TURKISH AMBASSADOR SPEAKS TO CANBERRA GROUP
J-Wire Jewish Australian News Service
March 17 2010
Turkey’s ambassador to Australia Oguz Ozge has addressed the Capital
Jewish Forum.
More than thirty CJF members, from diverse professional backgrounds,
watched a tourism film on the sights and sounds of Turkey and then
heard Ambassador Ozge speak on the ‘Turkey-Israel relationship in
the Middle East and global context’ at the Turkish Embassy in Canberra.
The Embassy also generously offered CJF members local Turkish
delicacies, including Turkish delights, beer and coffee.
It gives me great pleasure to welcome members of the Capital Jewish
Forum. I am delighted to address such a distinguished audience. I
believe the discussions we are about to hold will contribute to a
better understanding of our respective views on matters of interest
to us.
I intend to make a short introductory statement and later shall be
ready to take your questions.
At the outset I wish to make a few remarks: The Turkish-Israeli
relations are based on a long-lasting friendship between the Turks
and Jews. Actually the relationship precedes the establishment of the
State of Israel. At present Turkey and Israel are natural partners in
the Middle East. They uphold the same universal values and ideals. Our
countries are in fact the only true liberal democracies in the region
with market economies in place. We in Turkey attach importance to
the security. We are aware that a comprehensive peace in the region
would be the best security guaranty for Israel.
The developments that take place in the Middle East usually have an
effect on our bilateral relationship. We may expect this correlation
to continue for as long as the problems in the Middle East persist
I am convinced that the periodic ups and downs that occur in the
Turkish-Israeli relations will in no way cause any harm to the essence
of our friendly ties, nor will alter the course of our deep-rooted
partnership in the region. The two nations have so far been able to
overcome those periodic difficulties. I can say therefore that the
ties between the two communities have stood the test of time well.
Over the centuries the Ottoman Empire, to which the Turkish Republic
is a successor state, served as a major place of refuge for people
suffering from persecution, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Starting in
the fourteenth century , the Ottomans captured lands of the Byzantine
empire in Anatolia. Curiously, the Jewish minorities, who survived
centuries of Byzantine persecution, helped the Ottomans so that their
administration would offer the Jewish a better life and in particular
more freedom and tolerance. In later centuries the Ottoman Empire
received approximately 150 thousand Jewish refugees who were under the
threat of Christian attacks in western Europe. This includes above all,
those Jews who fled from persecution at the hands of the inquisition
in the Iberian Peninsula and Italy during the 15th century. In
the 16th and 17th centuries the Ottomans gave refuge to thousands
of Marranos. Actually they were Jews converted to Christianity in
Spain under the force of the Inquisition, but who had continued to
be subject to persecution because of suspicions that they had not in
fact abandoned their former religions. In the 17th and 18th centuries
the Ottomans provided refuge for many Jews who survived the Habsburg
invasion of Serbia and Bulgaria following the failure of the second
siege of Vienna in 1683 by the Ottomans. Lastly, I would like mention
that after the establishment of the Turkish Republic and particularly
during the 1930’s, the Turkish authorities took in hundreds of Jewish
refugees from Nazi persecution, including leading professors, teachers,
physicians, and artists and given senior positions. Most were appointed
to major professorships in Istanbul and Ankara Universities. Others
were given the opportunity to found and direct important scientific
institutes. In addition, during the same period a number of Turkish
diplomats helped a few thousand Jews, mostly former Turkish nationals,
in order to rescue them through consular intervention from persecution
in several European countries.
During the 19th century, jewish immigration to Palestine and
eventually to establish a Jewish homeland there was a topic on which
intense debate raged in Europe, particularly in the British and French
public. From the late 19th century, the Ottoman Empire adopted a policy
of allowing a reasonable amount of jewish immgration to Palestine
despite the opposition of its Arab subjects. Thus, from 1882 to1903
some 25.000, 1904 to 1914 roughly 30000 and 1919 to 1922 nearly 40000
jews, mainly from Russia and Poland were able to settle in Palestine.
The Turkish Parliament formally recognised the state of Israel on 28
March 1949, being the first muslim state to do so just after one year
ot Israel’s establishment. Since then bilateral relations between the
two countries have developed consistently, with interaction in the
political, economic, scientific and military fields having priority.
I would like to touch upon the so-called Genocide allegations against
Turkey as, the term of genocide may be of interest to you. The
Armenian diaspora alleges that in 1915, during World War I, 1.5
million Armenians living across the Ottoman lands were subjected to
genocidal treatment. The documents and photos that they pass around
as evidence are largely exagerated or manipulated. We have made
available to those of you who are interested, a copy of an article
by an Australian scholar Mr. Jeremy Salt, about a forged photo in
a book titled, published by Oxford University Press, a renowned
British publishing house.
We must remember the circumstances in which the Turkish army wages a
fierce war Armenian against the Russian army on its Eastern territories
and the Armenian bands armed with the Russia attacked the Turkısh
army on one hand and rose in rebellion on the other with a view to
establishing their own state on Turkish soil. In war conditions the
Imperial government saw no other choice but to move the Armenians
towards south coast of Turkey, away form the war theatre.
During the movement of Armenians to the southern region there happened
tragic events. But we are convinced that those tragic events never
amounted to genocide. There was no intention of killing Armenians
just for their being of Armenian origin. Clashes between Armenians and
Turks and other subjects of the Empire mainly for revenge, epidemics,
shortage of food caused casualties on both sides. We estimate the
Armenian causalties to be 200 to 600 thousand. On the basis of
British Empire and League of Nations figures, the total population
of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of World War I
was about 1.3 million. The Armenian claims that 1.5 million Armenians
were subjected to the so-called genocide are therefore baseless.
The Holocaust was formally recognised by a judgment of the Nuremberg
Tribunal. The members of the Armenian diaspora must realise that
they will also have to obtain a competent court’s judgment for their
alleged genocide to be recognised. Resolutions obtained through
parliaments largely on threat of witholding votes in constituences
where Armenaians carry some weight in the electorate, cannot be
sufficient. Yet the Armenians have so far refrained from to refer
thier claims to court. Because they know well that their position is
weak. The UN Convention of 1948 which deals with genocide does not
make any allowance for political groups that rose in rebellion or
resort to arms, against the central authority.
Some of the points raised by Ambassador Ozge in the ensuing Q&A
session include:
Turkey has good-neighbourly relations with Iran but is concerned with
its attempts to obtain nuclear weapons. Turkey may feel threatened if
Iran should have nuclear weapons, and believes Iran should abide by
all United Nations resolutions. However, Turkey does not object to Iran
operating a nuclear programme for peaceful purposes (i.e. energy use).
· While there is a religious movement at the political level
in Turkey, there has long been a robust secular base, which will
make it very difficult for any political force to change the status
quo. There are still issues to overcome but Turkey has been a beacon
of multiculturalism since the days of the Ottoman Empire. Dialogue
is important in the process of bridging the gap between the religious
and secular movements.
· Advocates of the secular movement greatly desire European
integration, predominantly because of perceived benefits in relation to
prosperity, intellectualism etc. But there are two important movements
which do not support this integration, namely the extreme religious
and nationalist movements. Their reluctance to integrate with Europe
must not be under-estimated. Similarly, the European Union’s demand of
Turkey to demonstrate a non-interventionist approach by the military
in the political affairs will not happen overnight – the military’s
influence in Turkish society is pervasive mainly due to the role it
played in the founding of the Turkish republic.
· Turkey is considered a model state for undemocratic Muslim
countries in the Middle East.
· There are no prejudices against Israelis or Jews in Turkey.
While anti-Semitism might occur in Turkey, much as it happens
throughout the world, it is not particularly visible in Turkey and
is not considered an issue. Turkish people accept members of other
faiths, cultures and ethnicities with acceptance and respect.
· Turkish citizens of Kurdish descent are protected by the
Constitution. They do not face any discrimination. In fact around one
fifth of Turkey’s parliamentarians are of Kurdish descent. While the
Kurdish community is predominantly located in the South East of Turkey,
they are well integrated with the rest of Turkish society in the main
cities throughout Turkey. There are indeed some Kurdish groups calling
for autonomy. While the Turkish Government is willing to consider a
range of requests from Kurdish groups, under no circumstances is it
willing to consider requests for autonomy or any other resolution
that would lead to an independent Kurdish state within Turkey.
· Turkey of course supports peace negotiations between Israel and
Syria and would be willing to act as mediator should the parties
request this.
CJF founder and director Manny Waks told J-Wire: " It should be
noted that the event ran an hour over time – a great indication of
the level of enjoyment by all those in attendance."
Watch the video at
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