Page 246 - A Helping Hand for Refugees

The 18 th Century and afterward, when migration became most
intense, was also the time when the Ottoman Empire was suffering from
particularly serious economic difficulties. Yet even then, the state never
said the migrants were a burden and turned them away. Even in the
most difficult of times, the Ottoman people and state tried to help
migrants as much as their means allowed.

Migration to Anatolia continued after the demise of the Ottoman
Empire and the founding of the Republic of Turkey. Hundreds of thou-
sands of people, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, sought shelter in the
Republic of Turkey from Bulgaria, Macedonia, Tatarstan, Chechnya,

Kazakhstan and Iran. Even though relations at the national level far
from optimal, there are still some 12,000 Armenian migrants living in
Turkey today. 53

Turkish history is full of examples of exemplary behavior toward
refugees. Migrants have never been looked down on or despised. It is,

244 A Helping Hand for Refugees