Jews Become Targets of Turkey’s Anger at U.S. Vote on Armenia
By Louis Meixler
Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) — Turkey’s rage over a U.S. congressional
resolution accusing it of genocide against Armenians nearly a century
ago is being felt in quarters far removed from Washington: its own
Jewish community.
Turkish Jews’ concerns for their safety have been fanned by comments
from Foreign Minister Ali Babacan that there’s a perception in the
country that Jews and Armenians “are now hand-in-hand trying to
defame Turkey.” Turkey’s complaint: Its usual allies among pro-Israel
U.S. lobbyists didn’t work hard enough to block the resolution.
Even as support for the measure fades in Congress — U.S. House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday backed off her promise to bring it to a
floor vote — it has intensified feelings of vulnerability among
Turkey’s 23,000 Jews, who have been subjected to terrorist bombings.
“There have been insinuations that our security and well- being in
Turkey is linked to the fate” of the resolution, Jewish leaders said
in a half-page ad in the Washington Times urging its rejection.
“Public opinion is so emotional on the issue that they seem to blame
everyone who may not have been able to block it,” Sami Kohen, a
prominent member of the Jewish community in Istanbul and a columnist
for the Milliyet newspaper, said in an interview. “Some elements —
Islamists and ultranationalists — might use the Jews as a scapegoat
and say they have failed, they have done nothing.”
Genocidal Campaign
Armenian groups say 1.5 million Armenians were killed in a campaign of
genocide as the Ottoman Empire collapsed at the end of World War I and
a new Turkish republic was established. Turkey says that number is
inflated and that Turks and Armenians alike were killed in large
numbers.
Turkey, which has close ties with Israel, has long relied on lobbying
from Jewish groups in Washington to aid in fending off proposals like
the one endorsed by a House of Representatives panel Oct. 10. But the
alliance suffered a blow when the Anti-Defamation League, the largest
U.S. organization aimed at combating anti-Semitism, issued a statement
on Aug. 21 saying the killings of Armenians were “tantamount to
genocide,” though it still opposed the congressional resolution.
Babacan, in an Oct. 6 interview with Turkey’s Vatan newspaper, said
that “we would not be able to keep the Jews out of this business” if
the resolution is adopted.
Defaming Turkey
Three days later, in an interview with the Jerusalem Post, he said
that “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.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Levent Bilmen issued a statement the day
after the Jerusalem Post interview, saying that leaders of the
“Jewish community, which is a part of our society, have from the
beginning rejected the unjust and wrong contents” of the genocide
resolution.
Even so, Kohen said, for the Jewish community, “this publicity could
make their life difficult.”
On the Web site of the Islamic-leaning Zaman newspaper, 22 percent of
the 869 people who had responded to an online survey by yesterday
blamed “Jews having legitimized the genocide claims” for the
resolution getting as far as it has.
De-Linking
“This perception has to be fought by the government, which must
de-link the American Jews and the resolution,” said Soner Cagaptay,
an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “A lot
of Jewish groups are working to defeat the resolution.”
So is President George W. Bush, who called Pelosi Oct. 16 to urge her
to cancel plans for a vote and said yesterday that Congress “has more
important work to do than antagonizing a democratic ally in the Muslim
world.”
The Turkish government recalled its ambassador after last week’s panel
vote. U.S. relations with Turkey, the only Muslim member of NATO and a
key supply route for troops in Iraq, were further strained by
yesterday’s vote by the Turkish parliament to approve a possible
attack on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.
Leaders of the Jewish community in Turkey declined to be
interviewed. While there have been no reports of increased security at
Jewish sites, security is already extremely high. Most synagogues in
Turkey are unmarked and guarded by police.
Bombing Synagogues
In November 2003, terrorists linked to al-Qaeda slammed truck bombs
into two synagogues in Istanbul, killing 25 people, mostly Muslim
bystanders and nearby shopkeepers. In 1986, Palestinian gunmen entered
the main synagogue, firing guns and lobbing grenades at Sabbath
worshippers. Twenty-two were killed.
The land that is now Turkey has been home to a Jewish community for at
least 2,000 years. Ottoman Sultan Beyazit II invited Spanish Jews to
settle in Istanbul after they were expelled in 1492.
The community — numbering about 100,000 in 1900 — dwindled after
Turkey imposed special taxes on minorities during World War II that
destroyed many businesses. The creation of Israel in 1948 attracted
many Jewish immigrants from Turkey, one of the factors that helped
forge good relations between the two countries.
“Turkey’s perception of its good ties with Israel is that this
relationship stands on American Jewish support for Turkey in
Washington,” Cagaptay said. “This is not a bilateral relationship,
it is a trilateral relationship.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Louis Meixler in Istanbul at
[email protected] .
Last Updated: October 17, 2007 17:02 EDT