ABSTRACT
The impact of the West on nineteenth-century Ottoman intellectual history is well documented. Indeed it is the period known as that of "Westernization". The Turkish translation of the work played an extraordinary role in nineteenth-century Ottoman literary and intellectual history. The language issue, which formed the background to the review of Said Beys translation, played a key role both for Greeks and Turks in the nineteenth century. Throughout the nineteenth century, Greek language and civilization, "Greek themes" hold a prominent place in Ottoman Turkish intellectual history. A closer look at the lives and works of eminent Ottoman statesmen, writers and poets will, however, allow people to appreciate many other facets of what may be called the "Greek connection". But for a deeper understanding of the impact, one also has to take into account the close ties and connections which existed between many members of the Ottoman intellectual elite and Greeks or the Greek lands.
