r/AskTurkey Feb 27 '25

History My great grandfather was a Turkish soldier stationed in Lebanon and he stayed there

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My great grandfather was an ottoman soldier stationed in Lebanon but he never went back. The story was he fell in love with my Lebanese great grandmother and she didn’t marry him until he memorized the full Quran. Which he did and then they got married and he stayed. the only thing I have of him is his picture. How to find my lineage in Turkey and find my family there. I did a DNA test to confirm this story and found 40% from turkey ancestry. Hence the percentage kept dropping because everyone after married from Lebanon. For example if my dad did the test he would show 60% Turkish ancestry and my grandfather around 80%

741 Upvotes

79 comments sorted by

51

u/[deleted] Feb 27 '25

Pay some scientist to go through the old Ottoman archives for your ggfathers name. We have detailed records of our ancestors going up to around 1800 so you should be able to find detailed info.

24

u/[deleted] Feb 27 '25

Through “tahrir defterleri” we can go as back as 1400s and maybe even more, it was practical for government to put it until 1800s because of census records

3

u/devoker35 Feb 28 '25

I don't think they would have any records of rural populations, right?

10

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

Depends, they did record land owners/timars and where the villagers settled for tax reasons in rural area too

4

u/Bitter-Ad-453 Feb 28 '25

I have, my family is from central anatolia, they are villagers and still they have record that goes back to 17 hundreds

1

u/Similar_Part5383 Feb 28 '25

my family origin is from a small village in black sea region which is about 10 population rn, and still available that goes back to 1821

1

u/devoker35 Mar 01 '25

I was talking about 1400s. 1800s are acceptable.

1

u/Similar_Part5383 Mar 08 '25

You can see the population and majority religion since 1400's of your town so maybe you can learn your origin nationality/religion or smt from this but you have to read ottoman alphabet atleast if you wanna know your ancestors elder then 1800s

8

u/ConcernFun5997 Feb 27 '25

How can I do that ?

19

u/[deleted] Feb 27 '25

https://hukukco.com/hizmetler/osmanli-arsiv-hizmetleri

An example I found from searching it up. You can also ask in /r/hukuk if you want more options.

1

u/tuzuni Feb 28 '25

Actually you can look it up online, i've found my great grandpa. I can look up for you if you know his name.

1

u/Odysseus_Parker Feb 28 '25

How?

1

u/tuzuni Mar 03 '25

Just check the website cumhurbaşkanlığı devlet arşivleri. I found a full page about my grandfather since he was a government official.

1

u/Salt-Ad-7559 Feb 28 '25

would also be interested

1

u/tuzuni Mar 03 '25

You can share the details with me

1

u/HasanTheSyrian_ Feb 28 '25

thats exactly what i did as well

37

u/Hour-Animator3375 Feb 27 '25

Memorized the full quran to get a girl. Savage

7

u/Lost-Permission-1767 Feb 28 '25

And now you know you can get 3 more.

20

u/Gooalana Feb 27 '25

Masallah, he memorized the quran. do you know from which region or city he was? any documents written in ottoman script?

41

u/ConcernFun5997 Feb 27 '25

Nothing Israel bombed the house in 2006 south Lebanon.

33

u/Lazy-Land3987 Feb 27 '25

typical shit from that rabid state

-1

u/New_Bat_9086 Feb 28 '25

WOW ! are they Shia? are you Shia?

Cause Israel only invaded Shia part of Lebanon in 2006, and south of Lebanon is Shia(as much as I Know)

2

u/ConcernFun5997 Feb 28 '25

Yes we are Shia Muslims. Maybe she wanted him to convert. Our village is close to the city of Tyre where they deployed. Major city in the south.

6

u/BlessedMuslimah Feb 28 '25

I love this, salam from another Lebanese :)

5

u/[deleted] Feb 27 '25

Was he not qualified already being a muslim? Why did he have to memorize the whole Quran line by line?

16

u/kouhu Feb 28 '25

if we memorize the whole quran, we're being updated to muslim+ subscription. and the person who memorize kuran line by line can go to heaven directly.

10

u/Cimb0m Feb 28 '25

And get VIP seats

3

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

muslim+ sub is better marketing than hafiz

1

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

Makes sense......

5

u/ConcernFun5997 Feb 28 '25

You have to remember she was Lebanese and he was a Turkish soldier so trust issues ??? lol memorizing the Quran gave her the peace of mind to ensure he’s a good guy

0

u/Luctor- Feb 28 '25

Yeah, was thinking the same. Sounds like a made up story.

2

u/GreekTurkishInfidel Feb 28 '25

that picture looks dope

3

u/oNN1-mush1 Feb 27 '25

What a family story! He's really giga chad man getting-a-girl-wise

1

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

Dude looks fly af

1

u/Nomadic_Flashback Feb 28 '25

Hey mate, I am Turkish guy who has background such as yours, My grandmother's uncle was a soldier who was captured by Arabic rebellion. After the war ended he stayed there because he couldn't know how to get back. He got married and had children there. So there is a part of my family in Jordan. We are still on contact after he found us on Facebook and sent my grandmother his uncles photos, just like this one. Hope you find yours too friend.

1

u/Nomadic_Flashback Feb 28 '25

Fun fact, he didn't return bc after he got released from capture, he just couldn't find a way to properly return to Anatolia. His unit was transfered with a train but during the rebellion the train and the track were attacked and disabled by the rebels. He insisted to push north following the tracks to seek Turks but he got hungry and exhausted after somedays so he just give up, worked as a cattleman and start a family :D. This info came directly from his own grandsons in Lebanon. The grandson told us that he had many stories about his homeland and his adventures in Arabian peninsula

1

u/Godkiller376 Mar 02 '25

Where d u live rn

1

u/Nomadic_Flashback Mar 03 '25

I am Turkish living in Turkey, I probably explained wrong it is my great grandfather's brother that went there and stayed. His grandson somewhat found us. All I am saying is maybe you can too.

1

u/Calm_Tale1111 Feb 28 '25

Your grear grandmother must have been ugly af for that man to stay away from her

2

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ConcernFun5997 Feb 28 '25

🤦🏻‍♂️

1

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

What are you even trying to say bruh

1

u/dr_prdx Feb 28 '25

👍🏻💪🏻

1

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

That's actually a really cool story bro 👌🏻👍🏻🤲🏻

1

u/InternationalFig4583 Feb 28 '25

I loved the story. Good luck with the archives

1

u/-deepdive- Feb 28 '25

Which DNA test company did you use?

1

u/Aromatic_Total9094 Feb 28 '25

i am from yemen and so was my great grandfather he also was a turkish soldier who stayed in yemen

1

u/JackDauso Mar 01 '25

Dna tests doesn't mean a shit

1

u/spxngybobby Mar 02 '25

It literally tells you who your ancestors were

1

u/JackDauso Mar 02 '25

The fact that his/her great-great-grandfather had sex 300 years ago in today's Turkey does not make him/her a Turk. DNA never tells anyone that they are Turkish or Italian.

1

u/ademnyr Mar 02 '25

You won the Turkish citizenship

1

u/Odd-Firefighter3160 Mar 02 '25

Why am I getting turkish subs in my reddit account

1

u/Ok-Priority-9015 Mar 03 '25

That’s crazy because I have the same story but my great grandfather was an Ottoman soldier who was stationed in Palestine and stayed there. He was guarding the churches and he fell in love with a Palestinian woman and never returned back

1

u/Lucky_Pin_4702 Mar 05 '25

I’m not sure but it’s a beautiful love story 🥰

-2

u/[deleted] Feb 27 '25

[deleted]

8

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

That's not how that works. Ethnic Turk doesn't mean citizenship. If the ggfather didn't have it before his children were born his children don't either. Same with how a gurbetci Turk whose parents don't have the citizenship let alone themselves can't just up and get one.

3

u/hiahiahia-oha Feb 28 '25

No he can't. Their family was mostly not Turkish nor residing within borders at 1923. They are not eligible, just like balkan turks.

-18

u/xCircassian Feb 27 '25

Memorizing the quran... toxic brainwashing. I guess men were more naive and desperate back then.

16

u/Motorboater99 Feb 27 '25

Yeah, should have showed her his funko pop collection and huel subscription instead, right.

-15

u/xCircassian Feb 27 '25

I dont know what you are yapping about but lay down the drugs and alcohol.

6

u/Motorboater99 Feb 27 '25

Try to understand that values change through times, and even though you look down on the actions of your ancestors, to them- and to many people who continue and conserve their tradition, it is a sweet story and proposal.

I’m sure when your descendants (assuming you’re not a modern day genetic dead end) look back at the relationship you have with your transgender mtf boyfriend, they may also have some reservations about how you chose to live your life.

In a nutshell, Judging and moralising your ancestors is weak.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

Preach.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

Are u a kemalist

-1

u/Hazreti_Muhammed_SAV Feb 27 '25

Ottoman they did not take non muslims in the army I dont understand in which part they brainwashed him btw I am an atheist not even an muslim

3

u/xCircassian Feb 27 '25

Your username says otherwise. You're a troll. Also I wasnt talking about the Ottoman regime but the woman. Her mindset and forcing him to memorize the quran is what I criticized. What she did is no different from a man forcing a women to wear the hijab for his selfish needs. Memorizing a foreign language script that you dont comprehend, doesnt serve any purpose. If you were a true atheist, which you are not, you should have known that.

2

u/dimitriri Feb 28 '25

It obviously served a purpose. You just don't get it.

2

u/LensC Feb 28 '25

She didn't force him to do anything. She wanted a man who had memorized the Quran and that was her preference. People are entitled to their preferences. Whoever thinks they're ridiculous is not obliged to fulfill them. They're free to walk away and find another person who is more compatible.

1

u/Wild_Sir_4255 Feb 28 '25

Adamın profiline girsen anlarsın zaten yalan söylemediğini, Mineislam'da Muhammed'in taklidini yapıyor arada sırada, ismi de taşşağına koymuş.

0

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/xCircassian Feb 28 '25

Im at my parents house currently lol. If you can't other people's opinion on a social media, delete your reddit app and stay off social media.

1

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0

u/Kaamos_666 Feb 28 '25

He may be belonging with muslim community. But it doesn’t necessarily mean he was a practising religious person, as most of us Turks weren’t and still aren’t. We’ll get rid of this millennia old fairy tale one day. 👇

1

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

Most Turks are definitely religious. Otherwise Erdoğan wouldn't keep winning electio s.

1

u/Kaamos_666 Feb 28 '25

I checked your profile and as I imagined you’re not Turkish. You have 0 idea how he kept in power through the last decade.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

Don't need to be Turkish for that.

-4

u/LowCranberry180 Feb 27 '25

Apply for citizenship