Argentine-Ottoman Relations and Their Impact on Immigrants from the Middle East: A History of Unfulfilled Expectations, 1910-1915

Abstract

During the last quarter of the nineteenth century and first three decades of this one, a small though increasing number of Middle Easterners–principally Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians–made their way to the Americas. Hitherto a little studied influx, the Arabic speakers were part of the largely southern European immigration that reached Latin America in general, and Argentina in particular. Included among the arrivals were the forebears of such future heads of state as Argentina's Carlos Saúl Menem, Bolivia's Juan Pereda Asbún, Colombia's Julio César Turbay Ayala, the Dominican Republic's Elías Wessín y Wessín, or Uruguay's Alberto Abdala, and of such presidential hopefuls as Paulo Salim Maluf (Brazil), Abdala Bucaram (Ecuador), and Jorge Dager (Venezuela). Their spectacular rise, in many cases achieved by the first generation of the immigrants' local offspring, must not obscure the fact that the Arabic speakers were generally undesired. That much was clearly spelled out in the legislation of various countries. Unlike some of her sister states, Argentina, the region's principal absorber, did not seek to block the Middle Easterners' entry before 1928. This was so irrespective of the Argentine constitution's bias in favor of European immigration, the preference for north Europeans shown by the country's elites and their illdisguised disdain for the Arabic speakers, among other ethnic and religious groups. Hence, as the numbers of Syro-Lebanese taking advantage of the absence of Argentine barriers rose, they became the victims of xenophobic attacks, especially since the 1880s.

Latin America’s Los Turcos: Geographic aspects of Levantine and Maghreb diasporas

“…These immigrants had mixed experiences in their new country. As mentioned before, the Argentinian justice system sometimes would not work for them (Klich 1993). On the other hand, they attained a similar level of economic success in the other countries of Latin America (Klich and Lesser 1996).…”

“…The Sephardic Jews who came from Morocco to Brazil asked for and received the help of the British government on a few occasions. In Argentina France and the Ottoman Empire supported the Aaron Moore/Kent Mathewson turcos, whose number one problem was the large amount of unsolved murders (Klich 1993).…”

The First Argentine-Israeli Trade Accord: Political and Economic Considerations

“…To draw on an example from the Middle East, the signing of a consular protocol with the Ottoman em pire in 191 O was described in congress as opening a new market for Argentine exports, yet Argentina appeared to do little more than ratify such a convention to promote direct bilateral commerce with such a partner. 70 Argentina's foremost export market in the Middle East. When Israel and the Arab world are considered together, the former's intake of Argentine commodities was never below 39 percent of Argentina's exports to the region, 1955 excepted, and swirled around 54 to 86 percent during 1950-54, the Argentine-Israeli accord's core period.…”

La inmigración árabe en la región de Antofagasta durante el apogeo del salitre (1880-1930): Distribución espacial y redes sociales

“…24 Hyland Jr, Steven.2011. "'Arisen from deep slumber': transnational politics and competing nationalisms among syrian immigrants in Argentina, 1900Argentina, -1922 Klich, Ignacio. 1993.…”