Loyal Turks or Fake Muslims? [Atatürk]’s bombs of enlightenment had blown up the Dönme houses
of worship, prayers, books, and superstitions,” that the Dönme had as-
sented to the ideal of Turkishness, had been saved from the affliction
of being Dönme, and thus the Dönme problem had been solved.^70 No
longer should anyone view the Dönme as a separate group. They were
nothing other than Turks, the title “Dönme” should be finally buried,
they deserved to appear in public like their Muslim coreligionists with
nothing to be ashamed of, and “every one must know that there are no
longer any Dönme.”^71 He then disappeared from the historical record.
Yalman, reflecting the main option available to Dönme at the time, be-
came a prominent, fervent, and vocal Turkish nationalist.
It is understandable why Rüştü and Yalman publicly called for all
Dönme to become Turks. Yet why were they not concerned only about
their own personal integration? Was denigrating their origins, Dönme “su-
perstitions,” and the “charlatanism” of Shabbatai Tzevi a way to establish
authenticity? Answers to these questions may come from judging Dönme
actions against those of Jewish converts seeking integration in Europe.
Comparing the attitudes of Jewish converts to Christianity toward Jews
in contemporary Britain and Germany, Todd Endelman found that when
societies are more resistant to integration, and demand that minorities
prove their citizenship by freeing themselves of minority identities, indi-
viduals with minority backgrounds are compelled to distance themselves
in public from unconverted members of their communities and even urge
others to follow their example.^72 The experience of Jewish converts in Eu-
rope and Dönme in Turkey reflects the difficulty of converting to secular
identities, both in the eyes of the converts and the majority. The main
difference was that the Dönme had changed religion over two centuries
prior to the period when the sincerity of their conversion was called into
question. Some people from both groups publicly denounced the group
that they sought to abandon in order to be accepted by the group they
were attempting to join. Individuals with fractured identities, such as
Rüştü and Yalman, who seek personal salvation through cultural conver-
sion, but find that the society denies the affiliation they desire, discover a
role as intermediaries between society and the community.
Moreover, Yalman’s arguments call to mind those of the German Jew-
ish intellectual Moritz Lazarus in response to the antisemitic attacks of
Heinrich von Treitschke, who cast doubt on the ability of Jews to assimi-
late in the late nineteenth century. Lazarus, like Yalman a prolific writer