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    Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

    Jew Score:
    6

    I1

    O1

    K4
    May 19, 1881 – November 10, 1938

    Turkey has always been a mystery to us. Is it European? Is it Asian? If it's secular, how come it has the Muslim star and crescent on its flag? And why on earth did they ever rename Constantinople to Istanbul, when the latter is a Greek word?

    And add the origins of Ataturk to that list of mysteries.

    Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, for the uninformed, was the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. First a military leader, then a statesman and a reformer, he was the man most responsible for lifting the "Sick Man of Europe" title from his nation. And, supposedly, his family came from the Doenme, a sect of Turkish Jews that often hid their Judaism behind a Muslim front.

    Sadly, we really can't proclaim this mystery completely solved. More scholarly men than us have tried, and have failed. But there is no direct evidence that his ancestors were Jewish, so we'll go with "Not a Jew" until someone proves us wrong.

    So now we can return to a more solvable mystery: what the heck is Turkish Delight?

    Verdict: Not a Jew.

    February 20, 2009

    See Also

    Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

    Muammar Gaddafi

    Dario Moreno

    The Turk

    Sabbatai Zevi
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