The Ottoman Navy helped Muslims and Jews get out of Spain during the Inquisition!
In July 1492, the new state of Spain expelled it's Jewish and Muslim populations as part of the Spanish Inquisition.
Bayezid II sent out the Ottoman Navy under the command of Admiral Kemal Reis to Spain in 1492 in order to evacuate them safely to Ottoman lands. He sent out proclamations throughout the empire that the refugees were to be welcomed.
He granted the refugees the permission to settle in the Ottoman Empire and become Ottoman citizens. He threatened with death all those who treated the Jews harshly or refused them admission into the empire.
The Muslims and Jews of Iberia contributed much to the rising power of the Ottoman Empire by introducing new ideas, methods and craftsmanship.
