Turkish Levantine: Difference between revisions

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Levantines in Turkey or Turkish Levantines, refers to the descendants of

The term Levant comes from the French language. It means 'rising' (sun, i.e. East; the Latin word 'orient' had the same original meaning) in French. Even though it has been used for Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel, it was used to refer to 'the sea in the east of Italy'.[2]

Over time the term Levant was widened. During the Byzantines and the first years of Ottomans, the term was used to refer to Western Mediterraneans such as Italians, Catalans and French. During 18th and 19th centuries, the term also was used for settlers that came from Central and Northern Europe.^[3]

History

First Levantines

Levantines began to settle in Constantinople in 991 when they were given some trade privileges from Byzantines. They settled in Istanbul peninsula and

The second significant group of Levantines were Venetians. At that time, Eastern Roman power was decreasing while Ottomans were gaining ground. Venetian merchants were traded across Mediterranean during Byzantine Era and built Galata Tower. Venetians and Ottomans were also allies against Genoese-Byzantine alliance.

Genoese were more active in

French merchants began to play an active role in Levant trade routes after French-Ottoman alliance. Ottomans gave safe passage for French traders and approved the capitulations for the French state.

Especially after the

20th century

Ottoman Empire fought against the

After the

There has been significant problems in Turkish economy after Levantines and Greeks left the country. Turkey faced exportation problems. Most of exports remained at the hands of local Turkish villagers. However, Turkish government left all capitulations of Levantines in order to break the monopoly for Turkish entrepreneurs.

Present

Today, numbers of Levantines are not clear. It is estimated that there are about 100-150 Levantines in Izmir. Another estimate put the number as hundreds.

First Levantines in Ottoman territories lived in

In 1818, Traveller William Jowett described the distribution of Izmir's population as: Turks 60,000, Greeks 40,000, Jews 10,000, Latins 3,000, Armenians 7,000.^[11]

In 1856, Ottoman state allowed Christians to have possessions. Consequently, the Levantine number of Izmir began to increase dramatically. The number of non-Muslim population was 15,000 in 1847 while it has increased to 50,000 in 1880. Izmir became an Levantine city and began to called as 'the capital of Levant', 'the pearl of Levant', 'the Marseille of Anatolian coasts' or 'a Marseille on the coast of Minor Asia'.^[12]

The sources of 19th century estimates the population of Levantines between 16,000 and 25,000. The minimum proportion is %8 of Izmir population while the maximum estimate is %17.^[13]

Non-Muslim peoples of Izmir lived in different quarters. There was one each quarter for Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and Frenks (Levantines).^[14] 1914 population estimate indicates; 378.000 Muslims and 217.686 Orthodoxes.^[15]

Mersin

Çukurova region gained importance after the plantation of cotton that came from Americas. Therefore, the cities of Adana and Mersin became the attraction point of Europeans. Levantines especially began to live in Mersin. Especially after the 19th century, European entrepreneurs created the 'Frenk Quarter' in Mersin. The population table is below during Ottoman times;^[10]

• In 1879, 625 Muslim, 147 Greek, 37 Armenian and 50 Catholic were living in Mersin.
• In 1891, 5000 Muslim, 2700 Greek, 860 Armenian and 260 Catholic were living in Mersin.

Culture

Language

There are some words effected Turkish language such as "racon" (show-off ) and "faça" (face).^[16]

Religion

Levantines are Western Christians. They are separated by their sects. Most of them are Catholics while there are Protestants (Anglicans and Baptists) among them.

Levantines have their own churches in some cities. They are named according to their ethnicity or sect such as Alman Protestan Kilisesi (German Protestant Church) or İzmir Baptist Kilisesi (Izmir Baptist Church). Churches in Izmir are sometimes called as 'Levantine Church'.

Churches

• 
  Church of St. Anthony of Padua, Istanbul
• 
  Church of St. Anthony, Mersin
• 
  Crimea Memorial Church, İstanbul

Education

There are French, Italian, German and Austrian schools in Istanbul and Izmir. However, most of students are Turks. Schools are counted as private school, however.

Schools

• 
  Saint Benoît French School, İstanbul
• 
  Italian School, İstanbul
• 
  St. George's Austrian High School, İstanbul

Architecture

One of the oldest buildings of Levantines is Galata Tower in Istanbul. It was in the European quarter until 1453. After the fall of Istanbul, Venetians surrendered the tower to Ottomans.

Izmir is the most important city for the remaining Levantine architecture. Karşıyaka (Courdelion), Bornova (Bournabad) and Buca (Boudja) were known as the center of Levantines in Izmir until Turkish Independence War. Levantines left tens of buildings in Izmir, most of them are mansions once belong to European merchant families. Some of them are below:^[17]

There are also some inns and konaks in Mersin that can be seen.

Notable people

• Sir Alfred Biliotti - Italian soldier and archeologist
• Livio Missir di Lusignano - Italian historian
• Giuseppe Donizetti - Italian musician
• Giovanni Scognamillo - Italian writer
• Count
  Camondo family
• Lucien Arkas - French businessman of Arkas holding company
• Maria Rita Epik - Italian musician
• William Buttigieg - Maltese-British the consul general of Izmir
• Caroline Giraud Koç - French businesswoman

References