In the Ottoman city of Salonica, a Jewish community known as the Dönme emerged. Although they outwardly converted to Islam, they secretly preserved elements of their Jewish faith. Despite their small numbers and secretive nature, they exerted considerable influence in the late Ottoman Empire. Their active participation in the Young Turk movement, where they not only spread modernist ideas through education and journalism but also engaged in revolutionary politics, positioned them as a pivotal force in shaping the sociopolitical and cultural transformation of the late Ottoman period.
In 1492, Spain’s Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella ended eight centuries of Muslim rule by conquering Granada. With their victory, the Golden Age of Andalusia, where Jews thrived under Muslim protection, came to an end. The new Christian regime issued the Alhambra Decree, forcing Jews to either convert to Christianity or leave Spain within three months. Bayezid II, the Ottoman Sultan, offered refuge to the fleeing Jews, allowing them to settle in cities like Istanbul, Salonica, and Izmir within the Ottoman Empire. Under the Empire’s millet system, which allowed religious minorities to maintain their traditions, these newcomers preserved their cultural heritage while becoming integral to Ottoman society.
The influence of Ottoman Jews extended to the highest echelons of power. Joseph Nasi, a Portuguese-born Jew, became a trusted adviser to Sultan Selim II, shaping Ottoman foreign policy and even influencing the conquest of Cyprus in 1571. Solomon Abanes served as Chief Treasurer under Suleiman the Magnificent, exemplifying the heights Jews could reach in Ottoman society. Beyond politics, Jewish merchants established vast trade networks, introducing innovative financial instruments like letters of credit and bills of exchange. These economic ties bridged East and West, filling the Empire’s coffers and cementing its position as a global power.
In the 17th century, a charismatic rabbi from Izmir, Sabbatai Zevi, declared himself the Messiah, sparking widespread hope among Jews for a return to their ancestral homeland. However, when brought before the Sultan and given a choice between death and conversion to Islam, Sabbatai chose to convert to Islam on September 16th, 1666. He donned the turban, accepted the name Aziz Mehmet Efendi, and entered the Sultan’s service. This conversion left his followers in disarray. While many returned to traditional Judaism, a core group rationalized his conversion as a necessary act of divine mystery. These followers, known as the Dönme, followed their leader into Islam, outwardly presenting themselves as devout Muslims while secretly continuing Sabbatian practices.
In Salonica, the Dönme thrived due to their dual identity, which offered advantages in trade and diplomacy. As Muslims, they navigated Ottoman society with ease, while their secret Jewish connections strengthened ties with networks across Europe. They quickly rose to prominence in commerce and finance, becoming key financiers who provided loans to merchants and even the Ottoman state. The Dönme developed a distinctive intellectual atmosphere in their schools, incorporating Jewish mystical traditions with Islamic teachings and Western philosophical ideas. Concepts such as secularism, individualism, and modernism were core to their educational institutions, which later contributed to the development of the Young Turk ideology.
In the 19th century, the once-mighty Ottoman Empire, often referred to as the “Sick Man of Europe,” struggled to maintain stability amidst economic decline and rising nationalist movements. Sultan Abdulhamid II, recognizing the Empire’s vulnerabilities, sought to address these challenges through centralization and modernization, strengthening the military and infrastructure while using diplomacy to counter European interference. However, this approach led to growing opposition from the Young Turks movement. The Young Turks, comprising Turks, Albanians, Circassians, Armenians, and members of the Dönme community in Salonica, united by a vision of a modern, constitutional, and secular Ottoman state, opposed the Millet system and advocated for citizenship-based Ottoman identity.
Salonica, with its diverse population and strategic location, became a hub of Young Turk activity. Many Dönme families provided financial backing, funding their newspapers, pamphlets, and political campaigns. They also offered their homes and businesses as meeting places for activists and conspirators. In 1908, the Young Turks succeeded in staging a coup against Sultan Abdulhamid II, with the Dönme at the heart of the political whirlwind. Jewish intellectuals like Mehmed Cavid Bey, a Dönme economist who became Finance Minister, and Munis Tekinalp, who advocated for Ottomanism as a new national identity, played key roles in shaping Ottoman diplomatic relations.
World War I served as the final blow to the Ottoman Empire. In 1923, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk led the Turkish national movement, distinct from the Young Turks, and founded the Republic of Turkey. Under Atatürk’s reforms, a new era of secularism emerged, where religion was pushed out of the public sphere. The Millet system was abolished and replaced by Turkish nationalism. The establishment of Israel in 1948 led to a significant wave of Jewish immigration from Turkey. By the mid-20th century, many Dönme families had fully embraced Turkish nationalism and secularism, shedding the last vestiges of their distinct religious practices.