Turkish Levantine

Anatolian Muslims called Levantines Frenk (variation of Farang, often translated as "Frank") and tatlısu Frengi (lit.

During the era of the Byzantines and the first years of the Ottomans, the term was used to refer to Western Mediterraneans such as Italians, Catalans, and French.

The cities chosen by Levantines were settled in important trade routes and they were also safer places.

Over time Italian influence began to decrease and British, Dutch, and German merchants increased their ties with the Anatolian coast.

French merchants began to play an active role in Levant trade routes after the French-Ottoman alliance.

European traders were not Ottoman citizens, so they did not have to pay taxes nor were they obliged to serve in the army.

The victorious states of World War I compelled the Ottoman government to sign the Treaty of Sèvres.

After the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) came into power after the 1908 Revolution, Levantines began to be affected by the policies of Turkish nationalists.

In addition, their economic interests suffered due to World War I and in the first years of modern Turkey.

They quit their jobs and began to leave Turkey due to new wealth taxes imposed on non-Moslems, the removal of capitulations that had been granted by the Ottoman sultans, as well as to rapidly rising costs.

[8][9] However, the number may be higher because of the assimilation policies of Turkish nationalist-Kemalist governments, conversions to Islam because of fear after the Greek and Armenian genocides, or intermarriage.

The Istanbul pogrom deeply affected the Levantine population as much as Greeks, Armenians, and Jews.

After the Istanbul pogrom, it is known that most of the Levantines fled to France, the United States, and other Western European countries.

[9] The remaining Levantines or their descendants have held meetings in Istanbul to protect their heritage and rediscover their past.

There are still some families in Mersin who are the descendants of Europeans: they often have the names of Levante, Montavani, Babini, Brecotti, Şaşati, Vitel, Talhuz, Antoine-Mirzan, Nadir, Rexya, Soysal, Hisarlı, Kokaz, Daniel, Kokalakis, or Yalnız.

The first Levantines in the Ottoman territories lived in the Pera (Beyoğlu) and Galata districts of Constantinople, now known as Istanbul.

[4] In 1818, traveller William Jowett described the distribution of Smyrna (now Izmir)'s population: 60,000 Turks, 40,000 Greeks, 10,000 Jews, 3,000 Latins, 7,000 Armenians.

The estimated population during Ottoman times is below:[14] There are some Levantine words that have been adopted in the Turkish language, such as "racon" (show-off) and "faça" (face).

Karşıyaka (Courdelion), Bornova (Bournabad), and Buca (Boudja) were known as the center of Levantines in Izmir until the Turkish War of Independence.

Levantines left tens of buildings in Izmir; most of them are mansions once belonging to European merchant families.