Who was Ostap Bender by nationality

Who was Ostap Bender by nationality? Direct instructions from Ilf and Petrov is not in the books "12 chairs" and "Golden Calf". Therefore, for a starting point, most people use two phrases of Ostap himself from the books.

The first is his full name, which he himself voiced in "12 chairs", calling himself Ostap Suleiman Bertha Maria Bender Bey. Plus, remember how Lieutenant Schmidt's children called him in The Golden Calf — Ostap Ibrahimovich. The second characteristic of Ostap's roots is the mention of him as the son of a Turkish subject.

And based on the first phrase, for many this question is beyond doubt. Ostap Suleiman Bertha Maria Bender Bey. Are there many Jews who have the name Suleiman? Or the patronymic "Ibrahimovich"? That is, according to the supporters of this version, these are direct indications of the eastern roots of the Great Combinator. Quote from the book:

Ostap Bender, from their point of view, is more likely a Turk (or, perhaps, a Tatar). Supporters of another version of Ostap's origin rest against the "Turkish subject". After all, there is a very common hypothesis that Odessa Jews called themselves "Turkish subjects" who accepted Turkish citizenship in order to have all kinds of "buns".

But there is one "but" here. The Turkish subjects were not only Jews. In the same Odessa, many people with Greek roots had Turkish citizenship in the XIX century. And these are far from the only Turkish data in The Russian Empire.

In those days (and especially earlier) The so-called uncontrolled migration between the Russian and Ottoman Empires was very common. Moreover, fleeing to the Ottoman Empire is not always to Turkey. In the Balkans, which were also Turkish, there were many fugitive Russians, respectively, they were also Turkish subjects.

And here Ilf and Petrov gives one interesting hint. Remember what else Ostap Bender called himself. Bender-Zadunaisky! Does this nickname mean anything to you? Have you heard about the Trans-Danube Cossacks? These were the Zaporozhian Cossacks who had fled from The Russian Empire to the Balkans. And after all, they were subjects of the Ottoman Empire. Yes, Ostap was born already when the Trans-Danube Sich was disbanded, but not all the Cossacks then immediately returned to Russia, part of it remained Turkish subjects for a long time.

The name of the Great Combinator speaks in favor of this version. Ostap. After all, the name is not Jewish. And not Turkic. A name that has Russian and Ukrainian roots. And who else of the famous literary characters bore this name? Ostap Bulba! Zaporozhye Cossack, son of Gogol Taras Bulba. So it turns out that a descendant of a Cossack with roots from Zaporozhye, Ostap Bender, comes on the scene to replace the Turk and the Jew.