory of the modern state of Iraq until the 1920s.
Slavery existed in the territory of the modern state of Syria until the 1920s.
Slavery in Jordan is illegal, however, like many other countries, it suffers from issues relating to human trafficking. Historically, slavery in the territory later to become the modern state of Jordan, was significant during the Ottoman Empire period.
Slavery existed in the territory of modern Lebanon until the 20th century. It was formally abolished by the French in 1931. Many members of the Afro-Arabian minority are descendants of the former slaves. Slavery of people from Africa and East Asia was succeeded by the modern Kafala system of poor workers from the same region where slaves had previously been imported.
The Firman of 1854, sometimes called the Prohibition of the Circassian and Georgian Slave Trade, refers to the Imperial Firman or Ferman (Decree) issued by Sultan Abdülmecid I in October 1854, prohibiting the slave trade in Circassian and Georgian slaves to the Ottoman Empire. It was specifically directed toward the Circassian slave trade in slave girls from the Caucasus, for sexual slavery as concubines in Ottoman harems. It did not ban slavery as such, only the trade in slaves. The decree was only enforced for four years, and retracted in 1858.
The Firman of 1830 refers to the Imperial Firman or Ferman (Decree) issued by Sultan Mahmud II in 1830. It declared the official liberation of Christian slaves of the Ottoman Empire. In practice it concerned the liberation of the Greek war captives who had been enslaved during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829).
The Suppression of the slave trade in the Persian Gulf, refers to the Imperial Firman or Ferman (Decree) issued by Sultan Abdülmecid I in 1847. It formally prohibited the import of African slaves to Ottoman territory via the Indian Ocean slave trade of the Persian Gulf. The decree did not address the other slave trade routes trafficking slaves to the Empire.
The Disestablishment of the Istanbul Slave Market, refers to the Imperial Firman or Ferman (Decree) issued by Sultan Abdülmecid I in 1847. The edict closed the public slave market in the Ottoman capital of Istanbul. The reform was a cosmetic one and removed the visible slave trade in the capital by removing it from the street to indoors, thereby making it less visible to foreign criticism during the Tanzimat modernization era.
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