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News Diplomacy |
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‘Sarkozy's ancestors were Ottoman citizens’
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It has emerged that grandfather and granduncle of French President Nicolas Sarkozy who is severely against Turkey's membership in the European Union were Ottoman citizens.
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Oliver Chartier, a philosophy professor at İstanbul's Galatasaray High School the history of which dates back to 1481, wrote in an article aired by Internet news portal ABHaber that Sarkozy's maternal grandfather Benedict Mallah and his maternal granduncle Ascher Mallah who were born in Thessaloniki as Ottoman citizens came to İstanbul later and were both graduated from the Galatasaray High School. Chartier in his article stressed that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, was also born in Thessaloniki, while criticizing Sarkozy's stance not considering Turkey as part of Europe. In July 2006, during a visit to Greece, Sarkozy was honored at the French embassy in Athens by the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki. A plaque was unveiled which said: "In memory of Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to Greece from the Thessaloniki Jewish Community, the town of your ancestors, mother and city of Israel and Jerusalem of the Balkans." Sarkozy opposes Turkey's membership in the EU, saying the predominantly Muslim country whose territory mostly lies in Asia does not belong to Europe. Instead, he said Turkey should lead a group of Mediterranean countries that have close ties with the EU.
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26 December 2007, Wednesday
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TODAY'S ZAMAN
ANKARA
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Benzer Haberler 
Diplomacy
