Between Empire and Nation-State
Yakubi Dönme had served in the office of the governor, no Dönme rose
to be the governor, who was appointed from Istanbul. But in fact, since
there was much turnover in this office—in the second half of the nine-
teenth century, the tenure averaged under six months—locally appointed
or selected positions were more influential.^19 Although Salonika was one
of the first Ottoman cities to receive a municipality, it took over two de-
cades for a Dönme to rise to be mayor. But once that had happened,
Dönme mayors continued to be appointed.
The mayors in the Tanzimat period were not financially independent,
and were still controlled by the central government. Part of the reason why
wealthy, powerful locals filled that office was that they could use their own
finances and links to foreign capital to go beyond a restricted city bud-
get and implement further city improvements. Dönme municipal officials
who were part of international networks of finance and who profited from
the introduction of new businesses in the city played a crucial role in the
city’s transformation. Yakubi Hamdi Bey, an urban reformist, local official,
and businessman with western European connections, was the most visible
Dönme in local politics. He was an entrepreneur, whose diverse interests
included a hotel in the port area^20 and at least seven adjacent businesses in
the main business district of the city (İştira),^21 where other Dönme con-
cerns, such as Hasan Akif ’s tobacco business, were also located.^22
Hamdi Bey became mayor in 1893 and served in that office until 1902.
After he became mayor, he sought to create a better life in Salonika, like
other progressive politicians of the day exploiting geography, demography,
and hygiene for the welfare and productivity of the population.^23 Hamdi
Bey “transferred his business acumen and experience to the affairs of the
city, running it like a profitable enterprise: borrowing, building, selling,
increasing revenue and investing it, advertising his product.”^24 Like urban
reformists in other Ottoman cities, Hamdi Bey aimed to make Salonika
“a healthy city, which breathed freely, pulsated with life, and moved to-
wards growth.”^25 His municipality, allied with the private companies he
established, which received some of their financing from western Europe,
provided services such as public hospitals and a fire department, paving
and sweeping streets, construction of public toilets to ameliorate public
health, horse-drawn and later electric tramways to improve urban trans-
portation, gas lighting for domestic and public spaces, and running water
to homes to improve the quality of life.^26 He was granted an imperial con-
cession to “construct, administer, and tap the water of Salonika,” which