Here is yet another sign of the global increase in open and virulent anti-Semitism, and of Turkey’s rapid re-Islamization.
“Daily targets Turkish Jews in headline,” Today’s Zaman, August 14, 2014 (thanks to Joshua):
The pro-government Milat daily targeted Turkish nationals from the Jewish community who also hold Israeli passports in its Thursday issue by arguing that since Israeli citizens are required to serve in the national army, they have blood on their hands and are responsible for the killings of civilians in Gaza during an Israeli offensive that has led to over 2,000 deaths since July of this year.
Milat, a staunch pro-government paper that uses political Islamist rhetoric, used English in its headline, stating “Go home killer” in reference to Turkish Jews who allegedly serve in the Israeli army. The article stated that after Israel announced its recent military campaign, Turkish Jews who hold dual citizenship rushed to “massacre” Palestinians. The paper also commented that Jewish Turkish citizens involved in fighting against innocent Palestinians come back to Turkey and “resume their lives as if nothing happened.”
Milat based its report on a social media campaign launched by a number of journalists and activists with the hashtag #israilaskeriistemiyoruz (We do not want Israeli soldiers). A website under the same name urges citizens to sign a petition and send it to Parliament so as to revoke the Turkish citizenship of anyone who fights in the Israeli army on the grounds that they have committed premeditated murder. The petition also requests that the Ministry of Defense abolish an existing legal exemption regarding military service for people who carry dual citizenship and have served in the Israeli army. According to a 1993 law, citizens with more than one nationality are exempt from military service in Turkey if they have served in the military of a county that Turkey recognizes.
An anonymous call on the website rejects the idea of living in the same neighborhood as “murderers.”
Meanwhile, in his first address since being elected president, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday that all minorities in Turkey live in peace under the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government. “There is no other country that displays the same degree of sensitivity that we show as far as minorities are concerned,” Erdoğan stressed, adding, “While all these events are happening in Gaza, we maintain that our Jewish citizens are under protection.”
Erdoğan added that their problem is not with the people of Israel, but its government.