The secret history of the Dönme: crypto-Jewish converts who shaped modern Turkey

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1666, a self-proclaimed Jewish messiah converted to Islam under pressure from the Ottoman Sultan. Many of his followers did the same, forming a clandestine sect known as the Dönme. For centuries, this group navigated a complex identity, balancing secret rituals with public lives as prominent Ottoman citizens.

The Dönme originated in seventeenth-century Izmir when Sabbatai Sevi, a mystical figure claiming to be the Jewish messiah, embraced Islam to avoid execution by Sultan Mehmet IV. His followers adopted his path, creating a unique subculture that eventually split into three distinct branches: the Yakubi, Karakaş, and Kapancı. While they outwardly identified as Muslims, they maintained a private, messianic faith rooted in Kabbalistic beliefs, endogamy, and their own set of Eighteen Commandments.

By the turn of the nineteenth century, the community had grown from roughly two hundred families to between three and five thousand individuals. Centered in the port city of Salonica, the Dönme rose to significant influence within the Ottoman administration, trade, and finance sectors. Their success and dual identity made them targets of suspicion; for a century, they were frequently cast as conspiratorial figures blamed for the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, a narrative that persisted long after the 1923 population exchange forced their relocation to Istanbul.

The twentieth century brought intense pressure to assimilate under secular Turkification policies, leading to the erosion of their distinct cultural institutions. As members intermarried with the broader population, the community began to disintegrate as a cohesive ethnic group. Today, the legacy of the Dönme remains a complex case study in the fluidity of belonging. While some descendants, like researcher Selim Kaya, actively work to preserve their heritage, the group’s history continues to be marked by both the struggle for recognition and the weight of historical antisemitic rhetoric.

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