US Jewish leaders call on Turkey to curb anti-Semitic outbursts

Jan 23, 2009, 7:38 GMT

Ankara - Five US Jewish groups have expressed their concern over a rise in anti-Semitic events in Turkey in reaction to Israeli military operations in Gaza, penning a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urging him to take action, Turkish media reported Friday.

Listing a series of anti-Semitic protests in Turkey in the last few weeks, including anti-Jewish propaganda posters in Istanbul, the defacing of a synagogue in Izmir and protestors outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul expressing anti-Jewish sentiments, the letter calls on Erdogan 'to urgently address these disturbing developments.'

'Our Jewish friends in Turkey feel besieged and threatened. A connection is clearly perceived between the inflammatory denunciation of Israel by Turkish officials and the rise of anti-Semitism,' said the letter signed by leaders of the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, B'nai B'rith International, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs.

Erdogan and other Turkish leaders have been especially critical of Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip, with Erdogan describing Israel's actions as a 'humanitarian disgrace' and a 'stain on history's page.'

At the same time Erdogan has said a number of times that criticism of Israel should not spill over into anti-Semitism, which he said was a 'crime against humanity.'