Istanbul
of these groups openly identified themselves and did not claim to be Mus-
lims. In addition, the numbers of Armenians and Jews had been radically
reduced, as had Greeks, with the exception of those remaining in Istanbul,
so they could no longer be considered a problem. The uncertainty sur-
rounding the Dönme was due to the fact that they appeared to hide their
true identity, although there was little if anything that would outwardly
distinguish them from other Muslims.
Because they were considered Muslims by the Greek government, the
Dönme of Salonika were subject to deportation to Turkey as part of the
population exchange.^42 Avram Galanté says that relying on their Jewish
origins, some Dönme asked the Greek government to excuse them from
the expulsion, an odd request considering that the rabbis of Salonika re-
fused to allow the Dönme to return to Judaism, since they opposed their
customs and did not consider them Jews.^43 The government in Athens
refused to allow the Dönme to remain, probably because it wanted to be
rid of a significant non-Greek economic element in order to “nationalize”
its economy.^44
Other Dönme approached Turkish officials with the same aim although
for different reasons. The response from Turkish Muslims illustrates how
no one seemed to view them favorably. They had even lost the allies who
had supported them only fifteen years earlier during the revolution pe-
riod. Mehmet Cavid served as one of the advisors to the Turkish delega-
tion to the Lausanne Conference. But there he had a falling out with
İsmet İnönü and joined the faction against İnönü and Atatürk, which was
a fateful decision.
Despite their protests and Turkish apprehension about their true iden-
tity and potential danger, the Dönme were thus compelled to abandon
their native Salonika. The number of Dönme involved comes from the
estimate proffered by Joseph Nehama, director of the Alliance universelle
Isráelite in Salonika, who obtained information from Dönme students.
He says that in 1902 , there were 4 , 000 Yakubi, 3 , 500 Karakaş, and 2 , 500
Kapancı.^45 Dönme from throughout Greece were subjected to the same
treatment as those in Salonika, and all excepting those who left Greece for
other countries were dispersed to numerous cities in Turkey, losing their
concentration in one center. This was part of an attempt to cause them
to lose their language and identity by the Turkish government, which was
pursuing similar policies of diffusion and Turkification of (other) non-
Turkish Muslim groups.^46