Identity perceptions of Izmir Jews

Identity is how we define ourselves. If we look at the word itself ("kimlik" – the stem, "kim" means "who") we can see that the stem of this word comes from the question "who". Our identity is about "who" we are. It contains everything about us. Our language, religion, origin, gender are the main elements of our identity. In the Jewish identity, the dominant element is religion, due to their community life style. Because their community is build upon the fact that they all share the same religion. So, they became an enthno-religious community as a result of centurious long experimental life. The Jews were settlers in Anatolia even before the Osmanlı State. Under Osmanlı State, however, they lived more comfortable comparing to the Jews, who lived under other states. During their forced migration, they chose to migrate into the Osmanlı State. The city of Izmir holds a distinctive value for Jews. Sebatey Sevi, who claimed to be a messiah, lived in Izmir. Therefore, the Jewish community in Izmir was highly effected by that. Jews have always lived comfortable lives under the Osmanlı State. They even lived as "privileged minority group". During the transformation from the Osmanlı State to Turkish Republic, they faced some problems with the local government just as every other minority group. Both the identity problem, which existed since Sevi, and the sudden descent from a privileged state caused some complaints among the Jewish community. Time to time, they felt the need to hide themselves or force their values upon others. As we look closely into the Jewish community in İzmir, we can observe that they have lots of institutions, synagogues and activities. As a result, we can observe that there are lots of factors effecting the identity perception of Jews of Izmir. The Sabetay Sevi case, massacres happened in other territories and resulted in forced migration, their lives under Osmanlı State, events occured during and after the proclamation of the Republic; lack of language just as Ladino, Hebrew or Yiddish are important factors which take part in the construction of their identity perception.