Istanbul
roam the building, destroying everything in it, asking where the Sertels
are. They intended to strip the couple naked and paint them red with the
bottles of ink they had brought and then parade them through the streets
saying, “Here are your Reds.”^123 Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın, the enemy of the
Sertels, had published a call to arms in Tanin using the phrase “Rise up,
O citizen,” which Namık Kemal had used to incite Ottomans against
Abdülhamid II’s tyranny before 1908 ; ironically, here it was used to incite
a mob against those fighting for democracy.^124
No assailants were arrested for the looting and burning to the ground
of Ta n’s office and press building. The Sertels, at home in the Asian sub-
urb of Moda, were told the mob had boarded ferries and was on their
way to their home. The police redirected the boats to the Princess Islands,
home to large Armenian, Greek, and Jewish populations. The Sertels were
placed under house arrest and then imprisoned. They were put on trial
the following year for slander, actually their harsh criticism of the govern-
ment, especially its silencing of opposition and the press.^125
The Sertels continued to advocate for free elections and a multi-party
democracy, main themes of Ahmet Emin Yalman’s writing as well. Sabiha
Sertel compared Turkey to a fascist state and claimed it was not demo-
cratic, since citizens’ mouths, wrists, and ankles were bound, and were not
permitted to think, speak, or act. The government wanted to silence this
forceful critic of “freedom in chains.”^126 Fortunately, the Sertels were exon-
erated and released. Nevertheless, life in Moda was like a prison, as police
controlled their movements and screened all visitors. In 1950 , the couple
decided to travel to Paris; Sabiha Sertel never returned to Turkey.^127
The Double Bind of the Dönme: Race and Religion
The problems Ahmet Emin Yalman and Sabiha Sertel faced were rep-
resentative of the nearly impossible double bind of being Dönme in the
early Turkish Republic. Their acceptance required a two-phase conver-
sion: they had to first of all prove their sincerity as Muslims, and then,
after being recognized as Muslims, the Dönme were compelled to aban-
don this accepted religious identity for a secular Turkish one. But they
faced handicaps in the process of being recognized as Muslims and be-
coming Turks. The persistence of their imagined and real religious beliefs
and practices marked them as distinct from other Muslims at a time when
being Muslim did not include formerly acceptable practices and affilia-