Prominent Jewish couple murdered in Turkey
77-year old Jak Karako and his 69-year old wife Georgia HY"D (May God Avenge their blood) were
murdered in their Istanbul apartment on Friday.
Police found the bodies of Jak Karako, 77, and his wife, Georgia
Karako, 69, at their apartment in the city’s Ortaköy neighborhood.
It is unclear what the motive behind the killing was, but the
couple’s caretaker has fled and is considered a suspect in the murder,
according to the report. Police have surrounded the crime scene and are
in the process of questioning locals.
Let me guess... the housekeeper is a misguided adherent of the 'religion of peace'?
A source with knowledge of the community, who did not wish to be
named, told The Algemeiner, “There is some level of mistrust against the
government as a result on recent anti-Semitic incidents. Some believe
that the truth about the couple’s murder will never come out, but it
will be some manipulated version of what had happened.”
“There have been several reported murders of Turkish Jewish
businessmen throughout the past several years, but these incidents were
either never solved or were blamed on some small local disputes which
the community always looked at with suspicion,” the source said.
“Karako was one of the founders of Ören Bayan, the most famous yarn
brand in Turkey,” Hurriyet said. ”Famous actresses, like Türkan Şoray,
have played in the brand’s TV ads. Moiz Dana, the other co-founder, died
while travelling to the United States in 2009. The sons of Karako and
Dana had taken over the company from their father in the 1990s. The
families later sold the company due to financial troubles.”
Turkey's Daily Hurriyet reports that there are three suspects, two of whom were
caught late Friday night.
An Uzbek couple, who were suspected to have stabbed the Karakos, have
been detained at midnight after allegedly fled the crime scene following
the murder.
Suspects reportedly confessed to murder in their
first statement to the police. "When we demanded our salaries that they
[the Karako couple] have not been paying for the past two months, they
said they would not pay anything, as they deducted the amount from the
damage we caused at their house," the 28-year-old suspect and his
27-year-old wife told the police.
A third suspect is apparently still at large but police have given no further details about him or her.
And in case you're wondering, 96.3% of the population of Uzbekistan is...
you guessed it. Jews, it's time to leave. Time to come home.
Labels: Islamic anti-Semitism, Turkish anti-Semitism, Turkish Jewry
Long overdue: Young Jews leaving Turkey
A reminder as this post goes up that I will be spending the Sabbath in New Jersey, God willing (once I land - this post is being scheduled while I'm airborne), and therefore posting will continue until the Sabbath starts there to the extent that I have time.
In a move that is long overdue, young Jews have finally started to
leave Turkey due to anti-Semitism.
Nesim Güvenis, the deputy
chair of the Association of Turkish Jews in Israel, told the Hurriyet Daily News
that political tensions between the two countries and rising anti-Semitism have
contributed to an increase in the number of young people moving
abroad.
Güvenis made aliya in the early 1980s, along with tens of
thousands of other Turkish Jews, primarily because of his children, he told the
newspaper.
“They didn’t want to go to university where leftists or other
groups were putting pressure on them to take sides at school,” he said.
A
rise in anti-Semitism related to national tensions between Ankara and Jerusalem
has led the current exodus, he said, declining to give exact
figures.
“Look at the environment in Turkey at the moment. We are
uncomfortable with being ‘othered’... I am more Turkish than many, but we
couldn’t make them believe it,” Güvenis told Hurriyet.
It's about time they woke up.
Labels: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish anti-Semitism, Turkish Jewry
Jews smelling the Turkish coffee
More and more Jews are smelling the coffee in Turkey, and they don't like what they're smelling:
They're leaving (Hat Tip:
Joshua I).
Migration to Israel and a death rate twice that of new births are causing a decrease in the size of the Jewish community in Turkey, according to its representatives.
Economic considerations are the main driver behind migration and are also a factor in the decision by many students studying abroad not to return to Turkey after completing their education, representatives of the 20,000-strong Jewish community have said.
Mortality is also a major factory in the community’s dwindling population. A total of 129 Jews in Turkey died between September and April while 60 were born during the same period.
According to the “Ones from Turkey,” a group founded by Jewish migrants from Turkey to Israel, 101 people moved permanently from Turkey to Israel in 2010, part of a slow but continuing shift that has seen eight more people relocate in the first two months of 2011.
I don't think economics are the main factor behind Jews leaving Turkey. The picture below likely provides a better explanation.
The picture was taken last June at a rally following the Mavi Marmara incident.
Of course, if Jews really are leaving Turkey for Israel due to 'economic considerations,' that's also a slap in the face to the Turkish government.
Labels: Turkish Jewry
Will they make aliya?
In Turkey, where this picture was taken in October 2009, Israel closed down its embassy at the end of the week (along with the embassies in several other countries), out of fear of a Hezbullah attack to avenge the death of Imad Mughniyah four years ago. And Turkey's Jews are
afraid to leave their homes.
Earlier this week Israel temporarily shut down a number of its diplomatic missions in the world due to fears of an attack, and a local Turkish paper revealed Thursday that these included the Israeli consulate in Istanbul and the embassy in Ankara.
But local Jews still harbor anxiety, especially since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rise to power. "As we speak now, we are being heard because there is wire-tapping here," a Jewish merchant from Istanbul told Ynet over the phone, asking to remain anonymous.
"In Turkey there is no knowing what will happen tomorrow. So much goes on here. What guaranteed the separation between religion and state was the army, but unfortunately the generals who maintained this in the past are no longer around."
The merchant added that indictments against 200 military officials recently filed in the country "demonstrates the threat against us all".
"Turkey is a dictatorship. They attack newspapers and there are raids against anyone who dares speak out against the government. Those who talk too much find themselves under investigation," he said.
"Friendships are being developed here with states hostile to Israel. This concerns us, because we don't know if we will be protected as before. Though police guard all Jewish institutions, we still don’t really feel safe."
The merchant added that many of those belonging to the Jewish community refrain from going out to public places in which Jews gather.
"It's better to keep a low profile. Anything I say can make me a target, so I prefer to stay silent. There has always been a threat here, but apparently it has gotten worse because of the lack of cooperation between Israel and Turkey," he said.
Will Turkey's Jews leave and immigrate to Israel?
Labels: aliya, Turkey, Turkish Jewry
