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Turkey: A Jewish resident of the Ottoman Empire, 1779

Turkey: A Jewish resident of the Ottoman Empire, 1779

The history of the Jews in Turkey dates back over two thousand years. There have been Jewish communities in Asia Minor since at least the 5th century BCE and many Spanish and Portuguese Jews expelled from Spain were welcomed into the Ottoman Empire (including regions now part of modern Turkey) in the late 15th century, forming the bulk of the Ottoman Jews.

Today, the majority of Turkish Jews live in Israel, while modern-day Turkey continues to host a modest Jewish population.