JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS IN U.S. CONCERNED OVER ANTI-SEMITISM OUTBURST IN TURKEY

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.01.2009 14:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Five leading Jewish organizations in the United
States sent a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
calling on him to "urgently address the current wave of anti-Semitism"
in Turkey.

The letter was signed by the leaders of the American Jewish Committee,
Anti-Defamation League, B’nai B’rith International, the Conference
of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Jewish
Institute for National Security Affairs.

"Turkey rightly prides itself on many centuries of coexistence with
Jews. But today, our Jewish friends in Turkey feel besieged and
threatened," the organizations said.

"Billboards around Istanbul are full of anti-Jewish propaganda
posters. The door of a Jewish-owned shop near Istanbul University
was covered with a poster that said, ‘Do not buy from here, since
this shop is owned by a Jew.’ The defacing of an Izmir synagogue has
brought about the temporary closure of all but one of that city’s
synagogues," the letter said.

The organizations pointed out to a connection between "the
inflammatory denunciation of Israel by Turkish officials and the rise
of anti-Semitism".

They said they disagree with the Turkish government’s views of the
situation in Gaza and with some of Erdogan’s harsh statements. "We
should certainly agree, however, that such differences of opinion
do not justify any display of anti-Semitism in Turkey or elsewhere,"
the letter said.

In 2005, Erdogan received an award from the Anti-Defamation League
(ADL) on behalf of Turkish diplomats who saved Jews during the
Holocaust. He strongly condemned anti-Semitism as he accepted the
the award presented by Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.

Erdogan said last Friday that Israel should be barred from the United
Nations while it ignores the body’s calls to stop fighting in Gaza.

"How is such a country, which totally ignores and does not implement
resolutions of the UN Security Council, allowed to enter through the
gates of the UN (headquarters)?" he said.