At the beginning of the ceremony, a minute’s silence was observed to pay respect to the memory of all the martyrs of the Great War of Liberation and to express sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the tragic terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow on March 22.

Twenty-six freedom fighters from different districts of Bangladesh were felicitated with commemorative gifts and certificates in the programme.

The freedom fighters expressed gratitude and thanks to the organizers for this honor.

In his welcome speech, the director of Russian House in Dhaka Pavel Dvoychenkov highlighted the historically friendly role of Russia in the great liberation war of Bangladesh and the overall development of post-war Bangladesh.

Land Minister Narayan Chandra Chand and the Director General of the Bangladesh National Museum Md. Kamruzzaman gratefully recalled the humanitarian and economic assistance in the reconstruction of war-torn Bangladesh, including the struggle for independence of Bangladesh.

They also said that the independence of Bangladesh would never have been possible without the cooperation of Russia.

Source: UNB

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Spying on the Grand Vizier

Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki (a.k.a. Georg Franz Kolschitzky) – a Polish nobleman, born in the town of Sambor in today’s Ukraine – led a rather eventful life as a soldier and spy. In an article, Jerzy S. Kulczycki, a Polish historian and also a relative of Jerzy Franciszek, writes:

He graduated from the Sambor parish school but doesn’t figure among those inheriting family estates, as he became a military man. It’s quite possible that he served under Jan Sobieski, the prospective king […]. He participated in Polish military interventions in Bukovina and Moldavia […]. At the time J. F. Kulczycki was already learning how to speak Vlach (Romanian), Turkish and also Hungarian.

Little is known for certain about the early stages of his life. Some claim that he was taken captive as a Polish soldier by Ottoman troops and was a prisoner of war for two years – which would explain how he came to know Turkish so well. Others object, arguing that Kulczycki was, in fact, a Serb, only posing as a Pole. This seems a rather far-fetched notion, given that Kulczycki’s Polish lineage has been personally traced back by his own historian relative.

There is no question, however, that in 1660, Kulczycki found himself in Vienna, where he arrived via Serbia. His command of Turkish and Hungarian secured him a job with the Oriental Company, an Austrian trade organisation doing business with the East, for which he worked as a translator in Belgrade. Three years later, he was already acting as an Austrian diplomatic courier and translator in Istanbul, where he also appeared in the same capacity in 1679. In the Ottoman Empire, Kulczycki was asked to spy on the Turkish military – he is even said to have had an audience with the Grand Vizier.

In 1680, Kulczycki returned to Vienna, where he presented the state authorities with a written report in which he informed them that Turkey was preparing for a war against Austria. Despite attempts being made by the Austrians to maintain peace, war broke out.

An endless sea of Turkish tents

On 13th August 1683, during the fifth week of the siege of Vienna by the great Turkish army, Kulczycki, along with his servant Jan Michałowicz, sneaked out of the city at night. They weren’t fleeing – on the contrary, Kulczycki was carrying out a secret mission for the commander of the city’s defence, Count Stahremberg, who wanted him to send out a plea for help. Dressed up as Turkish soldiers and using Kulczycki’s expert knowledge of the Turkish language and culture, the two managed to pass through the invaders’ camp unnoticed.

Here’s how the noted German writer Eberhard Happel described the passage in his 1688 book Thesaurus Exoticorum (Encyclopedia of Exotics):

When it began to dusk a little, an endless sea of Turkish tents unfolded before his eyes. The sight made him wonder which route to choose to pass through the camp. Nevertheless, he kept moving on together with his companion […] and to divert any suspicion from the minds of the Turks that were riding past them, every now and then he sang merry songs in their language.

The Poles eventually reached the chief commander of the Austrian forces, Duke of Lorraine Charles V, whom they presented with letters from Viennese officials and informed about the city’s desperate situation: the lack of ammunition and diseases spreading among the townsfolk. They also shared the intelligence about the Ottoman camp they had acquired during their journey. The two Polish messengers then returned to the besieged city, using the same ploy as before, to bring back word from the duke that rescue was on the way.

The good news boosted the morale of the fighters just enough for them to hold out until the famous Battle of Vienna on 12th September 1683, when a coalition of international forces led by Polish king Jan III Sobieski won a stunning victory against the Turks, saving the city. Kulczycki’s intel about the Turks’ positions most probably played an important part in that triumph.

Rewarded with food for camels

The Austrians rewarded Kulczycki for his courage. He received a house in Leopoldstadt and a nice sum of money. But what he wanted most, was something else entirely – after some effort on his part, he was allowed to run a coffee house. At the time, Kulczycki’s idea to open a café must’ve seemed rather odd as there were only a handful of such establishments scattered around of Europe – coffee wasn’t the popular drink it is today.

It was often even disliked for its popularity among ‘the infidels’, as shown by the following words written around 1670 by the Polish poet Jan Andrzej Morsztyn:

In Malta, I remember, we tried coffee
A drink […] for Turks, but so very nasty
A beverage like vile poison and toxins
That doesn’t let saliva pass through one’s teeth
A Christian mouth let it never sully

Since Kulczycki had been to Istanbul before the war, he must’ve discovered the local coffee culture, which was much older and far more developed than that of other European countries. The Pole had seen the potential of the steaming black beverage. There was also another key factor at play: he was in the possession of a huge amount of fresh coffee beans. The winners of the battle had seized, along with other loot from the enemy camp, numerous sacks of coffee beans the Turks had brought with them to keep themselves alert during battle. But the victors failed to recognise the beans for what they were, presuming they might be some kind of food for camels. Kulczycki, who was well aware of their worth, managed to take plenty of them for himself.

Apparently, after the victory, King Jan III Sobieski summoned him to reward him for his efforts, allowing him to take anything he pleased from the loot they had recovered. Much to the astonishment of those present, Kulczycki chose what appeared to be the near-worthless camel feed.

Opening the Blue Bottle

Equipped with the beans and the knowledge of what to do with them, Kulczycki opened the first café in Vienna. Or did he? In some sources, you’ll find that the first Viennese café was actually opened by an Armenian by the name Johannes Diodato, two years after the battle. This version of events was suggested by the Austrian historian Karl Teply at the turn of the 1980s.

Then again, the Austrian Piarist priest Gottfried Uhlich, in his 1783 book Geschichte der Zweyten Türkischen Belagerung Wiens (The History of The Second Turkish Siege of Vienna), claims that it was indeed the Pole who was first. Although this account was accused of being false by Karl Teply in 1980, it was later backed up by the findings of Jerzy S. Kulczycki, who used his family archive to research the topic and published a detailed article on it in 2007, entitled Prawdziwa Legenda Wiedeńskiej Wiktorii (The True Legend of the Viennese Victory).

What we can say for sure is that Kulczycki opened one of the very first cafés in Vienna. The fact that he opened a popular coffee house in the city is beyond any doubt. For a long time one of the houses on Singerstrasse Street was even embellished with a plaque saying ‘Here in 1683, Kulczycki opened the first coffee house in Vienna’.

His new coffee business changed addresses and it was only after some time had passed that it re-opened at 624 Schlossergasse Street under the famous name The Blue Bottle. The name was a tip of the hat to his second wife, Leopoldina Meyer. Supposedly before the two were married, she had nursed Kulczycki back to health after he had been wounded defending the city, using a medication stored in a blue bottle.

The place quickly became popular and was frequented by Viennese aristocrats such as Count Stahremberg himself. To amuse his guests, Kulczycki would greet them wearing a Turkish outfit. And to make the taste of the coffee to their liking, he would add milk and sugar – the unaltered flavour was a bit too tart for the Austrian palate. Kulczycki is considered to be the first to mix the black and white beverages and is apparently the one who invented the classic Viennese drink Wiener Melange, a coffee drink similar to the cappuccino. Some even claim that he convinced a local pastry chef to make The Blue Bottle guests special crescent-shaped rolls commemorating the victory over the Ottomans – which later evolved into the French croissant!

Despite the controversies regarding whose café was actually the first one to be established in Vienna, even the official website of the City of Vienna acknowledges Kulczycki’s contribution to the development of the city’s rich coffeehouse culture:

The history of Viennese coffee house culture is closely linked to the end of the Siege of Vienna in 1683. Legend has it that the Viennese citizen Georg Franz Kolschitzky (1640 – 1694) was the first to obtain a licence to serve coffee in the city following his heroic actions during the Siege of Vienna. The coffee beans left behind by the Turks were the basis of his success. A street in Vienna’s 4th district was named after him and a statue was put up at the corner of Favoritenstraße and Kolschitzkygasse.

Patron saint

Thanks to his wartime deeds, Kulczycki became quite famous. Understandably, this drew attention to his café, but Kulczycki was more than just a celebrity owner. He wanted his establishment to be a meeting place, rather than merely a place of consumption – a place with a pleasant atmosphere, where one could come to relax and talk, exchange thoughts and ideas.

This approach of his was why he is still considered a ‘patron saint’ of Viennese café culture. The Viennese Coffee-Makers Guild even used to have a painting showing Kulczycki receiving the privilege of running a coffee house from Emperor Leopold I as its emblem. In the Old Polish Encyclopaedia written in the years 1900-03, the renowned Polish ethnographer Zygmunt Gloger wrote about yet another form of commemorating Kulczycki’s legacy in Vienna:

Up to this day in all the coffee houses in Vienna, every October, a portrait of Kulczycki wearing a Turkish outfit is put on display, to remember him.

Over the years the format of the Viennese coffee house evolved and eventually, it became an establishment, where not only the black beverage but also warm meals were served and the patrons were provided with newspapers. Also, it became a place of intellectual and cultural discussion, where the likes of the artist Gustav Klimt or father of psychiatry Sigmund Freud would bump into each other and have a chat or listen to a concert given by a renowned classical musician. The Viennese-style café eventually became popular in the vast territories of the Austrian Empire and became a benchmark for the continental coffee house.

Today the Viennese coffee house culture figures on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage and it’s hard to find a ranking of the world’s top coffee cities which wouldn’t include the Austrian capital. And Kulczycki is an important part of this heritage. In September 2017, The Guardian published an article about an American coffee chain named after the Pole’s café in which Kulczycki is described as a ‘Viennese folk hero’. If Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki were still around, maybe he’d comment on it with a merry Turkish song…

Source: Culture

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Thanksgiving, a celebration intended to express gratitude or give thanks for the bounty at the end of the harvest season. It was thus codified, by President George Washington, who declared it a national holiday in the newly-minted United States of America in 1789. Canada followed suit, Canadians being notorious followers. Washington decreed this celebration would fall on the fourth Thursday in November, not being able to look into the future and see that that is the day after the greatest tragedy to befall the nation in modern times: President John F. Kennedy’s fateful November 22 trip to Dallas, where he would get his brains blown out by parties still unidentified, conveniently followed by the rise of the modern surveillance state.

Thanksgiving 2023 occurs on Thursday, November 23. The day after Thanksgiving Day is known as “Black Friday”, and unofficially marks the start of the Christmas holiday season, and the rampage of shopping. You can get killed in the stampede, if you do not avoid the eager masses swamping the Dollar Stores. Many believe these are the End Times, and are wearing out their credit cards.

Thanksgiving Day is a holiday when family members, many of whom deeply dislike one another, force themselves to gather, pretend geniality, and eat a mammoth meal. Stomach medicine sales surge the day after. Thanksgiving Day is indeed a busy time on American streets, similar to Eid in Indonesia or Imlek or Chinese New Year in the Middle Kingdom, when citizens pause for a moment in their delirious hunt for money to go through the motions.

The Thanksgiving Day legend dates the celebration from the time enterprising Europeans invaded the American continent, a gun in one hand and the Bible in the other, having been severely persecuted in the old country on account of their peculiar religious convictions. The somewhat apocryphal story is that the radical Christian Europeans who were known as the “Pilgrims” invited members of local Native American Indian tribes to join them for a dinner party, in 1621.

These recent uninvited migrants from Europe had encountered difficulties in cultivating crops in the strange soils of the New World. Thus the native Americans, taking pity on the innocents (many of whom had starved to death, in early colonies) patiently taught them how to farm. The Pilgrims grudgingly invited these Native Americans, whom they considered pagan savages, to a dinner party, as a way of thanking  them for their help. Next, the newcomers, breeding like rabbits, stole all the Indian land and went to war against any aborigines who did not submit to the rule of the Republic. Thus began the American custom of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Foods customarily served by overworked housewives (many also working the fields, caring for children and fighting predators) are heavy: turkey, breads, potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie. Thus the country has turned into fatty-land, with 20% of the American population dangerously obese and suffering from all that good eating.

Thanksgiving celebrations have lost much of their original religious significance, in many American households; folks just want to dig in and shovel down the eats. Turkey, a Thanksgiving staple so ubiquitous it has become all but synonymous with the holiday, may or may not have been on offer when the Pilgrims hosted the inaugural feast in 1621. The President of the United States of America customarily “pardons” one turkey every Thanksgiving, so the bird is saved from the slaughter.

Nearly 90 percent of Americans will be eating the hapless turkey—roasted, baked or deep-fried—on Thanksgiving, according to the National Turkey Federation (strangely enough, none of its members are turkeys). Foreigners visiting during the celebration are astonished at the volume of stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie the locals stuff into their bellies. Each plate would feed a family of five in Cambodia.

Volunteering is a common Thanksgiving Day activity, and communities often hold food drives and host free dinners for the homeless millions, representing the increasingly expanding dark face of post-modern capitalism.

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Hamas is sheltered in a sea of civilians. Ostensibly a Palestinian political and military organization established in 1987, Hamas “governs” on the basis of having won a majority in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections – defeating Fatah, another Islamist terror combine – before forming a government in the Gaza Strip, described as “…the world’s largest open-air prison” for its Palestinian inhabitants.

So why don’t the Palestinians, having been robbed of their ancient lands, simply up and move somewhere else? It is telling that none of the Islamic nations surrounding Israel care to admit any more Palestinian settlers. Neither Egypt, Jordan or Syria will take them. Why is that? Because those nations are not fools: they understand that the bellicose, fractious Palestinians will bring them trouble, permanently.

A government is presumably supposed to “govern”. That presumably does not include torturing, maiming and killing those who voted for you. Acknowledged internationally as a terrorist organization, Hamas, cynically calling itself a “freedom fighter group” treats the average inhabitants of the west bank, Gaza and Lebanon as human meat shields.

It hides weapons among schoolchildren, deploys weapons from crowded areas, fires upon Israelis from trees and then melts back into crowds of noncombatants. Try and escape the war zone? Anyone now trying to flee the area is in danger of being murdered by Hamas and Hezbollah. Their “asymmetrical warfare” is not just wreaked on Israelis – they will torture and kill anyone not supporting their cause.

What cause is that? The Palestinians’ overt declaration, contained in the Hamas charter, is that Israel has no right to exist and must be destroyed. Its plainly-stated intention is to “wipe Israel off the map.” That is hardly a viable pre-condition for a serious negotiation to settle this ancient quarrel.

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” How do you negotiate with such fanatics? Well, by now it becomes clear that you do not. The reality is they don’t care about average people, Muslim, Jew or Christian. They are hell-bent on the elimination of Israel at all costs, regardless of what happens to everyone else living there, including fellow Arabs and Muslims.

The provocation of 7 October, killing 1400 in attendance at a “Peace Festival” (the irony thickens) and kidnapping several hundred more, should have opened the eyes of the world to the fact that there is a larger, well-organized pogrom funded and carried out by Jew-hating fanatics who could care less about the plight of Palestinians and don’t want any compromise when it comes to eliminating every last Jew and Christian from the Middle East.

Once Israel goes, you can bet the Christian minority in Middle Eastern countries will be next.

Proof?

Just ask the millions of Christians who were “ethnically cleansed” from lands that they inhabited for centuries. It happened after World War Two, when Arab nations expelled their Christian and Jewish minorities in retaliation for the establishment of Israel.

In fact, this is a war is between Western Enlightenment, represented by Israel, and 14th Century theocratic despotism, represented by the Islamic nations surrounding it.

And the west is being held hostage: just as Europe is being deindustrialized, companies going bankrupt, since the Americans blew up the Russian gas pipeline, the “good life in suburbia” of America, Canada and Australia is not viable without affordable oil. Arab oil.

Israel, meanwhile, has already installed over 600,000 settlers in the West Bank, in violation of international agreements. How about the Palestinians who are being chased into the desert by Israeli ( = American) firepower? The US and Israel will find 3rd countries to take them. The US will pay a couple of billion in “aid” to bribe them. Just like the US bribed Egypt to make peace with Israel.

And Hamas? A legally-recognized government?

It is said that people truly get the government they deserve. God, let’s hope that’s not so in this case.

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The whole country would have wanted to bear his name but he would never have accepted, a retired hotelier said, referring to the modest nature of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Kemaliye, formerly Eğin, is a town in the eastern Anatolian region of Erzincan, the only Turkish city named after the founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the father of the nation, which holds special significance on the 100th anniversary of the country.

Standing at the foot of the cliff overlooking Kemaliye, the golden statue of Atatürk evokes the glorious past of this small town.

Nestled between the mountains and the sources of the Euphrates, Atatürk rewarded the loyalty of the town by giving it his name ahead of creating the Republic of Türkiye out of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire 100 years ago.

“The whole country would have wanted to bear his name, but he would never have accepted!” said retired hotelier Hacı Ömer Yalçınkayalar, referring to the modest nature of Atatürk, who will be celebrated on the nation’s anniversary on Oct. 29.

Gen. Mustafa Kemal, the hero of the Gallipoli (Gelibolu) campaign against the Allies, in 1919 began the War of Independence confronting the invading Westerners who occupied the dismembered empire to find the independent nation he longed for.

His forces found themselves nearing disaster at the gates of Ankara in 1921 when he received a telegram from Eğin, a trading town at the crossroads of Anatolia and the Caucasus.

The telegram read: “Dear Pasha, we have 500 horsemen ready to leave at your command,” recounted Yalçınkayalar. Situated on the caravan routes heading toward Baghdad, Iran and Georgia, the town was prosperous. This is evidenced by the persisting stone and wooden houses that were built along the steep slopes of the mountainside, which town authorities requested to be classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The entire district had around 20,000 inhabitants, including some 6,000 in Kemaliye itself, in Atatürk’s time, compared with 1,500 residents today. “In the end, they didn’t have to do it,” Yalçınkayalar said of the offer to send horsemen.

But Atatürk did not forget the gesture and, a year later, he wrote to the Eğin municipal council to offer his name.

“It was given to us as a gift,” said the 73-year-old who has devoted his retirement to his town’s history. “It honors us: with the republic, we joined the civilized world.”

At the foot of the statue, a sign reads: “To thank the district for the support it gave for national independence, its name is changed from Eğin to Kemaliye.”

Kemaliye has been home to many celebrations including concerts, football tournaments and banquets every Oct. 29 since the birth of the republic in 1923.

In Güzide Tüfekçi’s family, the story is passed down with enthusiasm: The 60-year-old former literature professor recalled what Turkish women owe to Atatürk and the republic. “He opened the way for enlightened Turkish women, intellectuals, to have access to education, to have a profession. We’re proud of him,” she said.

Facing a small train station that has served Kemaliye since 1938, a modest cafe is decorated like a museum. Erdal Ertürk, 59, has hung portraits of Atatürk on all the walls – in black and white color, in a soldier’s uniform, in a tuxedo or wearing his Karakul (Astrakhan) hat and hung a huge red flag bearing his image above the entrance.

After vigorously cleaning the dust off one of the frames, which he kissed before hanging, Ertürk spoke of “the very special love of the town for Atatürk.”

“He is our protector. He founded our country, our republic. All these portraits that you see here, are just talking about them, it moves me,” he said.

Yet, the town itself refrains from displaying its history as its streets are barely decorated and only a few windows reveal the portrait of the celebrated man.

Şevket Gültekin, 62, a taxi driver and singer, holds the key to a small museum that is the most decorated.

Tourists who visit the region mainly come to admire the “Dark Canyon,” one of the five deepest in the world, according to UNESCO. It is often only upon arriving in Kemaliye that they discover its past.

“When our guide taught us, it made us happy,” said Haluk Mutluay, 58, from the coastal city of Mersin, in southern Türkiye.

“Atatürk means a lot to us, he’s our father.”

Source: Daily Sabah

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Jews escaping Spain due to the Expulsion had few doors open to them. Although legends discuss Jews escaping to the Americas, the fact is that the vast majority chose to go to a country that opened its doors and whose government mandate was to receive the Jews cordially. There, the Spanish Jews joined the other communities and built arguably the most prosperous Jewish community of the 16th and 17th centuries.

In the beautiful synagogue of Ahrida, one of the oldest in Istanbul, the bima is shaped like a galleon, a Spanish ship, reminiscent of Noah’s Ark

Ancient Anatolia

Turkey is one of the world’s earliest continuously settled regions and was originally known as Anatolia or Asia Minor. The capital of Turkey was known by different names at different points in history: Byzantium, Constantinople, and then Istanbul. The capital was a thriving port city due to its prime geographic location between Europe and Asia and its natural harbor on the shores of the Black Sea in the North and the Aegean Sea to the West, and the Mediterranean Sea in the South.

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Early Jewish settlements are mentioned by the renowned historian Josephus Flavius (37-100) when he relates that Aristotle“met Jewish people with whom he had an exchange of views during his trip across Asia Minor.”

Ancient synagogue ruins have been found in Sardis, near Izmir, dating from 220 B.C.E., and traces of other Jewish settlements have been discovered in other areas of Turkey.

Ancient synagogue of Sardis

A bronze column found in Ankara has a fascinating inscription that confirms the rights Emperor Augustus (63 BCE-14 CE) accorded the Jews of Asia Minor, including the right to send donations to Jerusalem and not be called to the palace on the Sabbath.

Byzantine Empire

Ironically, one of the earliest pieces of information we know about the Jewish community in Turkey is regarding expulsion. In the year 422, the Jews were expelled from Byzantium by Theodosius II. It was not until nearly 400 years later that they were permitted to return. These newly settled Byzantine Greek-speaking Jewish communities, called Romaniotes, chose to reside in the large coastal cities of the Aegean Sea.

Despite numerous persecutions, the Jewish communities continued to reside in Turkey during the Byzantine period. Byzantine emperors wielded both political and religious power, and thus the discrimination against the Jews was particularly severe under their rule. Jews were restricted to specific economic activities, confined to specially designated neighborhoods, and persecuted because of their religion. Under Justinian rule, persecution against Judaism was unbearable, to the extent that it was forbidden to recite the Shema since the phrase “our G-d is the only G-d” was considered an insult to the Christian concept of the Trinity.

It is, therefore, not surprising that when the Muslims began to conquer Turkey, they were welcomed by the Jewish community.

The Turks and the Muslim Conquest

The Islamic presence in Turkey began in the 8th century when Turkish tribes fought alongside Arab Muslims against Chinese forces at the Battle of Talas. By 751, Arab Muslims controlled the Anatolian Peninsula and Central Asia. Influenced by their beliefs, many people converted to Islam over the next few centuries.

The Battle of Talas

The Turkish people became servants to the Muslim rulers, then they were their soldiers, and eventually, they rose to be the Caliph’s favored troops. By the end of the ninth century, the Muslim Turkish leaders gained significant military and political power and started forming their own empires. The Seljuk Turks were the most powerful and established an empire by 1037. They captured Bagdhad in 1055 and in 1071 gained control of the Anatolian Peninsula.

When the Seljuk Turks increased, they brought the Islamic religion and Persian culture to what had previously been a Christian Byzantine Empire. Thus began the bumpy transition of Turkey from European to Persian in terms of culture, religion, politics, and identity.

The Seljuk Empire covered over a million square miles across parts of the Middle East and Central Asia, although it did not rule in the southern part of Turkey, which remained Byzantine. The Seljuk Empire lasted until 1194.

Ottoman Turks

The 14th century saw the emergence of a new power in the Middle East. The Ottoman Turks under Sultan Osman (1288-1326) advanced across Anatolia and became the new rulers of the Romaniote Jewish communities still under the oppressive Byzantine rule. Just as their brethren had done to the Seljuk’s, they welcomed the Ottomans as their liberators and even helped the Ottomans capture the city. Their hopes for positive change were realized, and Sultan Osman’s son Sultan Ohran (1323-62), permitted them to build theEtz ha-Hachayim(Tree of Life) synagogue, which operated for over 600 years.

From the beginning, however, the tolerance of the Ottomans toward the Jews was dictated by reasons of a vested interest. The Ottomans were primarily a society of warriors and peasants, whereas the Jews were involved in commerce, and their efforts created a robust economy.

As in other Islamic lands, the Ottomans followed the rule of dhimmi regarding their Jewish citizens. This meant that the Jews were guaranteed security but were required to pay additional taxes and were treated as second-class citizens. In general, the Ottoman sultans were pragmatic regarding the Jews and enabled them to live peacefully.

Sultan Mehmed II became Mehmed the Conqueror after taking the 1,000-year-old fortress capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, in May 1453.

Sultan Mehmet II, also known as “the Conqueror,” expanded the Ottoman Turkish Empire and shocked the world when he conquered the proud capital of Byzantium, Constantinople, in 1453. There he encountered an oppressed Romaniote Jewish community, which enthusiastically welcomed him. Sultan Mehmet II proclaimed to all Jews“… to ascend the site of the Imperial Throne, to dwell in the best of the land, each beneath his Dine and his fig tree, with silver and with gold, with wealth and with cattle…” The Sultan renamed Constantinople Istanbul, which it is called to our very day.

A Haven for Sephardic Jews

Rabbi Yitzchok Zarfati wrote a famous letter to his fellow Jews, saying, “I assure you, Turkey is a country of abundance where, if you wish, you will find rest.”

Thus, from the 14th century onward, many European Jews that were expelled from their homelands migrated to Turkey. Expelled Jews from Hungary came in 1360 and from France in 1394, as well as Jews from Sicily and Salonika. In 1470, Jews expelled from Bavaria by Ludwig X found refuge in the Ottoman Empire. Tens of thousands of Sephardim would soon follow them after they were expelled from Spain.

In 1492, Sultan Bayezid II ordered the governors of the provinces of the Ottoman Empire “not to refuse the Jews entry or cause them difficulties, but to receive them cordially. Roughly 100,000 Jews fled Spain under the Alhambra Decree, and most chose to go to the Ottoman Empire, with 60,000 Jews arriving in 1492 alone. The Sultan said that “the Catholic monarch Ferdinand was wrongly considered wise since he impoverished Spain by expelling the Jews and enriched Turkey.”

Between the late 15th and 16th centuries, additional Jews arrived in Turkey from Italy and Portugal and established or joined thriving communities, especially in Istanbul and Salonika.

The steady stream of Jews arriving from Spain lasted for several decades. Some came directly, while others only after long journeys, notably by way of Italy. Due to the large influx, the original group of Greek-speaking Romaniote Jews was eventually absorbed by the Sefardic community.

The increase in Jewish population was apparent in the censuses taken at that time. In 1477, Jewish households in Istanbul numbered 1,647, or 11% of the total. Half a century later, that number had quadrupled. In another telling census, taken in 1520-1530, there were 2645 Jewish households in Thessaloniki, more than half of the city’s population. This is incredible because 30 years earlier, there were no Jews in this large Balkan port city. From the 16th century onward, Thessaloniki became the capital of the Judeo-Spanish world and remained so until the end of the Ottoman Empire.

For 200 years following the expulsion from Spain, the prosperity and creativity of the Ottoman Jews rivaled that of the Golden Age of Spain.

For 200 years following the expulsion from Spain, the prosperity and creativity of the Ottoman Jews rivaled that of the Golden Age of Spain. Jews played vital roles in medicine, innovation, government, and finance.

Most of the Sultan’s court physicians were Jews, including Hakim Yakoub, Joseph and Moshe Hamon, Daniel Fonseca, and Gabriel Buenauentura.

Immigrating Jews brought with them new techniques of navigation and weapons production. The printing press was one of the most significant innovations Jews brought to the Ottoman Empire. In 1493, only one year after their expulsion from Spain, David, and Samuel ibn Nahmias established the first Hebrew printing press in Istanbul. However, Turkish authorities forbade them to use the Arabic alphabet so that Turkish scribes and calligraphers would not be deprived of work.

In the economic sphere, Jewish contributions were most significant. Jews also had vital roles in tax administration, the Empire’s finances, the textile industries, and banking.

Torah Scholarship

In Torah scholarship, Turkey had scholars of note, some of whom arrived there due to the expulsions.

The famous Rabbi Yosef Caro (1488-1575), considered the most significant Sefardic halachic authority in the past 600 years, fled Spain during the expulsion and moved to Constantinople. He compiled most of his monumental Beis Yosef in Adrianople, before moving to Safed.

Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz (1500-1576) lived in Turkey and later moved to the Safed and composed the L’chah Dodi, the song sung by Jewish communities worldwide when Shabbat begins.

Rabbi Eliyahu Mizrachi (1450-1525) served as Chief Rabbi of Turkey for 30 years and is famous for his work, the Ra’am, which elucidates Rashi’s explanations on the Torah.

Rabbi Yehudah Rosnes (1657-1727) was the Chief Rabbi of Istanbul and the author of a commentary on the Rambam known as the Mishnah L’Melach. His student was Rabbi Yaakov Culi, who began to write the widely studied Ladino commentary Me’Am Loez on the Torah. (He died two years after initiating the work and it was finished by others).

Turkey captures the Holy Land

In 1516-7, Selim I conquered Syria and Israel. With that began a special relationship between the Turkish communities and the communities of Israel. Turkish Jews often emigrated to Israel, and rabbis from Israel relocated and served as rabbis for the communities of Turkey.

With the conquering of Israel, Turkish interest in Israel increased. Suleiman the Magnificent, one of the greatest sultans, made a lasting mark in history when he rebuilt the walls around the Old City of Jerusalem that stand to our very day.

In 1558, Sultan Suleiman granted a Jewish woman, Dona Gracia Mendes Nasi, a long-term lease on the Tiberias region in Israel. This area was largely desolate, and Dona Gracia committed to giving a large amount of yearly tax revenues from this area to the Sultan.

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/ancient-citadel-inside-old-city-at-night-jerusalem-royalty-free-image/643978056?phrase=Jerusalem david citadel&adppopup=true

Walls of Jerusalem’s Old City built by Suleiman the Magnificent

Dona Gracia Mendes Nasi was one of the wealthiest and most influential Jewish women of Renaissance Europe. She married into the eminent international banking family known as the House of Mendes. She was the aunt, mother-in-law, and business partner of Don Yosef Nasi, who became a prominent figure in the Ottoman Empire as the Duke of Naxos. Don Yosef was responsible for much of the delicate maneuvering of Turkey’s declaration of war against Venice in 1571 and the resultant conquest of Cyprus (which still plays a role in current-day international politics). Dona Gracia was renowned for her concern for Jews worldwide and for her wisdom and courage in helping them. She even developed an escape network that saved hundreds of Conversos – forcibly converted Jews – from the terrors of the Inquisition.

Dona Gracia intended to make Tiberias a major new center of Jewish settlement, trade, and learning. She also aided Jews in settling nearby Safed, and in less than 100 years, the population of Safed grew from 300 families to 10,000 people, making it the most Jewishly populated city in Israel at that time.

After the passing of Dona Gracia and Don Yosef Nasi, other Jewish leaders were influential in the Turkish court. A Portuguese Marrano, Aluaro Mandes, was named Duke of Mytilene in return for his diplomatic services to the Sultan. Salomon ben Nathan Ashkenazi arranged the first diplomatic ties with the British Empire.

Turkish Jews of the 16^th and 17^th centuries were the most prosperous Jewish group in the world, and the Jewish community thrived in this tranquil and relatively free atmosphere.

Shabtai Zvi (1626-78) decimates Turkish Jewry

In the 17th century, a person rose to influence who would forever change the Jewish communities of Turkey and the world in a most damaging way. Shabtai Tzvi was born in 1626 in Smyrna, Turkey, on the Ninth of Av, a day on which, according to Jewish lore, the Messiah was to be born. Tzvi’s family wereRomaniotes.

Brilliant and charismatic, Shabtai was already given the title of chacham, “wise man,” by the age of twenty. Nevertheless, more pronounced than his scholarship were his strange behavior and extreme emotions between deep depression and overflowing ecstasies.

Some Smyrna Jews were strongly drawn to him and inspired by his religious utterances. However, his repeated claims to be the Messiah, and his utterances of the ineffable name of God, led the rabbis of Smyrna to expel him from Smyrna in the early 1650s.

He eventually traveled to the Holy Land, where he consulted with Nathan Benjamin Levi, known from that time as Nathan of Gaza. Nathan claimed to be a soul healer, and in a fateful meeting, Shabtai Tzvi met with him to “find a tikkun (rectification) and peace for his soul,” as one report put it. Nathan was convinced that Shabtai Tzvi was the Messiah, and at Nathan’s urging, Shabtai revealed himself as such. Nathan professed to be Elijah the Prophet and became a leading figure in this Messianic movement. Although the rabbis of Jerusalem denounced him and declared both to be frauds, the movement continued to gain momentum.

Shabtai Tzvi returned to Smyrna in 1665 with a large entourage, and great homage was paid to him there. Along with Nathan of Gaza, he made announcements declaring himself the Messiah and making wild predictions and claims as to the imminent miracles and redemption that were to take place. Despite his detractors, he became the leader of the community in Smyrna. He removed the former rabbi, Rabbi Aaron Lapapa, from his position and appointed Rabbi Chaim Benveniste as rabbi instead. His popularity grew, and he used his power to crush the opposition.

His fame spread as people of all faiths repeated stories about various miracles and sightings. It was said: “in the north of Scotland, a ship had appeared with silken sails and ropes, manned by sailors who spoke Hebrew. The flag bore the inscription ‘The Twelve Tribes of Israel.’” Letters regarding Shabtai Tzvi reached Europe and North Africa with embellished reports about the movement, and enthusiasm throughout the Jewish world grew.

Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Hamburg, and Amsterdam all heard about the events in Smyrna. The Jewish community of Avignon, France, even prepared to emigrate to the new kingdom in the spring of 1666.

Even though Shabtai Tzvi had a considerable following in the Jewish world (much more than Jesus ever had), most of the European rabbis who saw how Shabtai Tzvi and his followers violated Jewish law were not fooled and warned against him. Foremost among his opponents was Rabbi Yaakov Sasportas of Amsterdam.

Eventually, Shabtai Tzvi was arrested by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and imprisoned in Gallipoli. Even this did not deter his followers, and many of them flocked to visit him in prison,

The debacle came to its devastating end on September 15, 1666. Shabtai Zvi was brought before the Sultan and given the choice of death or conversion to Islam, and he chose to convert. Shaken to the core at his decision, the vast majority of the Jewish world realized he was an imposter.

Yet, believers in his Messianic claims tragically remained. Approximately 300 families converted to Islam along with him and became known as Dönmeh (converts). Nathan of Gaza continued to support Shabtai Tzvi, explaining that his conversion was a deep mystery and part of a Kabbalistic process toward the final redemption. He and other followers of Shabtai Tzvi continued to adhere to a paradoxical theology that combined aspects of Judaism with a continued belief in Shabtai Tzvi.

In the aftermath of the Shabtai Tzvi saga, the Ottoman authorities began to regard the Jewish minority, which until then had attracted no particular concern, with growing suspicion. Western travelers who passed through the Jewish areas of Istanbul described a new reality in sharp contrast to what was described two centuries before. These Turkish Jews kept to themselves in their communities, mostly earning their living as shop owners, artisans, or low-level employees.

The Dönmeh followers of Shabtai Tzvi

The Dönmeh continued to exist as a minority, set apart from the Jewish community by their conversion to Islam and belief in Shabtai Tzvi. By the 1680s, much of the Dönmeh resided in Salonika and continued to practice certain Jewish rituals.

The exact amount of the Dönmeh is unclear. According to Danish traveler Karsten Niebuhr, around 600 Dönmeh families lived in Salonika in 1774 and married only among themselves. Before World War I, their population was estimated to be between 10,000 and 15,000.

In an unexpected turn of events, the Dönmeh played a crucial role in the Young Turk movement, the group of modernist revolutionaries who brought down the Ottoman Empire. After the founding of the Turkish Republic, the dönmeh strongly supported the Republican, pro-Western reforms of Atatürk, which wanted to restrict the religious establishment’s power and modernize Turkey.

Etz ha-Hayim Synagogue before it burnt in 1941. Visit of late Chief Rabbi Haim Bedjerano.

The first administration that came to power after the Young Turk revolution in 1909 included several ministers of Dönmeh origin, including the minister of finance, Javid Bey. One assertion that many Jews made (although this was denied by the Turkish government) was that Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938), the founder of the Modern Turkish State, was of Dönmeh origin. This view was eagerly embraced by many of Atatürk’s religious opponents in Anatolia as a means of discrediting him.

However, as a society, the Dönmeh could only retain their integrity and institutional framework when they were concentrated in Salonika. When they were compelled to leave Salonika in 1924 due to the Greco-Turkish War, many settled in Istanbul or in Turkish cities such as Izmir and Ankara. Within a short time, assimilation became widespread. By the end of the 20th century, the Dönmeh were fully assimilated into Muslim Turkish society.

More Equality & A New Republic

The status of Jews in Turkey began to improve under the Tanzimat reforms in the late 18th century. These reforms were part of a process to transform the Empire based on European models and were intended to signify that the Ottoman Empire belonged among the European nations. As part of the reforms, there was now official recognition of Jews as separate communities and a state-appointed chief rabbi.

The proclamation of the Hatti Humayun in 1856 made all Ottoman citizens, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, equal under the law and granted that all subjects be allowed to worship their religion freely. Each religion was also assigned its own government-appointed leader. Although Greek and Armenian were amenable to this, the diverse Jewish population resented this state intrusion into their internal communal affairs. With the reorganization of the state came new professional opportunities, and Jews flourished in banking, trade, and manufacturing and began to enter government service.

As part of the impact of reforms throughout Turkey, the leadership shifted from religious leaders to secular ones, which also affected the Jewish community.

Secular Turkey

World War I ended the glory of the Ottoman Empire, and in its place rose the Young Turkish Republic. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was elected president, the Caliphate was abolished, and a secular constitution was adopted. However, in reality, Islam remained inextricably intertwined with Turkish culture.

According to a census taken in 1927, 81,872 Jews lived within the boundaries of the Turkish Republic under Mustapha Kemal, and most were concentrated in the cities of Istanbul and Izmir.

Devastated by the crumbling of the Empire, the Turkish Republic attempted to forge a new national identity that regarded minorities with suspicion. This significantly affected the Jewish community’s living conditions as the government insisted that all republic residents identify as Turkish. The widespread Universal Israelite Alliance schools that served the Jewish community were forced to break their ties with their French sponsors, and Turkish was made the language of instruction in all schools. Although the demands were made of the Jews to integrate, they were simultaneously identified as foreigners, and a double standard was applied to their community.

This was most apparent with the “exceptional tax” instituted in 1942. On average, this tax demanded 5% from Muslims and 150-200% from Greeks, Armenians, and Jews. Most had no way to pay such exorbitant taxes and were forced to sell their belongings or be sent to work camps. Although the tax was abolished in March 1944, its effect on Turkish Jews was traumatic and began to pave the way for the massive emigration of Turkish Jews to Israel that would begin in 1948.

Istanbul Ashkenazi Synagogue

Yet, during World War II, Turkey was a safe passage for many Jews fleeing the Nazis. Seizing an opportunity in 1933, Ataturk invited prominent German Jewish professors to flee Nazi Germany and settle in Turkey. Before and during the war, these academics contributed a great deal to the development of the Turkish university system.

During the Holocaust, the Turkish Jews remained secure, although Greece’s nearby Jewish communities were almost wiped out. Several Turkish diplomats persevered in their efforts to save the Turkish Jews from the Holocaust and succeeded. Mr. Salahattin Ulkumen, Consul General at Rhodes from 1943-1944, was recognized by the Yad Vashem as a Righteous Gentile in June 1990.

The Vanishing Turkish Jew

The present size of the Jewish community is estimated at 14,500 out of the total population of 85 million. Most Jews live in Istanbul, and Sephardim account for 96% of the population.

Turkish Jews are led by and legally represented by the Chacham Bashi, the Chief Rabbi. There remains a small group of one hundred Karaites who are not part of the normative Jewish community and do not accept the authority of the Chief Rabbi.

Jews in Turkey have been the victims of violent antisemitism on multiple occasions. On September 6, 1986, a member of the Palestinian terror group Abu Nidal opened fire on the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul, killing 22 Jewish individuals. Neve Shalom synagogue was also the target of a terror attack in November 2003 when multiple truck bombs went off all around Istanbul. One exploded in front of Neve Shalom, and another exploded in front of the Bet Israel congregation, killing and injuring many people.

Turkey has experienced underlying antisemitism for much of its history, but the antisemitism has been especially apparent since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rose to power. Turkey under Erdogan is frightening for Turkish Jews. The Turkish leader and his top aides make anti-Semitic remarks and under his rule, antisemitism is on the rise. For example, in 2014, in response to Operation Protective Edge, over 30,000 Turkish-language tweets were published, including comments that stated positive things about Hitler and the Holocaust. Among other discomfiting signs of antisemitism, Hitler’s Mein Kampf and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion were best-sellers in Turkey in recent years. According to the ADL’s surveys, 69% of Turks hold some anti-Semitic beliefs. This figure is higher than other European countries and slightly lower than the Middle East average.

Against this backdrop, Turkey’s centuries-old Jewish community small community has had a considerable jump in emigration, especially to Israel. Turkey, a country that once welcomed Jews worldwide, is losing its Jews to emigration and assimilation. In an ironic twist, there are even Turkish Jews that emigrate to the relative safety of Spain and Portugal, reversing the historical path taken centuries earlier.

Source : Aish

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David McCallum – the British actor who played as Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard, a pathologist on hit CBS TV program NCIS, has died aged 90 on Monday (25/09/2023). McCallum died on Monday of natural causes, surrounded by his family, at New York Presbyterian Hospital, CBS said in a statement.

NCIS executive producers Steven D. Binder and David North shared their memories of working with McCallum. “For over twenty years, David McCallum endeared himself to audiences around the world playing the wise, quirky, and sometimes enigmatic, Dr. Donald ‘Ducky’ Mallard,” they shared in a statement. “But as much as his fans may have loved him, those who worked side by side with David loved him that much more. He was a scholar and a gentleman, always gracious, a consummate professional, and never one to pass up a joke.” 

McCallum has been active in the world of acting since the 50s. The Scottish-born actor was a gifted actor and author and beloved around the world. “He led an incredible life, and his legacy will forever live on through his family and the countless hours on film and television that will never go away.”

His role in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. – in which he played a Russian agent – won him many fans, particularly young women charmed by his good looks. The series ended in 1968, but not before he received several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for playing the role of Illya Kuryakin on the show.

McCallum found roles in films including The Great Escape, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and A Night to Remember. He also guest starred on TV series Perry Mason and The Outer Limits.

His role on NCIS came after he appeared for a role in the show JAG, which led to the NCIS spinoff. NCIS itself later went on to generate other NCIS shows, including NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans.

McCallum also found work as a voice actor for children’s cartoons and video games. A statement issued by his family called him a “true renaissance man”. “He was the kindest, coolest, most patient and loving father. He always put family before self,” son Peter McCallum said.

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Three people have died and up to 12 others are missing after a dinghy carrying migrants overturned near the Greek resort island of Mykonos, officials said.

The incident in the Aegean Sea occurred early Friday. The search involving two rescue helicopter along with coast guard and private vessels was launched after two men, a Palestinian and a Syrian, swam to rocks near the shore and were spotted by authorities.

The bodies of two adult women and an adult man were recovered at sea several hours later.

Coast Guard spokesman Nikos Kokkalas said moderate winds were prevailing in the search area, adding that the incident occurred at around 6 a.m. off the northeast shore of Mykonos.

The island is more than 150 kilometers from the closest point on the Turkish coast.

Smugglers based in Turkiye have frequently chosen open sea routes in recent years to try to avoid the heavily patrolled waters of the eastern Aegean where several large Greek islands lie close to the Turkish coast.

Source: Arab News

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Sonoma Community Center is inviting community members to dance through legends of Greek mythology.

The center’s resident dance artist, Jessica Fudim, will hold a movement workshop, “Written By Our Bones,” on Thursday, Feb. 16. Movement invention is at the heart of this two-hour workshop, but no choreographic experience is required.

One of the most widely known versions of the Medusa myth was written by Ovid more than 2,000 years ago. Through this workshop, Fudim asks, “What will happen if we tear up his pages, then turn those fragments into our own dance?”

Even though this process is about abstracting movement, it is also inherently personal. Fudim is curious about what Ovid, and other storytellers, are saying about themselves and their culture when they talk about Medusa.

Participants will consider these and similar questions: How does Ovid’s male perspective inform Medusa’s story? What does it say about the author that she never gets to speak for herself? Storytellers have usually seen her as a monster, but do we have to?

Fudim sees dance as a deep mode of communication. She says that this dance-making process, regardless of the thematic content, can free our creativity and connect us with each other.

“This nonjudgmental, inclusive artistic process can unlock your creativity, whether you identify as an artist or not” Fudim said in a news release for the class. “It is a forum for intimacy — intimacy with our creative thinking and intimacy with the other people in the room.”

Participants of all abilities, ages 16 and up, are welcome. Enrollment costs $20 to $60 on a sliding scale, based on what they can afford. The workshop will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Studio 213 on the second floor of Sonoma Community Center, 276 E. Napa St. in Sonoma. Visit sonomacommunitycenter.org to register for the class and for further information.

Source: Sonoma News

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At least 18,991 people have lost their lives, while several buildings, including significant historical sites like bazaars, a 14th-century mosque and an old Latin church, were partially or fully demolished when the ”disaster of the century” hit Türkiye’s southeastern region.

Amid the desolation and misery, hope continues to prevail after the rescue teams were able to save the victims days after the catastrophe. National and international rescue teams race against time to save as many people as possible. However, the colossal disasters damaged the cultural heritage as well. Heritage assets in the region, famous for their archaeological treasures, museums and mosaics mostly located in Hatay and Antakya, endured severe damage when the powerful earthquakes rocked the province on Monday.

Habib-i Neccar Mosque

It is believed that the earthquake completely demolished the outer structure of Habib-i Neccar Mosque in Antakya, one of Anatolia’s oldest mosques, along with the Diyarbakır Ulu Mosque dating to the seventh century.

A picture of the wreckage of the historic mosque believed to have been built in the A.D. seventh century shows that only a pile of rubble remains from the building.

The mosque was renovated during the Ottoman period when the madrassa (Islamic religious school) was added to its enclosure in the center of Hatay and used to serve as one of the most visited tourist spots in the city according to the Hatay Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism.

Latin Catholic Church

Most of the 152-year-old Latin Catholic Church in the Iskenderun district of Hatay, hit by the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquake, was destroyed.

The Italian-Latin Catholic Church, which took 13 years to build and was the center of the Anatolian Catholic Church, was also knocked down in Monday’s earthquakes. The area where the ritual and funeral ceremonies of the Latin church were held was completely destroyed.

No one was killed or injured in the church, where the Virgin Mary Statue stands, Demirören News Agency (DHA) reported.

St. Pierre Church, one of the first churches to spread Christianity located in Antakya, on the other hand, was not affected by the earthquakes. As a precaution, the doors of the cave church have been locked by the officials but no damage to the stairs or the ground toward the church was reported.

Historical Antep houses

The historical Antep houses, which represent a valuable touristic asset and stand as landmarks unique for their structures isolated from the outdoors, were hit hard and mostly destroyed by the tremors.

The houses garner attention specifically for staying cool in the summer and warm in the winter. They are built with several types of natural stones such as basalt (black stone), red marble and some other natural stone types.

New Mosque

The historical Yeni Camii (New Mosque), located in the city center of Türkiye’s southeastern Malatya, was also torn apart on Monday after previously being damaged during the earthquakes that rocked the same region in far 1894 and March 1964.

Source : Daily Sabah

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