For over 500 years, from the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 to the horrific years of the Nazi Holocaust, Jews have found a safe haven among the Turkish people.
Now a series of developments have created fear among Turkey's Jews and has led to
Tehran - October 27, 2009 |
a deterioration in relations between Jerusalem and Ankara, and a crisis within NATO.
•Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly expressed support for Iran — "There is no doubt he [President Ahmadinejad] is our friend" even as he accused Israel's Foreign Minister Lieberman of threatening to nuke Gaza.
•Turkey barred Israel from a planned NATO military exercise on Turkish soil over "sensitivity on Gaza, East Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque."
•"Separation", a miniseries about Palestinians (see below), broadcast on Turkish state-run TV and also seen throughout Europe, depicts young Israeli soldiers as Nazi-like murderers gunning down a Palestinian infant, and young children.