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[By: Noam Avigdor Güleryüz]
The Republic of Turkey, a transcontinental country located mostly on Anatolia in Western Asia and East Thrace in Southeastern Europe, has a Jewish history dating back possibly to the 4th century B.C.E. Today, the Jewish population of Turkey is approximately 17,400.
- Early History
- A Haven for Sephardic Jews
- The Life of Ottoman Jewry
- Equality & A New Republic
- Turkish Jewry Today
- Jewish Education, Language & Social Life
Early History
At midnight August 2, 1492, when Columbus embarked on what would become his most famous expedition to the New
World, his fleet departed from the relatively unknown seaport of Palos
because the shipping lanes of Cadiz and Seville were clogged with Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain by the Edict of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand
of Spain.
The Jews forced either to convert to Christianity
or to "leave" the country under menace "they
dare not return... not so much as to take a step on them not trespass
upon them in any manner whatsoever" left their land, their
property, their belongings all that was theirs and familiar to them
rather than abandon their beliefs, their traditions, their heritage.
In the faraway Ottoman Empire, one ruler - Sultan Bayazid II- extended an immediate welcome to the persecuted
Jews of Spain, the Sephardim.
The history of the Jews in Anatolia, however, started many
centuries before the migration of Sephardic Jews. Remnants of Jewish settlement from the 4th century B.C.E. have
been uncovered in the Aegean region, where Jews lived and traded in
the ancient cities of Ephesus, Sardis, Pergamon, and Smyrna (renamed
Izmir by the Turks). The historian Josephus
Flavius relates that Aristotle "met Jewish people with
whom he had an exchange of views during his trip across Asia Minor."
Second and third century Greek inscriptions tell
of a flourishing Jewish community in Smyrna. Ancient synagogue ruins have also been found in Sardis, near Izmir, dating from 220
B.C.E. and traces of other Jewish settlements have been discovered
near Bursa, in the southeast and along the Aegean, Mediterranean and
Black Sea coasts. A bronze column found in Ankara confirms the rights
the Emperor Augustus accorded the Jews of Asia Minor.
Jewish communities in Anatolia flourished and continued
to prosper through the Turkish conquest. When the Ottomans captured
Bursa in 1324 and made it their capital, they found a Jewish community
oppressed under Byzantine rule. The Jews welcomed the Ottomans as saviors. Sultan Orhan gave
them permission to build the Etz ha-Hayyim (Tree of Life) synagogue
which remained in service until 50 years ago.
Early in the 14th century, when the Ottomans had
established their capital at Edirne, Jews from Europe, including Karaites, migrated there.1 Similarly, Jews expelled from Hungary in 1376, from France by
Charles VI in September 1394, and from Sicily early in the 15th century
found refuge in the Ottoman Empire. In the 1420s, Jews from Salonika
then under Venetian control fled to Edirne.2
Ottoman
rule was much kinder than Byzantine rule had been. In fact, from
the early 15th century on, the Ottomans actively encouraged Jewish immigration.
Western European Jews received three invitations to settle in the Ottoman
Empire. Two were from Muslim sultans, Muhammad (Mehmet) II in the middle
of the 15th century and Bayazid II in 1492. The third came in a letter
sent by Rabbi Yitzhak Sarfati (from Edirne) in 1454 to Jewish communities
in Europe in the first part of the century that "invited his
coreligionists to leave the torments they were enduring in Christiandom
and to seek safety and prosperity in Turkey."3 Rabbi Sarfati wrote that “here every man dwells at peace under
his own vine and fig tree.”3
When Mehmet II "the Conqueror" took Constantinople
in 1453, he encountered an oppressed Romaniot (Byzantine) Jewish community
which welcomed him with enthusiasm. Sultan Mehmet II issued a proclamation
to all Jews "... to ascend the site of the Imperial Throne,
to dwell in the best of the land, each beneath his Dine and his fig
tree, with silver and with gold, with wealth and with cattle...".4
In 1470, Jews expelled from Bavaria by Ludvig X found
refuge in the Ottoman Empire.5
A Haven for Sephardic Jews
Sultan Bayazid II's offer of refuge gave new hope
to the persecuted Sephardim. In 1492, the Sultan ordered
the governors of the provinces of the Ottoman Empire "not
to refuse the Jews entry or cause them difficulties, but to receive
them cordially."6 According
to Bernard Lewis, "the Jews were not just permitted to settle
in the Ottoman lands, but were encouraged, assisted and sometimes
even compelled".
Immanual Aboab attributes to Bayazid II the famous
remark that "the Catholic monarch Ferdinand was wrongly considered
as wise, since he impoverished Spain by the expulsion of the Jews,
and enriched Turkey."7
The arrival of the Sephardim altered the structure
of the community and the original group of Romaniote Jews was totally
absorbed.
 Menorah with Crescent & Star (Izmir) |
These Jews settled in various Ottoman cities, such as
Salonika, but it was not until the late sixteenth century that they
moved to Smyrna, which has become a major port city. The arrival of
the Sephardim altered the structure of the community and the original
group of Romaniote Jews (descendants of Greek-speaking Jews) was totally
absorbed.
Over the centuries an increasing number of European Jews,
escaping persecution in their native countries, settled in the Ottoman
Empire. In 1537 the Jews expelled from Apulia (Italy) after the city
fell under Papal control, in 1542 those expelled from Bohemia by King
Ferdinand found a safe haven in the Ottoman Empire.8 In March of 1556, Sultan Suleyman "the Magnificent" wrote a letter to Pope Paul
IV asking for the immediate release of the Ancona Marranos, which he
declared to be Ottoman citizens. The Pope had no other alternative than
to release them, the Ottoman Empire being the "Super Power"
of those days.
By 1477, Jewish households in Istanbul numbered 1,647
or 11% of the total. Half a century later, 8,070 Jewish houses were
listed in the city.
The Life of Ottoman Jewry
For 300 years following the expulsion, the prosperity
and creativity of the Ottoman Jews rivaled that of the Golden Age
of Spain.
Four Turkish cities: Istanbul, Izmir, Safed and Salonica became the
centers of Sephardic Jewry. The Tu
B’Shevat seder was developed in Izmir in the seventeenth
century. The creator may have been Shabetai
Zvi, the pseudo Messiah and founder of the Sabbatean movement. In reaction to Zvi, Izmir's
Jews withdrew from any secular pursuits.
  Left:
Jewish Doctor - 1568 (Woodcut from "Nicolay de Nicolay",
page 185); Right: Prayer offered for the Victory of Turkish
armies in the war against Russia with the presence of the Sadrazam
(Prime Minister) Ibrahim Edhem Pasha Ahrida Synagogue (London
Illustrated News 9.6.1877)
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Most of the court physicians were Jews: Hakim Yakoub,
Joseph and Moshe Hamon, Daniel Fonseca, Gabriel Buenauentura to name
only very few ones.
One of the most significant innovations that Jews brought
to the Ottoman Empire was the printing press.
In 1493, only one year after their expulsion
from Spain, David & Samuel ibn Nahmias established the first
Hebrew printing press in Istanbul.
Ottoman diplomacy was often carried out by Jews. Joseph Nasi, appointed the Duke
of Naxos, was the former Portuguese Marrano Joao Miques. Another Portuguese
Marrano, Aluaro Mandes, was named Duke of Mytylene in return of his
diplomatic services to the Sultan. Salamon ben Nathan Eskenazi arranged
the first diplomatic ties with the British Empire. Jewish women such
as Dona Gracia Mendes
Nasi "La Seniora" and Esther Kyra exercised considerable
influence in the Court.
In the free air of the Ottoman Empire, Jewish literature
flourished. Joseph Caro compiled the Shulkhan Arukh. Shlomo haLevi Alkabes composed the Lekhah Dodi a hymn which welcomes the Sabbath according to both Sephardic and Ashkenazi ritual. Jacob Culi began
to write the famous MeAm Loez. Rabbi Abraham ben Isaac Assa became
known as the father of Judeo-Spanish literature.
On October 27, 1840 Sultan Abdulmecid issued his famous
ferman concerning the "Blood Libel Accusation" saying: "... and for the love we bear to our subjects, we cannot permit
the Jewish nation, whose innocence for the crime alleged against them
is evident, to be worried and tormented as a consequence of accusations
which have not the least foundation in truth...".
Under Ottoman tradition, each non-Moslem religious community
was responsible for its own institutions, including schools. In the
early 19th century, Abraham de Camondo established a modern
school, "La Escola", causing a serious conflict between
conservative and secular rabbis which was only settled by the intervention
of Sultan Abdulaziz in 1864. The same year the Takkanot haKehilla (By-laws of the Jewish Community) was published, defining the structure
of the Jewish community.
Equality & A New Republic
Efforts at reform of the Ottoman
Empire led to the proclamation of the Hatti Humayun in 1856, which
made all Ottoman citizens, Moslem and non-Moslem alike, equal under
the law. As a result, leadership of the community began to shift away
from the religious figure to secular forces.
World War I brought to an end the glory of the Ottoman
Empire. In its place rose the young Turkish Republic. Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk was elected president, the Caliphate was abolished and a secular
constitution was adopted.
"Etz
ha-Hayim" Synagogue before it burnt in 1941. Visit of late
Chief Rabbi Haim Bedjerano. (Ortakoy - Istanbul) |
Recognized in 1923 by the Treaty of Lausanne as a
fully independent state within its present-day borders, Turkey accorded
minority rights to the three principal non-Moslem religious minorities
and permitted them to carry on with their own schools, social institutions
and funds. In 1926, on the eve of Turkey's adoption of the Swiss Civil
Code, the Jewish Community renounced its minority status on personal
rights.
During the tragic days of World War II, Turkey managed
to maintain its neutrality. As early as 1933 Ataturk invited numbers
of prominent German Jewish professors to flee Nazi
Germany and settle in Turkey. Before and during the war years,
these scholars contributed a great deal to the development of the
Turkish university system.
During World War II, Turkey served as a safe passage
for many Jews fleeing the horrors of the Nazism.
While the Jewish communities of Greece were wiped out almost completely by Hitler,
the Turkish Jews remained secure. Several Turkish diplomats, Ambassadors
Behic Erkin and Numan Menemencioglu; Consul Generals Fikret Sefik
Ozdoganci, Bedii Arbel, Selahattin Ulkumen; Consuls Namik Kemal Yolga
and Necdet Kent, just to name a few, spent all their efforts to save
from the Holocaust the Turkish Jews in those countries, and
succeeded.9 Mr. Salahattin Ulkumen, Consul
General at Rhodes in 1943-1944, has been recognized by the Yad Vashem as a Righteous Gentile ("Hassid Umot
ha'Olam") in June 1990. Turkey continues to be a shelter, a haven
for all those who have to flee dogmatism, intolerance and persecution.
Turkish Jewry Today
 
Left:
"Rimonim" with Crescent & Star (Izmir - Istanbul). Right: House bearing both "Magen David" and
Moslem "Mashallah" (Galata - Istanbul)
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The present (2013) size of Jewish Community is estimated
at around 17,400, out of a total population of 70 million. This is a small number compared to the 80,000 Jewish individuals who lived in Turkey at the time of Israel's establishment. The vast
majority, about 18,000, live in Istanbul, with a community of about
1,500 in Izmir and other smaller groups located in Adana, Ankara,
Bursa, Canakkale, Iskenderun and Kirklareli. Sephardis make up 96% of the Community, with Ashkenazis accounting for the rest. There are about 100 Karaites, an independent group that
does not accept the authority of the Chief Rabbi.
Turkish Jews are legally represented, as they have
been for many centuries, by the Hahambasi, the Chief Rabbi. Rav David
Asseo, Chief Rabbi since his election in 1961, is assisted by a religious
Council made up of a Rosh Bet Din and three Hahamim. Thirty-five Lay
Counselors look after the secular affairs of the Community and an
Executive Committee of fourteen, the president of which must be elected
from among the Lay Counselors, runs the daily affairs.
Synagogues are classified as religious foundations (Vakifs). There are 23 active
synagogues in Turkey, 16 of which are in Istanbul . Three are in service
in holiday resorts, during summer only. Some of them are very old,
especially Ahrida Synagogue in the Balat area, which dates from middle15th
century. The 15th and 16th century Haskoy and Kuzguncuk cemeteries
in Istanbul are still in use today.
In October 2013, Nesim Güveniş, deputy chairman the Association of Turkish Jews in Israel, reported that hundreds of young Turkish Jews are emigrating to the United States or Western Europe triggered by increased anti-Semitism led by the Turkish government. The negative atmosphere in the country towards Jews and Israel emerged with the rise of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and was aggravated by the deadly Gaza Flotilla incident in 2010. Turkey has experienced underlying anti-semitism for much of it's history but the anti-semitic ideals really started to show in public after Erdogan's rise to power. Erdogan's government platform comes from a strict Islamist ideology. Anti-semitic sentiments are common in Turkey, with the recent Anti-Defamation League Global 100 index of anti-semitism concluding that 69% of Turks hold some sort of anti-semitic beliefs. This figure is significantly higher than other European averages and only slightly lower than the Middle East average. Scholar in Turkish minorities Rifat Bali has spent years of his life dedicated to studying the Jewish community in Turkey, and makes the claim that although Jews have a historical presence in Turkey they have never been accepted as full citizens, by the country that claims to be secular. Turkey may put on a farce of being secular, but according to Bali anyone who is a non-Muslim is not welcomed warmly into Turkish arms.
Jews in Turkey have been the victims of senseless violence directed at them because of their religion on multiple occasions. In September 1986 a member of the Palestinian terror group Abu Nidal opened fire on Jewish worshipers participating in services at the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul, killing 22 Jewish individuals. Neve Shalom synagogue was again the target of a terror attack in November 2003 when multiple truck bombs went off all around Istanbul, one exploding in front of Neve Shalom and another exploding in front of Bet Israel congregation. The blasts killed 57 and injured over 700.
The Anti-Defamation League's global index of antisemitism has demonstrated that Turkey harbors more antisemitic sentiments than Iran and most other Middle-Eastern countries. The 2014 survey found that 75% of Turkish citizens believe that Jewish individuals have too much power in the business world, and also found that 69% of Turkish citizens believe that Jewish Turks are more loyal to Israel than to Turkey. According to Turkish politician Aykan Erdemir antisemitism, hate crimes, discrimination, hate speeches, and violence directed at minorities are all on the rise in Turkey, and this creates a hostile environment for the few thousand Jews left there.
In mid 2014 Operation Protective Edge sparked worldwide criticism of Israel's actions. During and after the operation, over 30,000 Turkish language tweets were published that stated positive things about Hitler and the attrocities he committed against the Jews during the Holocaust. A popular Turkish pop music singer with over 500,000 followers, Yildiz Tilbe, tweeted the message "May God Bless Hitler".
Despite this increasingly anti-semitic environment, Jews are not choosing to flee to Israel. Only 13 Jews have imigrated to Israel from Turkey since the begining of 2014, and 2013 saw only 70 imigrants make the move. Jews looking to escape Turkey have turned to the United States and Eastern European countries for a new begining instead of Israel.
A Pew Research Center Poll released in November 2014 detailed the true feelings of the Turkish population towards Israel. According to the poll, 86% of Turkish citizens hold a negative view of Israel, with only 2% of Turkish individuals viewing Israel in a positive light. Out of the nine countries in the survey, including Israel, Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and others, Israel was viewed as the least favorable followed by Iran. Of the choices offered, Turks said that they have the most positive view of Saudi Arabia.
Modern Jewish Education, Language & Social Life
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Left:
Turkish Crescent & Star on the top of the Ehal "La
Sinyora" Synagogue (Izmir). Right: Ankara Synagogue |
Most Jewish children attend state schools or private Turkish or
foreign language schools, and many are enrolled in the universities.
Additionally, the Community maintains a primary school for 300 pupils
and a secondary school for 250 students in Istanbul, and an elementary
school for 140 children in Izmir. Turkish is the language of instruction,
and Hebrew is taught 35 hours a week.
While younger Jews speak Turkish as their native
language, the older generation is more at home speaking in French
or Judeo-Spanish (Ladino). A conscious effort is spent to preserve
the heritage of Judeo-Spanish
For
long years Turkish Jews have had their own press. La Buena Esperansa
and La Puerta dew Oriente started in Izmir in 1843 and Or Israel started
to be published in Istanbul ten years later. Now one newspaper survives:
SALOM (Shalom), an eight-page weekly with seven pages written in Turkish
and one in Judeo-Spanish.
A Community Calendar (Halila) is published by the
Chief Rabbinate every year and distributed free of charge to all those
who have paid their dues (Kisba) to the welfare bodies. The Community
cannot levy taxes, but can request donations.
Two Jewish hospitals the 98 bed Or haHayim in Istanbul
and the 22 bed Karatas Hospital in Izmir serve the Community. Both
cities have homes for the aged (Moshav Zekinim) and several welfare
associations to assist the poor, the sick, the needy children and
orphans.
Social clubs containing libraries, cultural and sports
facilities, discotheques give young people the chance to meet.
The Jewish Community is a very small group in Turkey
today, considering that the total population which is 99% Moslem exceeds
57 million. But in spite of their number the Jews have distinguished
themselves. There are several Jewish professors teaching at the universities
of Istanbul and Ankara, and many Turkish Jews are prominent in business,
industry and the liberal professions.
Contacts
Chief Rabbinate of Turkey
Yemenici Sokak 23 Beyoglu, Istanbul
Tel. 90 212 244 8794
Fax. 90 212 244 1980
Israeli Embassy
Mahatma Gandhi Sok. 85, Ankara
Tel. 90 312 446 3605, Fax. 90 312 426 1533
Beth Israel Synagogue
265 Mithatpasa Street
Karatas
Izmir, Turkey
Sources: The
History of Turkish Jews; The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study
of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism, Annual Report 2005 - Turkey; Encyclopaedia
Judaica. © 2008 The Gale Group.
All Rights Reserved; Hurriyet Daily News (October 23, 2013); Haaretz (November 3, 2014)
(1) Mark Alan Epstein, "The
Ottoman Jewish Communuties and their role in the 15th and 16th centuries"
(2) Joseph Nehama, "Histoire
des Israelites de Salonique"
(3) Bernard Lewis, "The Jews
of Islam"
(4) Encyclopedia Judaica,
Volume 16 page 1532
(5) Avram Galante, "Histoire
des Juifs d'lstanbul", Volume 2
(6) Abraham Danon, in the Review
Yossef Daath No. 4
(7) Immanual Aboab, "A Consolacam
as Tribulacoes de Israel, III Israel"
(8) H. Graetz, "History of
the Jews"
(9) Immanual Aboab, "A Consolacam
as Tribulacoes de Israel, III Israel" |
