Cumhuriyet Yıllarında Türkiye Yahudileri: Devletin Örnek Yurttaşları, 1950-2003

The situation of ethnic and religious minorities in Turkish society, which demands total conformity but views them as alien and unequal, is insecure. Discusses the complex relationship between the Turkish state, Turkish society, and the Jewish minority in the period of the multi-party democracy (1950-2003), ending with the bombing of the Neve Shalom and Bet Yaakov synagogues by Al Qaeda-trained Turkish terrorists. Manifestations of discrimination and antisemitic incidents accompanied the entire period. The Six-Day War of 1967 and the rise of political Islam from the 1970s brought about an upsurge of antisemitism mixed with anti-Zionism. The struggle of the Turkish government against recognition of the perpetration of the Armenian genocide, by the USA and other countries, exacerbated Turkish-Jewish relations. Sociological surveys carried out in the 1990s-early 2000s show that a large part of the Turkish population retains anti-Jewish prejudices. The country's political and intellectual establishments largely neglect the issue of antisemitism in Turkey.