The following pages have some of the most wonderful stories in their recollections of Levantine Families or people who spent just a few years there.
http://www.levantineheritage.com/recollections.html There is even a lot about my first wife's family there with photos of her grand and great grandparents, even her father as a small boy and Lydia and her twin sister Nadia. Lydia and I were together more than 30 years so I had many trips to the family home in Izmir. She passed over just over two years ago.
One can get a tremendous feel for the life Levantine's (any west European who lived in Asia Minor) led and experienced, from these pages. So I recommend them for everyone. The main language for most was not Turkish, but French, then Greek and even Italian, with the local Turkish language coming in about 4th.
Lydia's family were very likely descendants of Benedetto Zaccaria who was commissioned by King Philip of France in 1302 to clear the Island of Chios of Pirates and after he had done that he was made Lord of Phocaea (Foggia today) by the Emperor in 'Stee Nepolis' (Greek sign all around Constantinople meaning "To The City"). In Turkish any European names that begin with 'S' plus another consonant have to have the letter 'I' placed in front, so Smyrna became Izmir, Stasyon or Station, became Istasyon, and 'Stee Nepolis' became 'Isteenepolis' then Istanbul.
The Zaccaria family - Zacharie when they turned to French - remained on Chios, but one son of Benedetto's was decapitated by the Turks in Izmir in 1345.
There were many British residents in Turkey and these too are regarded as being Levantines.
Please let me know if anyone would like to know more about Levantine families and life.
Malcolm