Turks belong to the Europa race, the Europa race is also called the white race, Caucasian race, with white skin, deep eye sockets, tall nose and other characteristics. In terms of appearance, the Turks have the characteristics of these Europa races, and from the genetic point of view, the genes of the Turks are closer to the Greeks of Europe.
According to the genetic testing of the Turks, the genes of the Turks and the genes of the Greeks are very close, and it can be said that the modern Turks are mainly descendants of the Greeks and the indigenous peoples of the Asia Minor Peninsula. However, the Turks do not recognize this, and modern Turks have long called themselves of Turkic descent. In genetic testing, Turks do have Turkic genes, but very few, about 10%, but Turks cling to their own few Turkic genes. So why is that?
First, there is a vendetta against the Greeks. The Turks historically created the Ottoman Empire, which spanned three continents, and ruled over vast areas of West Asia, North Africa, and the Balkan Peninsula in Europe. Greece was also under Turk rule at the time, and later gained independence with the decline of the Ottoman Empire.
After the independence of Greece, many Greek-Turkish wars were launched, Turkey repeatedly lost battles, lost a large area of land, if it were not for Mustafa Kemal's efforts to turn the tide, Istanbul would have become Greek territory. In the end, Mustafa Kemal led the Turks to defeat Greece and establish the territory of modern Turkey, but most of the islands in the Aegean Sea were occupied by Greece, and Turkey only retained islands within three miles of the coastline.
Second, build a sense of pride. During the Ottoman Era, Asia Minor and Greeks continued to merge, forming the later Turks. However, in the eyes of turkey, both the Greeks and the indigenous peoples of Asia Minor were conquered, and the conquerors were Turkic.
In the 12th century, the Turks conquered the peninsula of Asia Minor and established the Seljuk Empire, which spanned Central and Western Asia. After the fall of the Seljuk Empire, the Sultanate of Roma began to rule Asia Minor, and later the Sultanate of Rome was divided, Asia Minor was leaderless, and the Ottoman Turkish tribes among them took the opportunity to rise and gradually unified the peninsula of Asia Minor. The Ottoman Turks did have Turkic genes, but after a long period of fusion, Turkic genes were very few.
After the rise of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, it conquered Constantinople in 1453 and destroyed the Byzantine Empire. Since then, the Greeks have become their defeated generals and have been ruled by the Turks for about four hundred years. During these four hundred years, the ethnic and Greek races from the peninsula of Asia Minor merged again, and the Turkic genes of the Ottoman Turks were further diluted. Therefore, the genes of modern Turks and Greeks are very close, and the genetic proportions of the indigenous peoples of Asia Minor are also very high. However, the Turks believed that the Greeks and the indigenous peoples of Asia Minor were conquered, and the ancient Turks were conquerors, so after the humiliating demise of the Ottoman Empire, in order to establish the pride of the Turks, they re-established the modern view of Turkish history and began to think that modern Turks were descendants of turks.
Third, expand your influence. After the establishment of modern Turkey, it gained many benefits by relying on the control of the Turkish Strait. Through continuous development, Turkey has become a major country in the Eastern Mediterranean region. However, Turkey can only be regarded as a regional country, and if it wants to restore the glory of a historical great power, it must strive to increase its influence. Claiming to be descendants of Turkic people can bring them closer to other Turkic-speaking countries, which is conducive to the improvement of their own influence. Combining these three reasons, the Turks are genetically close to the Greeks, but claim to be of Turkic descent.