Gellner Room, Monument Building

The lecture is organised by the Central European University Jewish Studies Project.

The lecture will narrate the history of the Doenmes (crypto Jews) followers of Sabbatai Sevi in the Turkish Republic, their negative perceptions in the Islamist and ultranationalist circles and the reasons for this negative representation.

Rifat N. Bali is an independent researcher specialised in minority issues and Turkish Jews’ history in the Republican Period. Born in 1948 in İstanbul. He graduated from Sorbonne University Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. He is the author of numerous articles and books. His areas of studies are: History of the Jews of Turkey in the Republican period, lobbying activities of the Turkish, Jewish, Israeli and Armenian non governmental organisations, State-minority relations and Turkish media. He published several books.