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Ataturk - Sabbatean Donmeh or not

• Message 1.Β 

  Posted by lolbeeble (U1662865) on Friday, 9th January 2009

  A poster on another message has attempted to hijack the discussion by bringing in assertions about the religious origin of certain figures in Eastern Mediterranean history. Specifically it is claimed that Mustapha Kemal was a member of the Donmeh simply because he was a Selanikli or person from Thessalonica. Like so many of his claims it has proven rather difficult to actually find any reliable source to back this up. I realise it may well be a forlorn hope but thought I would give the poster the opportunity of enlightening us with his superior levels of scholarship. So if he would be so kind as to explain what evidence there is to suggest that Mustapha Kemal was a member of the Donmeh sect we would all be very grateful.

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Nik (U1777139) on Friday, 9th January 2009

  When you are from thessaloniki you do not need to read it in a book, you just know it. Our grandparents were there and knew better than anyone else... you know these things are not to be found in (pseudo)history books isn't it?

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by lolbeeble (U1662865) on Thursday, 15th January 2009

  Oh I see, unsubstantiated rumours are passing as unquestionable facts are they? Not too different from the majority of your posts in that case. It is a bit rich having a go at other people for their reliance on pseudo history. I'm not sure that the testimony of your grandparents is that reliable. In all probability they would not have been out of their minority when the Kemalist forces defeated those looking to enforce the Treaty of Sevres.
  
  Why is the religious community that Kemal Ataturk grew up in so important? Much as I fail to see what the relevance of the religious roots of Stalin's ancestors has to do with to his being considered among the greatest ever Russians so I cannot see what Kemal's status as a Donmeh has to do with his supposedly having overseen the most effective bout of ethnic cleansing. Could you enlighten those of us with access to only pseudo histories how this is significant?
  
  Whatever the case I fail to see how a man who served his government and established the Turkish nationalist movement can be said to have looked down upon Turkish identity. Your source appears to have taken a point raised in a sensationalist article about the Donmeh published in 1924 and applied the view to Kemal because of presumptions surrounding his religious upbringing.

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