Coalfield.com

Coalfield.com: "KINGSPORT, TENN. - A new book by Brent Kennedy and Joseph Scolnick Jr. sheds some light on a neglected area of U.S. history - the migration for centuries of Turkish people to America. The book also explores where the Ottoman Empire and Turkey fit in the history and culture of the Melungeon people and their descendants. The authors and their book, 'From Anatolia to Appalachia: A Turkish-American Dialogue,' were featured during last month's Fifth Union Melungeon Gathering held here. There's evidence of a connection between Melungeons, Turkey and the Ottoman Empire, Scolnick says. 'The Melungeons are apparently mixtures of Caucasian, Native Americans, and Blacks, who as well have genetic links to the entire Mediterranean area, plus, in some instances, Anatolia (the heartland of Turkey), the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Northern India,' Scolnick wrote in the book.

'The Turkish-Melungeon relationship exists and will be of interest to many people, if for no other reason than that it records human interactions across centuries and continents,' Scolnick continued.

Kennedy wrote: 'Whatever the final scholarly verdict may be on the origins of these so-called 'mystery people,' a seemingly irreversible association has developed between the various Turkic populations of the world and the Melungeons of Appalachia. This book is an exploration, as opposed to an explanation, of these developing relationships.'

Scolnick is a political science professor at University of Virginia's College at Wise and a noted foreign policy scholar with a longtime interest in the Mediterranean area."