Jerusalem Post kertoo juutalaissyntyisen väestön olevan n 23 000 henkilöä, kansalaisuudeltaan turkkilaista.
Turkey’s Jewish community, which according to the World Jewish Congress number 23,000 people, has remained noticeably silent. Several attempts by The Jerusalem Post to interview leaders of the community failed. Amado, who is in close contact with friends and family in Turkey, explained their reluctance to speak to press.
“They are Turkish citizens,” explained Amado. “No matter how often the government says their problem is with the Netanyahu-Lieberman government, not Israelis or Jews in general, the Turkish people don’t always understand so they burn Israeli flags and there is massive security around Jewish institutions. Let’s not forget the bombing of a synagogue in Istanbul in 2003 and the murder of a dentist in Turkey just because he was Jewish. If someone in the Jewish community were to speak up and say ‘our situation is not good’ who knows where he’d find himself the following day?”
Ankara’s decision to expel Israel’s ambassador from the country was not the first time a Turkish government had taken such action. Alon Liel, a retired Israeli diplomat and expert on Turkey, remembers the last time Israel’s ambassador to Ankara was asked to leave 30 years ago during the First Lebanon War.
“Back then I was the second diplomat sent by the Foreign Ministry to conduct talks in Turkey and I saw how it affected the Jewish community in Turkey,” Liel said. “Usually when relations with Israel are good the social state of the community – not necessarily the economic one - improves: The synagogues are open, the schools are open. But when there’s tension the community goes underground.”
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