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TURKEY'S MODEL MINORITY
Canadian Jewish News
http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?q=node/90146
June 5 2012
A valued and protected model minority during the Ottoman Empire and
nfull citizens since the formation of a secular republic in 1923,
the Jews of Turkey have enjoyed equality and respect, but have had
to cope with periodic outbursts of xenophobia and racism.
Turkey, a pro-western state of 75 million inhabitants with the
second-largest Jewish community in the Muslim world after that of Iran,
treasures its centuries-long bond with Jews. As Turkish diplomat Ertan
Tezgor said, "We have quite tight relations with the Jewish people."
Judging by the historic record, Jews have fared far better in Turkey
than Armenians or Greeks, whose grievances can fill a book.
The Jewish presence in Turkey can be traced back to antiquity, to
the Roman and Byzantine empires, when Greek-speaking Romaniote Jews
settled in Anatolia, Turkey's heartland, and were eventually absorbed
by Sephardi Jews, who reached Ottoman lands from Spain under duress
in the 15th century.
Invited to the Ottoman Empire by the sultan, Mehmet II, Jews repaid
the favour by being exceedingly loyal and productive citizens. Like
all minorities, they lived within the framework of the millet system,
which organized non-Muslim communities on the basis of religion.
With the breakup of the remaining segments of the Ottoman Empire,
a cosmopolitan domain that reached deep into the Middle East and the
Balkans, the number of Jews declined precipitously, from several
hundred thousand in the 19th century to 80,000 by the conclusion
of Turkey's war of national independence, which resulted in a
Muslim/Christian population exchange.
In modern Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the revered father
of the nation, minorities, especially Greek and Armenian Christians,
were subjected to assimilationist policies and discrimination until
the 1950s, according to Istanbul historian Rifat Bali.
In Eastern Thrace, Turkey's gateway to Europe, several thousand Jews
in towns such as Edirne and Canakkale were forcibly expelled in 1934
in a campaign of physical violence, psychological intimidation and
economic boycotts. The expulsions finally stopped when the central
government intervened and allowed Jews to return to their homes.
"It's not clear who was behind all this," said Bali. But right-wing
nationalists sympathetic to Nazi racial doctrines may have been among
the perpetrators.
In 1942, the Turkish government imposed a crippling wealth tax (Varlik
vergisi) on well-off citizens. Historians generally regard the punitive
tax, most keenly felt by Jews and Christians, as an attempt by the
government to stop war profiteering and to transfer wealth to the
Sunni majority.
Bali describes the tax, revoked in 1944, as a discriminatory and
arbitrary measure that blatantly violated the 1924 constitution. In
his view, the tax sent an unmistakable signal to minorities that they
had no future in Turkey.
In 1955, following reports that Ataturk's ancestral home in Salonika
had been destroyed, anti-Greek riots erupted in the centre of Istanbul,
resulting in the destruction of numerous shops and homes.
Jews and Armenians were caught in the backwash of this pogrom.
Five decades on, Turkey has matured and now has "a positive attitude
to minorities," said Bali. But due to the events of 1934, 1942 and
1955, the pull of Israel after 1948 and an outbreak of terrorism in
the 1970s, Turkey's Jewish community has declined numerically.
About 18,000 Jews, all but 400 of whom are Sephardi Jews, reside in
Turkey today. Emigration is still a factor, with upwards of 150 Jews
making aliyah every year. By one estimate, there are 100,000 Jews of
Turkish origin in Israel.
By all accounts, the 1986 and 2003 bombings of Neve Shalom, the
biggest synagogue in Istanbul, did not cause a significant exodus of
Jews. The attacks, which were respectively perpetrated by Arab and
Turkish terrorists, claimed the lives of more than 40 Jews and Muslims.
Turkish Jews are largely concentrated in Istanbul, with much smaller
centres in Izmir, Bursa and Ankara. They possess an impressive range
of institutions, synagogues and schools, but these facilities are
increasingly difficult to maintain.
Demographic realities, notably an intermarriage rate ranging in
the vicinity of 25 per cent and an aging population in which deaths
outnumber births, are key problems in the community, said Izak Kolman,
an advisor to Chief Rabbi Isak Haleva.
He and others believe that Jewish population stability will be
assured by Turkey's vibrant economy and by Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan's decision to bring in a new constitution enshrining
human rights.
By local standards, Turkish Jews are fairly prosperous, being active
in business (particularly in the textile trade) and the professions.
Yet 200 families in Istanbul require food aid per month.
Traditionally, the civil service and the armed forces have been
informally off-limits to Jews and Christians. However, Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu recently declared that Jews should be members
of the diplomatic corps. Whether the new policy is merely tokenism
remains to be seen.
Jewish leaders here claim that antisemitism does not pose a problem
in daily life. But since most Muslim Turks have never met a Jew,
"you have fear and negative feelings," noted Sami Herman, the
community's president.
Antisemitic material is published in the ultra-nationalist and Islamic
press, Bali observed. "But the sentiments they express reflect opinion
in the street, and are not held by Turkish elites."
Although Jews are well integrated into Turkish society, ethnocentric
Turks claim that only Muslims are real Turks, and that Jews are
foreigners (yabancis).
The Mavi Marmara incident of May 2010, during which Israeli commandos
stormed a Turkish ship trying to break Israel's naval siege of the
Gaza Strip, may have contributed to the erroneous belief that Jews
are faux Turks. "Jews feared that their loyalty to Turkey would be
questioned," said Bali. "But no one questioned their loyalty."
By way of response, the Jewish community immediately issued an official
statement expressing sadness and sorrow over the loss of life. Much
to its relief, Erdogan issued a warning that anti-Israel feelings
should not be allowed to spill over into antisemitism.
"We felt a little stressed, but there has not been a long-term impact
on our community," said Herman, observing that the Mavi Marmara affair
only affected Turkey's bilateral relations with Israel.
Although Turkish Jews tend to be pro-Israel, citing historical and
cultural affinities with Israel, they tread carefully in public
discussions about Zionism.
"We're not Zionists," declared Herman. "Not at all. But for sure
Israel is very important for Jews."
Herman's colleague, Adil Anjel, put it more starkly: "In Turkey,
Zionism is a bad word, like saying you're a racist."
He added, "We are Turkish Jews who feel sympathetic toward Israel."
Canadian Jewish News
http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?q=node/90146
June 5 2012
A valued and protected model minority during the Ottoman Empire and
nfull citizens since the formation of a secular republic in 1923,
the Jews of Turkey have enjoyed equality and respect, but have had
to cope with periodic outbursts of xenophobia and racism.
Turkey, a pro-western state of 75 million inhabitants with the
second-largest Jewish community in the Muslim world after that of Iran,
treasures its centuries-long bond with Jews. As Turkish diplomat Ertan
Tezgor said, "We have quite tight relations with the Jewish people."
Judging by the historic record, Jews have fared far better in Turkey
than Armenians or Greeks, whose grievances can fill a book.
The Jewish presence in Turkey can be traced back to antiquity, to
the Roman and Byzantine empires, when Greek-speaking Romaniote Jews
settled in Anatolia, Turkey's heartland, and were eventually absorbed
by Sephardi Jews, who reached Ottoman lands from Spain under duress
in the 15th century.
Invited to the Ottoman Empire by the sultan, Mehmet II, Jews repaid
the favour by being exceedingly loyal and productive citizens. Like
all minorities, they lived within the framework of the millet system,
which organized non-Muslim communities on the basis of religion.
With the breakup of the remaining segments of the Ottoman Empire,
a cosmopolitan domain that reached deep into the Middle East and the
Balkans, the number of Jews declined precipitously, from several
hundred thousand in the 19th century to 80,000 by the conclusion
of Turkey's war of national independence, which resulted in a
Muslim/Christian population exchange.
In modern Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the revered father
of the nation, minorities, especially Greek and Armenian Christians,
were subjected to assimilationist policies and discrimination until
the 1950s, according to Istanbul historian Rifat Bali.
In Eastern Thrace, Turkey's gateway to Europe, several thousand Jews
in towns such as Edirne and Canakkale were forcibly expelled in 1934
in a campaign of physical violence, psychological intimidation and
economic boycotts. The expulsions finally stopped when the central
government intervened and allowed Jews to return to their homes.
"It's not clear who was behind all this," said Bali. But right-wing
nationalists sympathetic to Nazi racial doctrines may have been among
the perpetrators.
In 1942, the Turkish government imposed a crippling wealth tax (Varlik
vergisi) on well-off citizens. Historians generally regard the punitive
tax, most keenly felt by Jews and Christians, as an attempt by the
government to stop war profiteering and to transfer wealth to the
Sunni majority.
Bali describes the tax, revoked in 1944, as a discriminatory and
arbitrary measure that blatantly violated the 1924 constitution. In
his view, the tax sent an unmistakable signal to minorities that they
had no future in Turkey.
In 1955, following reports that Ataturk's ancestral home in Salonika
had been destroyed, anti-Greek riots erupted in the centre of Istanbul,
resulting in the destruction of numerous shops and homes.
Jews and Armenians were caught in the backwash of this pogrom.
Five decades on, Turkey has matured and now has "a positive attitude
to minorities," said Bali. But due to the events of 1934, 1942 and
1955, the pull of Israel after 1948 and an outbreak of terrorism in
the 1970s, Turkey's Jewish community has declined numerically.
About 18,000 Jews, all but 400 of whom are Sephardi Jews, reside in
Turkey today. Emigration is still a factor, with upwards of 150 Jews
making aliyah every year. By one estimate, there are 100,000 Jews of
Turkish origin in Israel.
By all accounts, the 1986 and 2003 bombings of Neve Shalom, the
biggest synagogue in Istanbul, did not cause a significant exodus of
Jews. The attacks, which were respectively perpetrated by Arab and
Turkish terrorists, claimed the lives of more than 40 Jews and Muslims.
Turkish Jews are largely concentrated in Istanbul, with much smaller
centres in Izmir, Bursa and Ankara. They possess an impressive range
of institutions, synagogues and schools, but these facilities are
increasingly difficult to maintain.
Demographic realities, notably an intermarriage rate ranging in
the vicinity of 25 per cent and an aging population in which deaths
outnumber births, are key problems in the community, said Izak Kolman,
an advisor to Chief Rabbi Isak Haleva.
He and others believe that Jewish population stability will be
assured by Turkey's vibrant economy and by Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan's decision to bring in a new constitution enshrining
human rights.
By local standards, Turkish Jews are fairly prosperous, being active
in business (particularly in the textile trade) and the professions.
Yet 200 families in Istanbul require food aid per month.
Traditionally, the civil service and the armed forces have been
informally off-limits to Jews and Christians. However, Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu recently declared that Jews should be members
of the diplomatic corps. Whether the new policy is merely tokenism
remains to be seen.
Jewish leaders here claim that antisemitism does not pose a problem
in daily life. But since most Muslim Turks have never met a Jew,
"you have fear and negative feelings," noted Sami Herman, the
community's president.
Antisemitic material is published in the ultra-nationalist and Islamic
press, Bali observed. "But the sentiments they express reflect opinion
in the street, and are not held by Turkish elites."
Although Jews are well integrated into Turkish society, ethnocentric
Turks claim that only Muslims are real Turks, and that Jews are
foreigners (yabancis).
The Mavi Marmara incident of May 2010, during which Israeli commandos
stormed a Turkish ship trying to break Israel's naval siege of the
Gaza Strip, may have contributed to the erroneous belief that Jews
are faux Turks. "Jews feared that their loyalty to Turkey would be
questioned," said Bali. "But no one questioned their loyalty."
By way of response, the Jewish community immediately issued an official
statement expressing sadness and sorrow over the loss of life. Much
to its relief, Erdogan issued a warning that anti-Israel feelings
should not be allowed to spill over into antisemitism.
"We felt a little stressed, but there has not been a long-term impact
on our community," said Herman, observing that the Mavi Marmara affair
only affected Turkey's bilateral relations with Israel.
Although Turkish Jews tend to be pro-Israel, citing historical and
cultural affinities with Israel, they tread carefully in public
discussions about Zionism.
"We're not Zionists," declared Herman. "Not at all. But for sure
Israel is very important for Jews."
Herman's colleague, Adil Anjel, put it more starkly: "In Turkey,
Zionism is a bad word, like saying you're a racist."
He added, "We are Turkish Jews who feel sympathetic toward Israel."