The Other Post · Curated by Mehmet Istanbullu
Articles worth keeping, by other writers. Each entry gives the original link, an archived copy and a short note on why it matters. We quote a line at most. The rest belongs to its author and outlet, so read it where it was published.
Shelves: Ottoman legacy · Disinformation · Surveillance
Diana Darke · The Jewish Chronicle · Oct. 21, 2022 · Opinion
Darke counts what the usual account of the empire leaves out. Spain expelled its Jews in 1492 and the Ottoman sultan took the Sephardim in; in 1857 the state issued a Refugee Code that gave Caucasian refugees land, starting capital and years free of tax and conscription. The rest reads as administrative history: public fountains and baths, quarantine stations on the Dardanelles and free vaccination by 1840.
“Theirs was the most cosmopolitan state on earth, with community services free to all, irrespective of religion or ethnicity.” — Diana Darke
Written to mark her book The Ottomans: A Cultural Legacy (Thames and Hudson, 2022).
Read the original (The Jewish Chronicle) · Archived copy (Wayback Machine, Jan. 2, 2026)
Links go to the original publishers. Copyright in each article stays with its author and outlet; nothing here republishes it.
Feet in the world. Heart in Istanbul.