For the past week I have seen hundreds of comments which said that Israel was being demonized and which also defended Israel and Israel’s actions, especially the boarding of the Mavi Marmara and her sister boats and ships.
Many of the same people who made those comments have also made a lot of comments in which they attempted to demonize Turkey and Turkish people, especially those who were on the ships.
There are enough people at Daily Kos to defend, explain or promote Israel and Israel’s actions.
This diary is about Turkey, Turkey and Jews, and Turkey and Israel.
In my next diary I hope to write about Turkey and Iran, Turkey and Palestinians, and Turkey and Hamas.
"Turkey hates Jews and Israel."
I have read this several times and it truly amazes me every time I see it. Does Turkey hate Jews and Israel? The answers are no, not yet and yes.
No.
Historically and Socially - Jews have a very long history in what is now called Turkey and have been living happily and successfully here since at least 1324 when the oldest existing synagogue in Turkey, the Etz ha-Hayyim Synagogue, was built in Bursa.
When Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal in 1492 they were invited to come to the Ottoman Empire by the Sultan and a large number of them came. Additionally, during World War II Turkey helped save many Jews and many Jews came to Turkey to escape Nazi persecution.
Today there are at least 44 synagogues in Turkey. For 6 years I lived about 30 meters down the street from one of them and I never saw anything unpleasant happen there or heard anyone say anything negative or unpleasant about the synagogue or the people who worshipped there.
Every year tens of thousands of Israelis come to Turkey, especially to the Antalya region, for their holidays. In addition to that, every summer a lot of tourists who come to Antalya from other countries take one day excursions to Israel. They fly out in the morning, see Jerusalem, and then fly back the same night. Antalya airport is also an important transit point for Israelis who want to go to Arab countries, especially Arabian Gulf countries. They fly in, change planes and then fly on to their destinations.
A successful weekly Jewish newspaper, Salom Gazetesi, is published in Istanbul.
Politically- Turkey and Israel have had formal diplomatic relations since March, 1949, and Turkey and Israel have had very close business and military ties since then.
Tayyip Erdoğan the Prime Minister of Turkey received the Profiles of Courage Award from the American Jewish Committee for promoting peace between cultures on January 29, 2004.
In November, 2007 Israeli President Shimon Peres addressed the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Parliament).
However, there have been unpleasant events. The 1942 ‘Capital Tax’ imposed a heavy tax which affected mostly non-Muslim minorities and Jews were heavily taxed. The 1955 Istanbul Riots were aimed primarily at Greeks but some Jews were also targeted. In 1986 the Neve Shalom Synagogue was attacked by terrorists and in 2003 it was bombed along with the Bet Israel Synagogue, British Consulate and HSBC Headquartes.
Please note: The ‘Capital Tax’ was very unpopular among the general population in Turkey. The synagogue attacks were widely condemned by the Turkish public.
Not yet.
Following the incredible destruction and hardship which occured during World War I, the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish War of Independence, the Republic of Turkey was founded as a western looking government which understood that it also has to try to keep a balanced approach to its regional neighbors because the region was/is very volatile.
It was Turkey's western orientation, desire to be balanced in the region, good relations with the U.S. (the U.S. refused to participate in the post WWI partition) and good relations with Jews for hundreds of years which lead to Turkey's recognizing Israel in March, 1949. Following this the relationship between Turkey and Israel steadily grew stronger.
However, the boarding of and deaths on the Gaza aid flotilla has affected many Turkish people. The plight of Palestinians, especially those in Gaza, is also having an impact on public opinion towards Israel. Turkish people, like all people, have a point of no return. Let’s hope that Israel stops pushing Turkish people towards it.
There has also been a shift in some of the Turkish government’s policies and attitude towards Israel. The shift began in 2007 and it is having a limited effect on public opinion for the time being.
This shift is partly ideological but mostly for domestic political reasons. I will write about these in my next diary.
Yes.
Turkish people are not at the point of hating Israel or Jews but a great majority of them despise many things that Israel does. How things develop in the future is solely greatly in the hands of the government of Israel and the Jewish people who elect them.
To sum things up...
After being essentially wiped off the face of the earth during World War I by not only losing the war and apx. 3,000,000 people but also by losing most of its territory and governmental power in the Treaty of Sèvres, the Turkish people had to overcome the additional destruction and hardship which occured during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish War of Independence.
In spite of - or perhaps because of - this along with being located in what is probably the most volatile region in the world, the Turkish people have tried to maintain a western orientation with balanced but distant relations with its neighbors. Its reward is to be unfairly vilified, usually by people who don’t know anything about Turkey.
This is my first attempt at writing a diary. If you have any advice concerning mistakes I have made in style I would be happy to hear from you.
PLEASE NOTE: The Armenians and Kurds are subjects that I want to write about in the future.
Update:
The population of the Ottoman Empire was 21.3 million.
There were 771,844 military deaths.
Ottoman civilian deaths during World War I were 2,150,000. Civilian losses were caused by famine, disease and the Armenian Genocide which resulted in the deaths of about 1.5 million Armenians. Regarding civilian losses in the Ottoman Empire Prof Edward J. Erikson has noted "To the military losses must be added the huge loss of life and productivity of the Muslim, Armenian and other Ottoman civilians killed or injured during the war." He also noted that "The empire’s productive Armenian population was largely gone". Total Ottoman population losses from 1914–1922 were approximately 5 million including the Spanish flu deaths, the Turkish War of Independence from 1919–1922 and the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey, these other population losses are not included with the casualties of World War I.
Some 6 million out of 21 million to me is decimation. Be they Turks, Arabs, Armenians or Kurds.
Add in all the damage that was done to cities, infrastructure and agriculture and you can understand why I say 'decimated'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...