Don’t even think of trying to exchange Israeli shekels for Turkish lira in the airport, if you were silly enough to pass through Tel Aviv on your way to Istanbul or Ankara.
The sense of hostility is growing ever more palpable by the day. One can feel it in the air; and the not-so-subtle government backing received by anti-Semites this time around is making things even worse.
A survey conducted by Gonzo Insight found that nearly 31,000 (30,926) tweets in Turkish on the Twitter social networking site were posted in support of the Holocaust within 24 hours on July 17-18. That came 10 days after the start of Operation Protective Edge.
Families of Israeli diplomats and non-essential personnel were recalled this summer due to the deteriorating security situation. A kosher supervisor who normally stays in Turkey left the country – and reported had “problems” in the airport on the way out. Other Turkish Jews are quietly making contingency plans as well.
Oddly, Louis Fishman, an assistant professor at Brooklyn College (CUNY), also received a number of threats. Fishman, who spent several years in Turkey, was attacked in response to an article he wrote for Ha’aretz by fellow academic Ali Ihsan Göker, a chair of physics at Bilecik Seyh Edibali University. Göker tweeted — in English — “Treblinka will be ready soon. Constructing the railway to transport jews (sic) at the moment,” a blatant threat which under the Turkish penal code is punishable by law.
Instead, Göker was recently awarded a research grant by the government-funded Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, according to The Huffington Post.
In an op-ed penned for the Post, Umut Özkirimli, professor of Contemporary Turkey Studies at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) at Lund University, sums up the current danger faced by Turkish Jews. He writes: “anti-semitist sentiments are much more mainstream and legitimate than before, given the open backing of the representatives of the ruling AKP, the lack of legal sanctions against hate speech towards Jews (and other minorities) and the general atmosphere of intolerance and polarization which breed these sentiments.”
As influential as the World Jewish Congress may be, it is likely that anything its delegation may have to say will have about as much effect on Turkey’s president as have any other past requests or admonitions he has heard from Americans, starting with U.S. President Barack Obama. (read: zero.)
Erdogan is also scheduled to meet with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and will be interviewed by American journalist Charlie Rose, in addition to his sit-downs with other world leaders.
Will any of them bother to ask Erdogan the tough questions?