Jewish youth leaving Turkey due to political strains

JERUSALEM – Hürriyet Daily News

Young Turkish Jews are increasingly deciding to emigrate from the country, prompted by perceptions of rising anti-Semitism and deteriorating relations with Israel, says a community figure

This photo shows Istanbul’s historic Neve Shalom Synagogue. Association of Turkish Jews in Israel Deputy Chairman Nasim Güveniş says Turkish Jews have sensed a turn for the worse in the atmosphere in recent years.

The negative atmosphere and deteriorating relationship between Turkey and Israel is putting pressure on the small community of nearly 15,000 Jews in Turkey and prompting young Turkish Jews to emigrate from the country.

Anti-Semitism, triggered by harsh statements from the Turkish government, has led to the migration of hundreds of Jewish youngsters from Turkey to the U.S. or Europe, Nesim Güveniş, deputy chairman the Association of Turkish Jews in Israel, told the Hürriyet Daily News on Oct. 21.

This unease went before the Mavi Marmara incident, and was aggravated by the notorious “one minute” spat between the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Israeli President Shimon Peres in Davos, according to Güveniş.

Peres ‘a man of peace’

“Is [Israeli President Shimon] Peres a man that could be told ‘one minute’? He is known in the world as a man of peace,” Güveniş said, recalling the Davos debate in which Erdoğan accused Peres of "knowing well how to kill" before storming out of the venue.

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