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The Jewish community in Turkey was linguistically diverse. Sephardic Jews spoke Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino) and French was used as a prestige language in the community. Sephardic Jews completely shifted to Turkish after the foundation of the Republic of Turkey. Ashkenazi Jews spoke Yiddish or French and similarly
Jews have been living on the territory of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey for more than 2,400 years. Initially the population consisted of Romaniote Jews of Greek affiliation, but they were later assimilated into the community of Sephardic Jews who emigrated to the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century from the Iberian Peninsula following persecution by the Spanish Inquisition.
Turkey was the only neutral country to implement anti-Jewish laws during the war. [3] During the war, Turkey denaturalized 3,000 to 5,000 Jews living abroad. [2] Most of these were living in France, and by 1943, 93 percent of denaturalizations by Turkey targeted Jews. Denaturalization put Jews at high risk of being deported and murdered. [10]
Ashkenazi Jews continued to settle in Istanbul in the 15th, 16th, 17th, [9] and 20th centuries, and despite forming only 5.9% of all Jews in the city in 1608, they were slow to assimilate among the Sephardi Jews, who came to form the majority of Jews in Istanbul by 1688. [9] Jewish woman in Istanbul, middle of the 17th century.
The Sardis Synagogue is a former ancient Jewish synagogue, that was discovered in the modern-day town of Sardis, in the Manisa Province, in the Aegean Region of western Turkey. The former synagogue building is now an archaeological site and Jewish museum. The archaeological site is the largest Jewish site known from antiquity. [2]
In 1881, in response to rising antisemitism in mainland Europe, as well as a number of proposals made by various parties regarding the potential settlement of Jews within the empire, the Council of Ministers declared that "[Jewish] immigrants [would] be able to settle as scattered groups throughout Turkey, excluding Palestine."
The presence of Jews in İzmir (Smyrna) dates back to antiquity, with mentions in the New Testament (Revelation 2:8, 1:11). It appears that the Jewish community held some influence over the local pagan population, leading to a number of conversions. However, the rise of Christianity weakened the influence and presence of Jews in the region.
The Jewish Museum of Turkey (officially Quincentennial Foundation Museum of Turkish Jews; Turkish: 500. Yıl Vakfı Türk Musevileri Müzesi) is a Jewish museum and cultural center established by the Quincentennial Foundation to inform the society of the traditions and history of Turkish Jewry. It was inaugurated on November 25, 2001.