Jews have lived in Asia Minor for more than 2400 years. Initial prosperity in Hellenistic times deteriorated under the Byzantines, but it recovered under the various Muslim governments. During the Ottoman period, Turkey was a safe haven for Jews and continues to have a small Jewish population today.
When the Battle of Yarmouk and the Levant was fought and became Ottoman, there were Jewish communities in many towns. Among them Safed, which became a spiritual center for Jews and where the Shulchan Aruch and other Kabbalistic texts were compiled. The first Hebrew newspaper began to be published in the Empire in 1577.