Turkey Pressed on Antisemitism As ADL Fetes Its Prime Minister

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FORWARD (Founded in 1897, Published in New York)
June 17, 2005

By Forward Staff

WASHINGTON – While members of Congress urged President Bush last week
to hold Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan “responsible for
the increase of anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism in Turkey,” the
Anti-Defamation League gave the Turkish leader its Courage To Care
Award, in honor of his nation’s rescue of Jews during World War II.

The apparent contradiction highlights the complexity of relations
between America and Turkey, between Israel and Turkey, and between
Jewish organizations and Turkey under the rule of Erdogan’s Islamist
Justice and Development Party.

The 10 members of the House of Representatives, led by Democrat Steven
Rothman of New Jersey, wrote a letter to the president on the eve of
his June 8 White House meeting with Erdogan, pointing out expressions
of antisemitism in the Turkish press and calling on Bush to insist
that the Turkish leader denounce antisemitism and fight it.

The lawmakers, mostly Democrats from New York and New Jersey – four of
them Jewish – cited recent reports by the Middle Eastern Media Research
Institute, which has been monitoring the Turkish media for the past
six months. The reports – three published in the past two months –
are filled with examples of blatant antisemitic expressions in the
Turkish press. They also detail expressions of outrage, also in the
Turkish press, at the antisemitic vitriol in Turkey’s public arena.

Most of the antisemitic expressions appeared in small, nationalistic
or Islamist newspapers. Most of the criticism of antisemitic utterances
appeared in widely circulated mainstream newspapers.

Erdogan, who last month visited Israel for the first time since his
victory in the November 2002 elections, has been outspoken in his
criticism of antisemitic and anti-American expressions in Turkey’s
public arena. Last week, as he accepted the ADL award, Erdogan stated:
“Antisemitism has no place in Turkey. It is alien to our culture.”

“It is the task of leaders around the world to join me in condemning
the spread of hatred, whether through publications or otherwise,”
Erdogan told the ADL. “Our consistent policy towards antisemitic
diatribes can be nothing short of zero tolerance.” Erdogan also
affirmed his nation’s commitment to maintaining strong ties with
America and Israel. He said that while few Jews still live in
Turkey, “They are cherished and prized elements of the Turkish
society.” Leaders of Turkey’s Jewish community attended the ceremony.

The New York Sun, a conservative daily, delicately took issue with the
ADL’s honoring of Erdogan, commenting in an editorial last Wednesday:
“Whatever strategy the ADL pursues to encourage Mr. Erdogan to do the
right thing, the American government will need to keep a careful eye
on the dramatic resurgence of anti-Semitism within his borders.”

The ADL’s communications director, Myrna Shinbaum, said, “We don’t
see a problem here.” The ADL, she said, was not honoring Erdogan
personally but acknowledging what Turkish diplomats did to save Jews
in World War II.

Florida Democrat Rep. Robert Wexler, who heads the Turkey caucus in
the House of Representatives, said that he saw no reason to doubt
Erdogan’s sincerity. “I have gotten to know Prime Minister Erdogan
quite well,” Wexler told the Forward. “I have visited Turkey at least
six times and spent a fair amount of time with him both in Ankara and
in Washington. There is just no doubt in my mind that it’s not fair
to use the term antisemitism in any context in reference to Prime
Minister Erdogan.”

Turkey’s relations with the United States and with Israel were
particularly bumpy in recent months. Tension in relations with
Israel is attributable mainly to the way that Israel’s treatment of
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza is portrayed in the Turkish
media, said Soner Cagaptay, an Turkey expert at the Washington
Institute for Near East Policy. Reports of Israel’s alleged assistance
to Iraqi Kurds have strained relations further, Cagaptay said. Turkey’s
relations with the United States have worsened as a result of the
war in Iraq, he said.

However, Turkey’s relations with both Israel and America have improved
significantly in recent months.