Page 245 - A Helping Hand for Refugees

and Austrians vehemently demanded the return of the Polish migrants,
but the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmajid rejected these demands, saying,
"I would rather give up my throne than ever send back those who
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have sought refuge in my state." The Jews also became
Ottomans after they were forced out of Europe.

Turkish history is a glorious one as the country has
hosted refugees under very difficult situations and cir-
cumstances. Nearly 2.5 million Circassian people were
forced to migrate to Anatolia during the period until the
World War I. When Polish immigrants took shelter in the
Ottoman Empire, the response of the Ottoman Sultan
Abulmajid to Russia, which was demanding the return of
these Polish immigrants, was, "I would rather give up my
throne than ever send back those who have sought
refuge in my state."

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