- | Sunday, 31 January 2016 14:44
With the opening of the Grand Synagogue of Edirne, the celebration of Hanukkah and memorials held for the Holocaust and the Struma disaster, 2015 was a milestone year that shattered taboos for Jews in Turkey. However, in the same year, research has shown that Turkey is a leading country for anti-Semitic sentiments. This paradox shows that Turkey's nature is one of irony.
The Turkish Jewish community's newspaper Şalom conducted a survey on Twitter asking which of the previously mentioned four events was the most important. Fifty-seven percent of participants in the survey voted for the public Hanukkah celebration, followed by the opening of the synagogue in Edirne with 29 percent. Ten percent voted the Ankara memorial for the Holocaust and only 4 percent voted for the Struma memorial.
The mere existence of this kind of survey conducted two days before the start of 2016 shows one thing: 2015 was an unforgettable year for Turkish Jews. Each one of these events was a token of the shattering of historical taboos for this country. Reflecting this, Şalom's last headline of 2015 was “2015, the year that demolished taboos.”
The first event was last year's commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27 -- the day the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated -- which was marked for the first time in Ankara in 2015 at Bilkent University by then-Culture and Tourism Minister Ömer Çelik; a second ceremony was held this past week. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu sent a message and Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek gave a speech.
Last year, to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a ceremony was held at the site of the camp in Poland. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu represented Turkey at the ceremony. The tragedy of the sinking of the Struma during World War II was also observed with an official ceremony at the Ottoman-era Sepetçiler Köşkü. On Feb. 24 of last year, Çelik said, “This pain does not belong to the Jewish community alone but to all of us.”
In 2010, only the front facade of the Grand Synagogue of Edirne had begun to be restored. On March 26 of last year, the synagogue hosted a ceremonial opening with the attendance of then-Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç and over 1,000 other guests. Twenty buses arrived from all over Turkey, transporting Turkish Jews for the opening. The synagogue has opened its doors not only for worship but also for artistic events.
In many other parts of the world, Hanukkah is celebrated openly in city centers. But in Turkey, 2015 marked the first time that a public celebration was held for the religious holiday. On Dec. 13 of last year, representatives of the Turkish Jewish community were hosted by the Beşiktaş Municipality in Ortaköy Square in a colorful ceremony. The most special scene of the ceremony was when the rabbi of the Ortaköy Synagogue lit the candles of the menorah with the imam of the Ortaköy Great Mecidiye Mosque. Not only did Jews who came to the event participate in the ceremony, so did people from all kinds of backgrounds.
On the night of the Hanukkah ceremony, the leader of the Turkish Jewish Community, İshak İbrahimzadeh, highlighted the importance of the celebration: “With Edirne, we reached a turning point. But tonight we have experienced a miracle.”
One week after the Hanukkah celebration, meetings were held in Switzerland to take the first steps in the normalization process in Turkish-Israeli relations. This brings to mind the question, “Were all the ‘firsts' of 2015 the foundation for a progressive future in Turkish-Israeli relations?” We asked this question to the person behind the Hanukkah ceremony, Şalom Editor-in-Chief İvo Molinas. His answer was very clear: “No, I don't believe this at all. I am the best person to confirm this. I didn't have any idea that meetings would be held in Switzerland anyway. I wasn't aware that talks of an alliance were going to take place. This was a very big coincidence. I took steps only to achieve the dream that we have been imagining for years. The photographs from Ortaköy have nothing to do with contributing to Turkey's image.”
However, the positive talks involving NGOs and politicians are resulting in positive developments. It was important for there to be state officials at the opening and it just goes to show that this is possible in a Muslim country.
Turkey scores high in anti-Semitism
The Anti-Defamation League's website shows a study by the group that measures public attitudes and opinions toward Jews in over 100 countries. The index score for Turkey shows that 69 percent of the country harbors feeling of anti-Semitism. Of this number, 84 percent are men and 56 are women.
The website shows that 70 percent of Turkish citizens agree with the statement “Jews don't care what happens to anyone but their own kind” and 75 percent agree with the statement “Jews have too much power in the business world.”
Elif Ordukaya
Today's Zaman
30-1-2016