A lake village called Trakai in Lithuania. It has a population of around 7-8 thousand. When viewed from the map, it is a place that has little to do with the Turkish and Muslim world. There are Karaite Turks who have lived there for 600 years.
The great Lithuanian King Vytautas gave the Crimean Turks, who were of Cuman descent, lands and settled in the region. Since then, the people have maintained their culture, language and unique life. The Karaites stayed in that region for centuries, but neither the Ottomans nor others know about them. A small community, a distant geography, nobody cares.
Prof. Dr. Oktay Sinanoğlu goes to Lithuania for a meeting on atomic physics in the 1970s. His friend Yutsis, who is a professor, takes him to Trakai in case he is interested. They had a long talk with a bearded man who was the head of the village council of elders.
When they go to the village, Oktay Sinanoğlu sees that the people protect their language. An elder, one of the notables of the village, invites him to his house and shows him the banner, sword and documents inherited from his ancestors.
By speaking Turkish.
Aksakalli says:
“At the time of your Atatürk, the ambassadors he sent from Turkey would come and bring us Turkish magazines and books.
ATATÜRK passed away, the voice of Turkey was lost. What happened to you?
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