Atatürk’s Jewish Family Background
_________________________________
Subject: This is from a Jewish publication exploring the truth about Mustafa Kemal and the current (Kemalist) regime in Turkey. The secret Jews, called Doenmeh, took over the power after the fall of Ottoman rule and they exerted control over the people of Turkey from that time on. The below article clarifies many things.
Source: Kulanu quarterly newsletter, Summer 1999, Volume 6 Number 2
(Kulanu is an organization which reflects the community of interests of individuals of varied backgrounds and religious practices dedicated to finding and assisting lost and dispersed remnants of the Jewish people)
The Turkish – Israeli Connection and Its Jewish History.
By Joseph Hantman
“One of the most significant developments in recent Middle East affairs is the close relationship which now exists between Turkey and Israel in military, political, economic and intelligence matters. This change in the power structure is usually attributable to the old Arab maxim “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Since both Turkey and Israel count Syria and Iraq as their strongest threats, the close ties between Turkey and Israel are quite logical.
However, there is good evidence of a less widely known but absolutely fascinating story behind this relationship. Turkey, which has a population almost exclusively Muslim, has a government which by law is committed to being totally secular. This goes back to modern Turkey’s founding father, Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk), 1881-1938, leader of the Young Turk Movement which took over after World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Ataturk and his followers moved rapidly to end religious domination and many religious practices in the daily life of the country. They decreed a change from the Arabic alphabet to the Roman, and they outlawed the fez and the veil. They opened schools to both boys and girls, and their main goal was to Westernize Turkey and secularize its practices. The Turkish army has been the main enforcement agent of this secular policy in times of rising fundamentalism among some groups.
Some Background Data:
In the 18th and early 19th century Salonika (now Thesalonika), under Turkish rule in Greece, was the unofficial capital of Sephardic Jewry. Of the three groups in the city, the Jews were larger than the combined Greek Orthodox and Muslim population.
The Jews dominated the commerce of the city and controlled the docks of this major seaport. There were great synagogues and academies of rabbinic study. Moslem shops closed on Friday, Greek Orthodox on Sunday, and most shops and businesses were closed on Shabbat. Ladino, the beautiful mix of Spanish and Hebrew, was the lingua franca of the city and “Shabbat Shalom” was the universal Saturday greeting among all. In the late 19th and early 20th century the city declined as a result of conflict between Greek Orthodox and Muslims, and Jewish dominance of the city decreased.
Fall of the Ottoman Empire:
With the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I and the decision at the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 to create an independent Greek state, the decision was made to transfer populations. All Muslims in Greece had to move to Turkey and all Orthodox Greeks in Turkey had to move to Greece. In all, about 350,000 Muslims and one million Greeks were involved in the move. Jews were permitted to remain wherever they lived.
At this time a group of Muslims went to the authorities supervising the population shift and explained that they were not really Muslims but were in fact really Jews posing as Muslims . The authorities would not entertain such a claim so the group then went to the Chief Rabbi, Saul Amarillo, to verify their Jewish status. Rabbi Amarillo states, “Yes, I know who you are. You are momzarim (very loosely translated as [Edited Out]s) and as such not acceptable in the Jewish community.” These people were the Doenmeh, the Turkish word for converts, and their existence had been known for over 200 years. They were called momzarim because of the bizarre sexual practices that were part of their religious rituals, which made it impossible to trace parentage and lineage. The Doenmeh were forced to leave Salonika for Turkey, which, considering the tragic fate of Salonika’s Jews during the Holocaust 20 years later, undoubtedly saved their lives.
Who Were the Doenmeh? (Dönme):
One of the best known names but least known historical figures in Jewish history is Shabbtai Zvi, the “false messiah” (1626-1687). Born in Smyrna, Turkey, of a Sephardic father and an Ashkenazi mother, he was a brilliant child and Talmudic student, and an ordained rabbi in his mid teens. He went on to study and became a master in Kabbalah and other Jewish mysticism. His oratory was captivating and he soon acquired a following. However, he exhibited odd characteristics, including periods of illumination where he was believed to be communicating with God and periods of darkness when he was wrestling with evil. Soon he began to hint that he was the Messiah. This blasphemy caused him to be expelled from a number of congregations. He took up a pilgrim’s staff and with some followers roamed the Middle East, gathering many to his messianic preaching, especially during his periods of light. In Gaza he was welcomed by Rabbi Nathan, who had for years been preaching that the arrival of the Messiah was imminent. This combination led to a great outpouring of belief in Shabbtai Zvi as the Messiah. Word spread throughout the Jewish world, from Poland, Amsterdam, Germany, London, Persia, and Turkey to Yemen. Multitudes joined his ranks – educated rabbis, illiterates, rich and poor alike were swept up in the mass hysteria.
Among his inner core, they accepted his theory that all religious restrictions were reversed. The forbidden was encouraged and the commandments of the Torah were replaced by Shabbtai’s 18 (chai) commandments. This led to feasting on fast days, sexual relations with others than one’s spouse, and many more. The high point was in 1665-66, when Shabbtai, with his followers, marched on the Sultan’s palace expecting to be greeted as the Messiah. This of course did not happen. To shorten this story, Shabbtai was given the choice “convert to Islam or die.” To the consternation of his followers, he chose conversion. Most of his followers return to their homelands where, after penitence and sometimes flagellation, they were received into the congregations. However, some hundreds of families of his inner circle considered his apostasy as part of his overall plan of reaching the depth before attaining redemption. They too converted to Islam, although for about 200 years they lived as Muslims but secretly passed on their secret quasi-Jewish Shabbatean beliefs and practices to their children. They continued learning and praying in Hebrew and Ladino. As the generations passed, the knowledge of Hebrew was reduced to reciting certain prayers and expressions by memory in a barely understood Hebrew. They were known in Turkish as Doenmeh, meaning “converts”; to the Jews they were Minim, meaning “heretics.” They referred to themselves as Ma’aminim, the “believers.” They were never really accepted by the Turks nor by the Jews.
As we get into the middle and late 1800′s and education and enlightened thinking spread through parts of the region, young Doenmeh men who were dissatisfied with their status as “neither-nor” turned to secular nationalism to establish their identity. They neglected all forms of religious belonging and saw in the “Young Turk movement” their emancipation.
Atatürk’s Jewish Roots:
In 1911 in the Hotel Kamenetz in Jerusalem, Itamar Ben Avi, a newspaperman and writer who was the son of Eleazer Ben Yehudah (credited as the main proponent of the establishment of Modern Hebrew) met with a young Turkish Army officer. After enjoying a good quantity of Arak, the officer, Col. Mustafa Kemal, turned to his drinking partner and recited the “Shema” in fluent Hebrew and indicated that he came from a Doenmeh family. They met again on a few occasions and Kemal filled in more of his background. This man was of course to become General Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey.
Remnants of Doenmeh still exist. There is an unidentifiable building known as the Jewish Mosque where Doenmeh still meet. During World War II, when Turkey was close to Germany, there were separate tax lists for different religious categories, and the “D” list was for Doenmeh. During his lifetime and continuing today, there have been whispered rumors among Islamic activists that Kemal Ataturk and other Young Turks were of Jewish origin.
However, there is little doubt that 300 years after the death of Shabbtai Zvi, his influence and twists and turns of his Doenmeh followers provided the activist secular basis which is one of the underlying principles of modern Turkey – without which the Turkish-Israeli connection would have been most unlikely.
To bring this story up to date and possibly complete the circle, we now learn that some Doenmeh living in Turkey have made inquiry of American Jewish religious organizations about the possible re-entry of Doenmeh into today’s Jewish world.”
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ADDITIONAL SOURCES:
_________________________________
WHEN KEMAL ATATURK RECITED SHEMA YISRAEL
“It’s My Secret Prayer, Too,” He Confessed
By Hillel Halkin
ZICHRON YAAKOV – There were two questions I wanted to ask, I said over the phone to Batya Keinan, spokeswoman for Israeli president Ezer Weizman, who was about to leave the next day, Monday, Jan. 24, on the first visit ever made to Turkey by a Jewish chief of state. One was whether Mr. Weizman would be taking part in an official ceremony commemorating Kemal Ataturk. Ms. Keinan checked the president’s itinerary, according to which he and his wife would lay a wreath on Ataturk’s grave the morning of their arrival, and asked what my second question was.
“Does President Weizman know that Ataturk had Jewish ancestors and was taught Hebrew prayers as a boy?”
“Of course, of course,” she answered as unsurprisedly as if I had inquired whether the president was aware that Ataturk was Turkey’s national hero.
_________________________________
The Associated Press news agency, citing the Grand Vizier of Turkey, mentions in an item of the 3rd of July, 1920:
“Mustafa Kemal, (the Turkish nationalist leader) whom the great vizier presents as a Jew, was born a Turk and his parents were from Saloniki and were Deonmes, that is converts, as were the parents of Talat and Djavid”.
_________________________________
Joachim Prinze (1902-1988), who was president of the American Jewish Congress from 1958 to 1966, writes:
“Among the leaders of the revolution which resulted in a more modern government in Turkey were Djavid Bey and Mustafa Kemal. Both were ardent doenmehs. Djavid Bey became minister of finance; Mustafa Kemal became the leader of the new regime and had adopted the name of Ataturk. His opponents tried to use his doenmeh background to unseat him, but without success. Too many of the Young Turks in the newly formed revolutionary Cabinet prayed to Allah, but had as their real prophet Shabtai Zvi, the Messiah of Smyrna”.
_________________________________
“Scholars have firstly pointed out the fact that Mustafa was born and raised in a city, Salonika, the majority of the population of which was Jewish in the mid-nineteenth century. Actually, Salonika was the only city in the world at the time (until Tel-Aviv was founded in 1909) with a majority Jewish population. If we add to the city’s Jews the dönmeh population, who were traditionally counted among the Muslims, then the Jews and converted Jews (the dönmeh) would make up an absolute majority of the population. This is why Salonika was called the Jerusalem of the Balkans then.”
– Vivendi Centre Publications, 2011.
This is why Attaturk’s Jewish Background has been hidden:
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Tree: History > Atatürk > Biography of Atatürk
Biography of Atatürk
ATATURK, FOUNDER OF THE TURKISH REPUBLIC AND THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938)
ATATURK, FOUNDER OF THE TURKISH REPUBLIC AND THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was born in a three-storey pink house at Islahhane Street, Kocakasim District, Salonika in 1881. His father was Ali Riza Efendi and mother was Zübeyde Hanim. His paternal grand father Hafiz Efendi is a member of Kocacik Nomads from Konya and Aydin region, which was settled in Macedonia during 14th-15th centuries. His mother Zübeyde Hanim, also a daughter of an old Turkish family, settled in the town of Langasa near Salonika. Ali Riza Efendi who worked in various areas such as; a military officer, a pious foundation clerk and for some time a timber merchant and got married with Zübeyde Hanim in 1871. Four of Atatürk’s five siblings died at an early age, only his sister Makbule Atadan survived and lived until 1956.
Atatürk’s Address to the Youth of Turkey (1.71 MB)
Little Mustafa commenced his education in Hafiz Mehmet Efendi’s neighbourhood school, later he was transferred to Semsi Efendi School, because his father wished so (Comparatively modern education at the time.) During his primary education, he lost his father in 1888. For a while he stayed on his uncle’s farm in Rapla, returned to Salonika and completed his primary education. He enrolled to Salonika Junior High School for Civil Servants. After a short time in 1893, he transferred to Military Junior High School. It is at this school his math teacher Mustafa Bey, added Kemal to his name in between 1896-1899, Mustafa Kemal finished Monastir Military Senior High School and commenced Military College in Istanbul. In 1902 he graduated with the rank of lieutenant and continued his education in Military Academy. In January 1905 he completed the Academy and graduated with the rank of a captain. His first appointment was in 5 Army in Damascus in between 1905-1907. He was promoted to adjutant major in 1907 and appointed to 3 Army in Monastery. He was the Chief of Staff of the Army Corps which entered Istanbul on 19 April 1909. He was sent to France in 1910 and took part in Picardie Manoeuvres. In 1911 he was back in Istanbul and started to work under the Command of General Staff.
Mustafa Kemal and a group of friends took part in Tobruk and Derna Fronts during the war which started in 1911 against the Italians who were attacking Tripoli (Libya). He won the Battle of Tobruk against the Italian forces on 22 December 1911. He was then appointed to Derna Front as the Commander-in-Chief on 6 March 1912.
When the Balkan War started in October 1912, Mustafa Kemal joined the battle with units in Gelibolu (Gallipoli) and Bolayir. He greatly contributed to the retrieval of Edirne and Dimetoka (Dhidhimotikhon). In 1913 he was appointed to Sofia as the military attache. During his assignment in Sofia he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. His duty as the military attache ended in January 1915. During his stay in Sofia, the First World War had started and the Ottoman Empire had become obliged to enter in this war. Mustafa Kemal was appointed to Tekirdag to organize the 19 Division.
It is in the First World War, which started in 1914, that Mustafa Kemal wrote an heroic epic and made the legend of Dardanelles are Impassable against Entente troops in Gallipoli. On 18 March 1915, when British and French navies failed to break in through the Straits of Dardanelles with heavy losses, the decision to land troops on the Gallipoli peninsula had been given. Under the command of Mustafa Kemal, 19 Division halted the enemy forces, which landed in Ariburnu -now called Anzak Koyu (Anzac Cove)- on 25 April 1915 at Conkbayir. Mustafa Kemal was promoted to full colonel after this great success. British forces started attacking again from Ariburnu on 6-7 August 1915. Anafartalar Group Commander Mustafa Kemal won the victory of Battle of Anafartalar on 9-10 August. Following this, he also won the victories of Battle of Kirectepe on 17 August and Second Battle of Anafartalar on 21 August. The Turkish nation defended her honour in Gallipoli (Battle of Canakkale) against Entente States by losing approximately 253,000 of her sons to martyrdom. Mustafa Kemal’s famous order to his soldiers “I do not order you to attack, I order you to die”, had changed the destiny of this Front.
In 1916 after Gallipoli, Mustafa Kemal took duties in Edirne and in Diyarbakir. He was promoted to brigadier general in 1 April 1916. He took part in the battles against Russian forces by which Mus and Bitlis were liberated. After short duties in Damascus and Aleppo, he returned to Istanbul in 1917. He went to Germany with Heir Apparent Prince Vahdeddin Efendi for observations in the European Western Front. He became sick after this trip and received treatment in Vienna and Carlsbad. He returned to the Front on 15 August 1918 as the Commander-in-Chief of the 7 Army in Aleppo. At this front he achieved the most successful defensive battles in history against the British forces. He was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Lightning Army Group on 31 October 1918, just one day after the signing of the truce in Moudros. After the abolishment of this Army Group he was appointed for a duty in the Ministry of War in Istanbul on 13 November 1918.
After the beginning of the occupation of the country and demobilization of the Ottoman armies according to the Moudros Truce, Mustafa Kemal arrived in Samsun on 19 May 1919 as the Inspector General of the 9 Army. On 22 June 1919, he issued the Amasya Circular, declaring that the nation’s determination and decision will restore the nation’s independence and called for the gathering of Congress in Erzurum and Sivas. Between 23 July and 7 August 1919 delegates from all over the country gathered in Erzurum and then between 4 September and 11 September 1919 in Sivas, determining the path to follow in order to gain nation’s independence. On 27 December 1919 he was welcomed in Ankara with great enthusiasm. 23 April 1920, the first day of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, was one of the very important steps on the way to the founding of the Turkish Republic. Mustafa Kemal was elected as the first Speaker of the House and the Head of the Government. The Turkish Grand National Assembly started preparing and passing the new laws necessary for implementing the Independence War successfully.
The Turkish Independence War was started when the first bullet was fired against the enemy during the occupation of Izmir by the Greek forces on 15 May 1919. Victors of the First World War, by signing of the Sevres Agreement, started the occupation of their shares of the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning, resistance against occupation forces started with militia forces, namely Kuva-i Milliye (National Forces). The Turkish Grand National Assembly established the regular army and successfully led the Independence War to victory by integrating the militia forces into the regular army.
The important stages of the Independence War under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal were,
• Liberation of Sarikamis (20 September 1920), Kars (30 October 1920) and Gümrü (7 November 1920).
• Defences of Cukurova, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa and Kahraman Maras (1919-1920).
• Victory at the First Battle of Inönü (6-10 January 1920)
• Victory at the Second Battle of Inönü (23 March-1 April 1920).
• Victory at the Battle of Sakarya (23 August-13 September 1921).
• Great Offensive, Battle of Dumlupinar (Battle of Commander-in-Chief) and the Great (Final) Victory (26 August-9 September 1922).
After the victory at the Battle of Sakarya, the Turkish Grand National Assembly promoted Mustafa Kemal to the rank of Field Marshal and granted him the title of Gazi-the Victorious Fighter. The Independence War was ended by the Lausanne Peace Treaty on 24 July 1923. Thus, all the impediments of the Sevres Agreement had been removed and integrity of the Turkish land had been accomplished by the signing of the Lausanne Agreement. There were no obstructions left on the way to establish the new Turkish State based on national solidarity.
Founding of the Turkish Republic had been heralded by the opening of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on 23 April 1920. National Assembly’s successful administration during the Independence War had secured the founding of the new Turkish State. Caliphate and Sultanate (monarchy) separated and Sultanate was abolished on 1 November 1922. Therefore, the administrative ties with the Ottoman Empire were broken. The declaration of Republic was made on 29 October 1923 and Mustafa Kemal was unanimously elected as the first President of the Republic. Ismet Inönü formed the first government of the Republic on 30 October 1923. Sovereignty unconditionally belongs to Nation and Peace at home, peace in the world are the raising fundamentals of the Turkish Republic.
Atatürk made many reforms in order to bring Turkey to the level of contemporary civilizations. Those reforms can be put under five main topics:
1. Political Reforms
– Abolishment of the Sultanate (1 November 1922)
– Declaration of the Republic (29 October 1923)
– Abolishment of Caliphate (3 March 1924)
2. Social Reforms
– Women were given equal rights with men (1926-1934)
– The Revolution of Headgear and Outfit (25 November 1925)
– Closing of dervish lodges and shrines (30 November 1925)
– The surname law (21 June 1934)
– Abolishment of nicknames, pious and royal titles (26 November 1934)
– Adoption of the International calendar, time and measurements (1925-1931)
3. Juridical Reforms
– Abolishment of the Canon Law (1924-1937)
– Instating the new Turkish Civil Code and other legislation to suit secular order (1924 – 1937)
4. Educational and Cultural Reforms
– Integration of education (3 March 1924)
– Adoption of the new Turkish alphabet (1 November 1928)
– Establishment of the Turkish Language and Historical Societies (1931-1932)
– Organization of the university education (31 May 1933).
– Innovations in fine arts
5. Economical Reforms
– Abolishment of old taxation laws.
– Encouragement of the farmers.
– Establishment of model farms.
– Legislation of the Encouragement of the Industry Law and establishment of Industrial Corporations.
– Implementing First and Second Development Plans (1933-1937), construction of new highways to reach every corner of the country.
In accordance with the new surname law, Turkish Grand National Assembly granted Mustafa Kemal with the surname Atatürk on 24 November 1934.
Atatürk had been elected twice as the Speaker of the House (National Assembly), on 24 April 1920 and 13 Augustus 1923. His chairmanship at that time, was equal to the Head of State and the Government combined. On 29 October 1923 Republic was declared and Atatürk was elected as the first President of the Republic. According to the Constitution Presidential elections held for every four years. Atatürk had been re-elected as the President of the Republic in 1927, 1931 and 1935 by the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Atatürk very frequently used to go for fact-finding trips in the country. He kept in contact with local authorities and directed them personally in every occasion. In the capacity of the President of the Republic, he received the visiting foreign presidents, premiers, ministers and commanders with great respect and authority.
Atatürk gave his Great Speech on 15-20 October 1927 in which he described the Independence War and Founding of Republic, he then made his 10th Year Speech on 29 October 1933.
Atatürk was very modest in his private life. He married with Latife Hanim on 29 January 1923. Together they had many trips around the country. Their marriage lasted until 5 August 1925. As a great lover of children, Atatürk adopted his daughters Afet (Inan), Sabiha (Gökcen), Fikriye, Ülkü, Nebile, Rukiye, Zehra and his son Mustafa, a young shepherd boy. He also had two children under his protection, Abdurrahim and Ihsan. He secured a good life and future for these children who survived.
In 1937, he donated his farms to the State Treasury and some of his real estate to Ankara and Bursa Municipality Councils. He divided his inheritance among his sister, his adopted children and the Turkish Language and Historical Societies. He enjoyed reading, listening music, dancing, horse riding and swimming. He was very much interested in the Western Anatolian folk dance Zeybek, wrestling and listening to Rumelia songs. He had great pleasure in playing black-gammon and billiards. He valued very much his horse Sakarya and his dog Fox. He had made up a very rich library of his own. He used to invite statesmen, scholars and scientists to dinners and discuss state affairs with them. He was very particular about his appearance and was smartly dressed all the times. He was also a nature lover. He very often used to visit his farm Atatürk Orman Ciftligi-Atatürk Forest Farm and took part at works in person. Atatürk was proficient in French and German.
On 10 November 1938 at 9.05 in the morning, in Istanbul, Dolmabahce Palace, he died of the liver ailment he was suffering from. He was buried with a ceremonial funeral in a temporary place of rest at the Ethnographical Museum in Ankara on 21 November 1938. After the building of Anitkabir (Atatürk Mausoleum) he was taken to his permanent place of rest with a grand ceremony on 10 November 1953.
Culture is the foundation of Turkish Republic.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1936
Atatürk’s 10th Year Speech
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