Getting Started with the Third Edition

I can say that I have come to the end of the work I have done since the 1970s. The motivation that encouraged me to write this book was the writing of several documentary books about our village by the Greeks who lived here in the past.

I created this book by examining all the documents I could find (Ottoman, Greek, Turkish) and what I learned from all the elders I could reach. As a result of the studies I have done, I have been able to find very old determinations about the history of the village. As it will be explained in detail in the section ‘’Uğurtaşı with documents’’, we know that at the beginning of the 1600s, there were 8 Turkish and Muslim families, 2 of which were Ehl-i Örf and 6 of which were working as loggers.(Annex3-4) What we understand from these documents is that there were Muslims in our village at that time.. But it was the names that mattered, and I could only reach 300 years ago in this regard. As far as I could tell, the only families/names I could reach were those that lived here until today. Although others have lived here in distant or recent history, I have not been able to trace those families because they are not here today.

The oldest Turkish name I could find was Mahmut Karakullukcu from Karakullukcu family, who was born in 1720. The records of other dynasties, whose existence continues today, belong to the early 1800s. In the early 1800s, Karakullukcu reached 7 families. Other dynasties were Baki (1800) from Molla Bakı, Mahmut-Fadime (1805) from Emiroğulları, Abdullah-Elmas (1815) from Molla Abdullahs, Uzun İbrahim from Molla Mehmets, Mahmut from Kasımoğulları, Mehmet-Gülesmer from Himmetoğulları, and Ahmet from Molla Ahmetoğulları. Thus, we know of the existence of at least 100 people in 14 Turkish and Muslim families living in our village in the early 1800s.

Although this gives the impression that around 14 Turkish families lived here in the 1700s or early 1800s, I do not think it is true. Because it is impossible to follow the continuation of the dynasties due to migrations/movements that are a part of life. We have only traced the past of the families who have lived here until today. We know that even in the 1835 census, approximately 400 Turks and Muslims lived in our village. This subject will be explained in detail in the Ottoman censuses.

I regret to express that due to changing living conditions, the families who have resided here until today, will no longer be here in the future. It is highly probable that no family/ancestry that has lived here for nearly 300 years will be here by the end of the this century. Despite everything, living in the same district for more than 300 years is an indication of a strong sense of belonging.

I would like to establish a fact here. When the known history of humanity is examined, you can see that states and social life are built on the basis of religion rather than ethnicity. Religion has been the unifying factor in all civilizations that have existed in the past, from the Sumerians to Ancient Egypt. In our village as well, the situation developed in the same way. Although we shared a common life in the same village, we could not become real friends with Orthodox Greeks and Apostolic Armenians. Marriages between us did not change this fact. The congregations lived side by side but apart from each other; each had its own religion, customs, and cultural conventions. The fact that we have always been members of different communities stood like a wall against us. The pleasant memories we had experienced could not sway us from leaving when politicians made their decisions. Though the three religions, sects, and races lived together for a long time, they were eventually separated. Hearts would wish this separation not to be based on each other's unhappiness. However, the reality of life, as it always does, has taken its toll, and every society has found its own way.

Another fact I would like to express is that when imagining Uğurtaşı's past, it cannot be compared with its present. In the past, it was at a very different level with its population of more than two thousand and its ethnic diversity. Villages, towns and cities are born, grow, develop and even disappear as history repeats itself. Uğurtaşı was also a cosmopolitan center with its shops, schools, cafeterias, inns, mills, mosques, and churches, where a life comparable to a city was lived in the past. Today it is a quiet village with a modest life. You will experience this in many texts as you read this book.

I would like to thank Yüksel Süzer, who tirelessly endured my numerous corrections and never spared his efforts. He helped with the transfer of this information and documents to the computer environment.

Cahit KARAKULUKCU

December 2022, Istanbul