Israel Matzav

Foreign Ministry: Turkish PM Erdogan 'indirectly incites and encourges' anti-Semitism

A report issued by the Center for Political Research, the Foreign Ministry's in-house intelligence analysts, says that Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan 'indirectly incites and encourages' anti-Semitism.

[M]ost of the report focuses on Erdogan, which it considers the main source of the current friction. "In our estimate, ever since his party took power, Erdogan has conducted an ongoing process of ... fashioning a negative view of Israel in Turkish public opinion," via endless talk of Palestinian suffering, repeatedly accusing Israel of war crimes and even "anti-Semitic expressions and incitement," it read.

Though in international forums Erdogan always stresses that anti-Semitism is "a crime against humanity," the report continued, in reality, he "indirectly incites and encourages" anti-Semitism in Turkey. "For Erdogan and some of those around him," it explained, "there is no distinction between 'Israeli' and 'Jewish,' and therefore, [their] anti-Israel fervor and criticism become anti-Jewish."

One result, the report said, is articles in the Turkish press questioning whether Turkish Jews are loyal to their country - something that could endanger Turkey's Jewish community.

In some cases, it added, Erdogan simply does not understand the anti-Semitic nature of his remarks - such as "Jews are good with money," which "he sees as a compliment."

Read the whole thing. I'm sure this was leaked by some Leftist holdover at the Foreign Ministry to embarrass Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his deputy Danny Ayalon, but it will be interesting to watch the righteous indignation coming out of Istanbul over the next couple of days.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:36 PM