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The Betrayal of Turkish Jews
By Khatchig Mouradian
November 15, 2007
http://www.jewcy.com/cabal/turkish_jews
For the past several months, the Jews of Turkey have been in the
international spotlight. As Congress has debated the Armenian Genocide
resolution, high-ranking Turkish officials have warned that Turkish
Jews will be endangered if the resolution passes. And Jewish-American
organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League have repeatedly cited
the predicament of Turkish Jews as reason to support Turkey's campaign
of genocide denial.
In an effort to better understand the plight of Turkish Jewry, I
interviewed several prominent scholars who have studied the community.
Ottoman Jews: Safety Through Loyalty
For 500 years, Jews have lived as a loyal minority in the lands of the
former Ottoman Empire and the present-day Turkish republic. According
to Turkish-Jewish scholar Rifat Bali, who has published several books
on the history of Turkey's Jews, their loyalty to the Ottoman Empire
allowed Turkish Jews to escape the tragic fate of the Empire's Greeks,
Assyrians and Armenians.
"Turkish Jews were not involved in any sort of ethnic nationalism,"
says Bali. "The Zionist movement did not take root in Istanbul because
the community leadership had witnessed the tragic fate of the Ottoman
Armenians. [They] understood that the Ottoman leadership would
perceive Zionism as a separatist nationalist movement and that this
would have dire consequences. They therefore took an `anti-Zionist'
position."
Like today's Turkish Jewish community, the Jews of the Ottoman Empire
were utilized as international advocates for Turkish political
goals. "Haim Nahum, the last Ottoman Chief Rabbi, was an
`anti-Zionist' and a supporter of the Turkish Nationalist movement,"
says Bali. "He was sent by Mustafa Kemal to the USA and Europe for
lobbying on behalf of the Kemalists."
Turkish Jews in the 20th century: Loyal Scapegoats
Turkish political groups that fight bitterly on other issues find
common ground in blaming Turkish Jews for the country's
ills. "Turkey's Jews have been scapegoated by the Islamist movement
which started to grow in 1946," say Bali. "In 1969, the National Order
Party began propagating its Islamist National View ideology, which
accused Jews and Zionism of being behind all the troubles of Turkey."
And in the `70s, Turkey's Jews were hostage to the clash between
Turkey's ultra-leftists and ultra-rightists.
Turkish Jews Today
Adopting Muslim Names to Escape Attention
Today, Turkish Jews fear both Turkey's Islamists and its
nationalists. Fatma Muge Gocek, a Turkish-born sociologist at the
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, describes today's Turkish Jews as
"between a rock and a hard place." She told me that in the past few
decades, Jews in Turkey have increasingly adopted Muslim names to
escape attention.
Antisemitism: The Kosher Hatred
"Their main fear is the widespread anti-Semitism in the Islamist and
ultra-nationalist press. Turkish-Jews are very much upset by the great
freedom with which the Turkish authorities allow anti-Semitic views to
be voiced." Bali says that while Turkish authorities apply the Turkish
Penal Code to prohibit other forms of hate speech, they make an
exception for anti-Semitism. "Turkish Jews fear that this rhetorical
anti-Semitism, which has been freely manifesting itself for decades,
may convert itself again into action, as was the case with the
synagogue bombings of August and November 2003."
Insults, Anti-Semitism, and Conspiracy Theories: "We Can Put Up With
It." In an interview published in the Nov. 10 issue of Armenian
Weekly, Turkish-Jewish activist and poet Ron Margulies said, "A very
common expression in Turkey is `the cowardly Jew.' It's a bit like
`the miserly Scot' in Britain. It's that common." He adds, "[T]he idea
that Jews understand about money and finance, that Jews control
America, these racist conspiracy theories are also very common in
Turkey. They are widely used by self-aware racists, but, alas,
believed by people beyond those circles, people who wouldn't consider
themselves to be racists; ... They do make you feel different and at
times foreign. I was born in Istanbul. It is a bit galling when people
look at me and feel they're looking at a foreigner. But what the
hell. We can put up with it."
2007: Turkish Jews Protected by the International Community,
Blackmailed by Turkey In an October interview with the Jerusalem Post,
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said, "All of a sudden the
perception in Turkey right now is that the Jewish people, or the
Jewish organizations, let's say, and the Armenian diaspora, the
Armenian lobbies, are now hand-in-hand trying to defame Turkey, and
trying to condemn Turkey and the Turkish people." In an interview with
the Turkish newspaper Zaman, Babacan said, "We have told them [the
American-Jewish leaders] that we cannot explain it to the public in
Turkey if a road accident happens. We have told them that we cannot
keep the Jewish people out of this."
"This is really just blackmail," says Professor Jack Nusan Porter,
treasurer of the Internation Association of Genocide Scholars and
author of The Genocidal Mind and Facing History and Holocaust. "Turkey
would never touch the Jewish community. It would never be accepted in
the European Union if it touched any Jew in Turkey."
State-Sanctioned Assassinations of "Uppity" Minorities
Turkish-born historian and sociologist Taner Akcam, author of A
Shameful Act: The Armenian genocide and the Question of Turkish
responsibility, also believes that anti-Semitism in Turkey is "more
than one can imagine." However, he says, "It is a well-known fact in
Turkey that violent attacks against minorities, including
assassinations-like that of [Turkish-Armenian editor] Hrant Dink in
January 2007-are sanctioned by the state."
Some American Jewish Leaders Reward Anti-Semitism, Exploit Turkish Jews
Throughout the recent political debate over the Armenian Genocide
resolution, the Turkish state has encouraged anti-Semitism among
Turks, and then essentially told Jewish leaders, "Look, the Turkish
people are angry, you had better be careful." Some of those leaders
have rewarded the Turkish government's promotion of anti-Semitism by
agreeing to promote Turkey's campaign of genocide denial. They have
given the Turkish government excellent reason to believe that
anti-Semitism and the blackmail of Turkish Jewry remain a winning
foreign policy strategy for Turkey.
By Khatchig Mouradian
November 15, 2007
http://www.jewcy.com/cabal/turkish_jews
For the past several months, the Jews of Turkey have been in the
international spotlight. As Congress has debated the Armenian Genocide
resolution, high-ranking Turkish officials have warned that Turkish
Jews will be endangered if the resolution passes. And Jewish-American
organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League have repeatedly cited
the predicament of Turkish Jews as reason to support Turkey's campaign
of genocide denial.
In an effort to better understand the plight of Turkish Jewry, I
interviewed several prominent scholars who have studied the community.
Ottoman Jews: Safety Through Loyalty
For 500 years, Jews have lived as a loyal minority in the lands of the
former Ottoman Empire and the present-day Turkish republic. According
to Turkish-Jewish scholar Rifat Bali, who has published several books
on the history of Turkey's Jews, their loyalty to the Ottoman Empire
allowed Turkish Jews to escape the tragic fate of the Empire's Greeks,
Assyrians and Armenians.
"Turkish Jews were not involved in any sort of ethnic nationalism,"
says Bali. "The Zionist movement did not take root in Istanbul because
the community leadership had witnessed the tragic fate of the Ottoman
Armenians. [They] understood that the Ottoman leadership would
perceive Zionism as a separatist nationalist movement and that this
would have dire consequences. They therefore took an `anti-Zionist'
position."
Like today's Turkish Jewish community, the Jews of the Ottoman Empire
were utilized as international advocates for Turkish political
goals. "Haim Nahum, the last Ottoman Chief Rabbi, was an
`anti-Zionist' and a supporter of the Turkish Nationalist movement,"
says Bali. "He was sent by Mustafa Kemal to the USA and Europe for
lobbying on behalf of the Kemalists."
Turkish Jews in the 20th century: Loyal Scapegoats
Turkish political groups that fight bitterly on other issues find
common ground in blaming Turkish Jews for the country's
ills. "Turkey's Jews have been scapegoated by the Islamist movement
which started to grow in 1946," say Bali. "In 1969, the National Order
Party began propagating its Islamist National View ideology, which
accused Jews and Zionism of being behind all the troubles of Turkey."
And in the `70s, Turkey's Jews were hostage to the clash between
Turkey's ultra-leftists and ultra-rightists.
Turkish Jews Today
Adopting Muslim Names to Escape Attention
Today, Turkish Jews fear both Turkey's Islamists and its
nationalists. Fatma Muge Gocek, a Turkish-born sociologist at the
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, describes today's Turkish Jews as
"between a rock and a hard place." She told me that in the past few
decades, Jews in Turkey have increasingly adopted Muslim names to
escape attention.
Antisemitism: The Kosher Hatred
"Their main fear is the widespread anti-Semitism in the Islamist and
ultra-nationalist press. Turkish-Jews are very much upset by the great
freedom with which the Turkish authorities allow anti-Semitic views to
be voiced." Bali says that while Turkish authorities apply the Turkish
Penal Code to prohibit other forms of hate speech, they make an
exception for anti-Semitism. "Turkish Jews fear that this rhetorical
anti-Semitism, which has been freely manifesting itself for decades,
may convert itself again into action, as was the case with the
synagogue bombings of August and November 2003."
Insults, Anti-Semitism, and Conspiracy Theories: "We Can Put Up With
It." In an interview published in the Nov. 10 issue of Armenian
Weekly, Turkish-Jewish activist and poet Ron Margulies said, "A very
common expression in Turkey is `the cowardly Jew.' It's a bit like
`the miserly Scot' in Britain. It's that common." He adds, "[T]he idea
that Jews understand about money and finance, that Jews control
America, these racist conspiracy theories are also very common in
Turkey. They are widely used by self-aware racists, but, alas,
believed by people beyond those circles, people who wouldn't consider
themselves to be racists; ... They do make you feel different and at
times foreign. I was born in Istanbul. It is a bit galling when people
look at me and feel they're looking at a foreigner. But what the
hell. We can put up with it."
2007: Turkish Jews Protected by the International Community,
Blackmailed by Turkey In an October interview with the Jerusalem Post,
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said, "All of a sudden the
perception in Turkey right now is that the Jewish people, or the
Jewish organizations, let's say, and the Armenian diaspora, the
Armenian lobbies, are now hand-in-hand trying to defame Turkey, and
trying to condemn Turkey and the Turkish people." In an interview with
the Turkish newspaper Zaman, Babacan said, "We have told them [the
American-Jewish leaders] that we cannot explain it to the public in
Turkey if a road accident happens. We have told them that we cannot
keep the Jewish people out of this."
"This is really just blackmail," says Professor Jack Nusan Porter,
treasurer of the Internation Association of Genocide Scholars and
author of The Genocidal Mind and Facing History and Holocaust. "Turkey
would never touch the Jewish community. It would never be accepted in
the European Union if it touched any Jew in Turkey."
State-Sanctioned Assassinations of "Uppity" Minorities
Turkish-born historian and sociologist Taner Akcam, author of A
Shameful Act: The Armenian genocide and the Question of Turkish
responsibility, also believes that anti-Semitism in Turkey is "more
than one can imagine." However, he says, "It is a well-known fact in
Turkey that violent attacks against minorities, including
assassinations-like that of [Turkish-Armenian editor] Hrant Dink in
January 2007-are sanctioned by the state."
Some American Jewish Leaders Reward Anti-Semitism, Exploit Turkish Jews
Throughout the recent political debate over the Armenian Genocide
resolution, the Turkish state has encouraged anti-Semitism among
Turks, and then essentially told Jewish leaders, "Look, the Turkish
people are angry, you had better be careful." Some of those leaders
have rewarded the Turkish government's promotion of anti-Semitism by
agreeing to promote Turkey's campaign of genocide denial. They have
given the Turkish government excellent reason to believe that
anti-Semitism and the blackmail of Turkish Jewry remain a winning
foreign policy strategy for Turkey.