Antisemitism in the Turkish Media: Part 1
The Middle East Media Research Institute
April 28, 2005
No. 900
The rising antisemitism in the Turkish media is a complex phenomenon
that manifests itself in several forms:
1. Animosity towards Jews, Judaism and ‘Jewish lobbies.’ Jews are
targeted as individuals, a community, people and “race,” and as a
sinister political entity seeking Jewish dominance on world affairs,
businesses and media. Jews are demonized in many conspiracy theories
including causing earthquakes, globalization, and the creation of
Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia.
2. A hostile approach towards the Jewish citizens of Turkey, questioning
their loyalty; blaming them of treason and for the fall of the Ottoman
Empire; characterizing them with derogatory adjectives; inciting the
public by citing Koran verses hostile to them; and creating an
atmosphere conducive to violence. [1] This type of antisemitism also
targets Masonic lodges and freemasons for their alleged connections with
Judaism.
3. Antisemitism that in recent years has turned into a harsh campaign,
which some Turkish intellectuals have called “a witch hunt” against the
‘Dönme’ [2] who are regarded as ‘hidden Jews’ posing as Muslims. They
are blamed for helping to found the modern Republic of Turkey as a
‘spare’ Jewish state, for holding all key positions’ in Turkey and for
ruling the country.
4. Antisemitism directed at Israel and Zionism. The word ‘Zionists’
often replaces the word ‘Jews’ in the press.
This is the first part in a series of reports which will be released in
the coming weeks. The following are excerpts from articles in the
Turkish press dealing with antisemitism (the format of the text appears
as in the original):
“The Disgusting Form of Racism Called Antisemitism, is Fast Growing and
Causing the Increased Interest in ‘Mein Kampf'”
In an article titled ‘Mein Kampf and the Protocols of Zion’, Ayse Hur
wrote in the left of center, liberal daily Radikal: [3]
“Recently there are two interesting books in the ‘bestseller’ lists:
Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and the Protocols of Zion. Mein Kampf which is
the ‘handbook’ for the ultra- nationalists of Turkey was translated
[into Turkish] and published about 45 times between the years of 1940
and 2005. [â~@¦] the Protocols of Zion, which inspired Mein Kampf, was
published in full or in summarized form over 100 times during 1943-2004.
Mein Kampf which is thought to sell about 1,000 copies a year, is now
being marketed by 11 publishers.
“[â~@¦] Sami Celik, the owner of Emre Publications, who recently printed
31,000 copies told Aksam newspaper on February 27, 2005: ‘Following our
research and observations, we thought that Mein Kampf would be a book
that would be sought after and read by the public. [â~@¦] Mein Kampf was
[indeed] affected by [recent] developments and its sale figures peaked.’
[4] As a matter of fact it has become a sort of handbook for the
[electorate] base of MHP [the ultra-nationalist ‘National Movement
Party’] and ‘Genc Parti’ [the Youth Party]. Some claim that it is very
popular among the students at police academies.
“In the same newspaper [Aksam] we read sociologist Prof. Mustafa Erkal
who said: ‘Reading Hitler is a reaction. Israel’s policies and goals
cause a reaction. Naturally, people get curious about Hitler’s
antisemitism and want to learn more about what he did and wanted to do.’
What our academician failed to say is the fact that in Turkey, as in the
rest of the world, animosity toward the Jews, that disgusting form of
racism called antisemitism, is fast growing and causing the increased
interest for Mein Kampf. We know that publishing this book in Europe is
banned; and in Germany even its possession is a crime. [â~@¦]
“Having ‘Mein Kampf’ and the ‘Protocols’ on our bestseller list today,
must make us think twice before we claim ‘there is no antisemitism here.'”
“It is the Jews Who Should Read Mein Kampf”
Columnist Arslan Tekin of the nationalist-Islamic daily YenicaÄ~_, wrote
in an article titled ‘Yes, Mein Kampf should be taught in schools:’
“Everybody should read it, and should learn the reasons why Hitler came
about.” [5]
11 days later, Tekin wrote in his column in YenicaÄ~_: [6] “Can a Hitler
rise in America? It can happenâ~@¦ What was [true] for Germany before
Hitler came to power is [now] exceedingly true for America. Big banks,
big TV organs, big newspapers, all the tools that can trap the public
opinion are in the hands of the Jewsâ~@¦ Politics is run by them too.
“What is the proportion of the Jewish [population] in America of 200
million [sic]. Must not even be two percent. They have an image beyond
what their numbers merit. I am sorry for the Jewsâ~@¦ How come they do not
think about the effect their disproportionate ‘grandeur’ would have on
the majority of the [American] people! In Germany, Hitler did not rise
just single-handedly. He only answered the questions asked by his people.
“Hey Jews! The world cannot bear to have another Hitler [because of
you]. Your disproportionate [presence]; your recklessness; your daring
to burn the world for [even] one Jew, makes the American people and
everyone in the world ask the question: ‘what’s happening here?’ Do you
know how the US is seen now? [It looks like] the biggest Jewish empire
of the world. [â~@¦]
“I, like everyone else, am seeing this situationâ~@¦ Hitler’s Mein Kampf
must be read especially by the Jews.
“A madman like Hitler does not just come about [without a reason]â~@¦ The
book which you define as ‘nonsense’ has set the world on fire. The Jews
should think about the reasons [why].”
“Hitler Was a Man of Foresight”
Abdurrahim Karakoc, a columnist at the Islamic newspaper Vakit praised
Hitler: [7]
“[â~@¦] It is impossible not to admire the foresight of Adolph Hitler, who
is presented to public opinion as ‘racist, sadistic, and monstrous.’ Way
back then, Hitler foresaw what would happen these [present] days. He
cleansed off these swindler Jews, who believe in racism for a religion
and take pleasure in bathing the world in blood, because he knew that
they would become [this] big a curse for the world.
“[â~@¦] Hitler indeed was a man of foresight [â~@¦] So Hitler did the job, yet
Israel is presented to the world public opinion as the innocent victim.
“[â~@¦] The second man with foresight is evidently Osama bin Laden. If a
stone hits a dog’s leg somewhere in the world, Osama bin Laden gets
blamed. [â~@¦] Bin Laden had foreseen what would happen in Iraq, in
Palestine, and in the prisons of Guantanamo.
“He [Osama] alone, or perhaps with a few friends, defies the superpowers
of the world and sets fear inside the very shelters of the oppressors.
[â~@¦] It was Hitler yesterday, and it is Osama bin Laden today [â~@¦]”
“Couldn’t You Find Other People to Send to Turkey, Than the ‘Jew’
Edelman and the ‘Jew’ Feith?”
In reaction to a Wall Street Journal article by Robert Pollock [8] [on
the rising anti-Americanism in Turkey] columnist Serdar Kuru wrote in
the nationalist Turkish daily OrtadoÄ~_u: [9]
“[Pollock’s] article determines that Turkey is becoming a paranoid third
world country. And the reason they think we are paranoid is the
widespread belief among Turks that America is [nothing but a] toy in the
hands of Jews who have designs of aggression against Turkey. The author
of the article seems to be annoyed at the exposure of the Jewish
identities of the American Ambassador Edelman and later of [Douglas]
Feith during his visit [to Turkey].
“[â~@¦] In reality it is clear who ordered this poor shooter [Robert
Pollock, WSJ] to write this article [â~@¦] Our problem is with the Zionist
Jews who have grabbed every corner in America and the Evangelist
Christians that they [the Jews] feed, who plan [together] to set on fire
the whole world and our country. The ones who are disturbed by people,
who oppose their plans, are the same ones who prepare these plans.
” The Wall Street Journal, where this article was published belongs to
the Dow Jones Corporation. Peter R. Kahn, the head of Dow Jones is
Jewish and is a member of CFR. This man’s wife Karen House is the head
of the Wall Street Journal. She too is Jewish and a member of CFR. Mrs.
Karen is also the director of RAND, the think tank that prepared the
world domination plans for the Bush team. Vice President of Dow Jones,
Joseph Stern, is one of America’s most famous Jewish lawyers. A Board of
Directors member is Lewis Campbell who owns Textron the gun manufacturer
and heads the security operations of the capitalist Round Table. One
other Director of the Board is former president of American Express,
Harvey Golubda and he is Jewish.
“By now you must have understood why Wall Street Journal is disturbed by
Turkey’s anti-Zionist attitude. This Jewish Dow Jones Corporation also
has an exchange fund called “Dow Jones Islamic Market Turkey.” This
strange exchange fund [claims] to do brokerage with no interest. Some
stupid fools who think they can make money without paying interest must
be entrusting their monies into the hands of Jews. As you can see my
friends, the reactions to the Turkish attitude towards American and
Zionist expansionisms are not objective [â~@¦] they are coming from the
Zionists themselves.
“Is it our fault that behind every immorality, incitement, conspiracy
and filth there is a Zionist ? Couldn’t you send to Turkey people other
than the Jew Edelman and the Jew Feith? [â~@¦]”
“Our Times are Similar to 1930’s in Germany”
In the leftist-liberal daily Radikal, Murat Necip Arman wrote: [10]
“The discussions we are having now are almost identical to the ones they
had in Germany during the 1930’s. At those days the press articles were
not openly targeting the non-Germanic races yet, but were often arguing
that they [the Jews] dominated the economy and that they were conducting
[secret] activities that would ruin the fiber of the German society.[â~@¦]
“On New Year’s Eve, in a TV channel which does not feel the need to hide
its ties to a [Turkish] political party, it was recounted at great
length that the Jews are a cursed people and that for this reason it was
obligatory for the Muslims to eradicate them [the Jews]. [â~@¦] it should
not be forgotten that to openly say such a sentence constitutes a crime.
[â~@¦] While this neo-antisemitism is recklessly manifested in almost all
media organs, in the eyes of the masses Israel’s aggression towards
Palestinians provides justification for such a dangerous kind of racism.
“[â~@¦] This animosity towards the non-Muslims, the like of which we have
not witnessed in many years, is hovering over Turkey and agitating
masses of people who are not bothered by its [grave] consequences.
“As I said, what we have here [in Turkey] presents similarities with
Germany of the 1930’s. I hope common sense prevails in Turkey and this
dangerous trend does not lead to frightening results. [â~@¦]
“At least the national press must keep in mind its social responsibility
in presenting these matters with a cool head. Political parties can play
dangerous games for political gains. [â~@¦] But the media’s common sense is
essential [â~@¦]”
“Persecution by Hitler Much Exaggerated”
Upon the German Government’s decision to ban the publication of the
Turkish Islamic daily Vakit in Germany, a columnist at Vakit, Huseyin
Ã~zmez, wrote: [11]
“[â~@¦] It is true that persecution [of Jews] by Hitler is much
exaggerated. We are sick and tired of [listening to] stories of the
inhuman persecution and torture he committed against the Jews. It is
said that Hitler himself was a Jewâ~@¦ that he committed cruelty only to
force the Jews to migrate from Europe to Palestine â~@¦ and that it was the
Israeli Zionists who dictated these acts upon him, at the time they were
founding Israel. Two great powers (money and media) are in Jewish hands.
The ‘treacherous local collaborators’ and some international
organizations are also in their command.
“All humanity knows the fact that they [the Jews] are unequalled in
[their] lobbying [skills]. With all this power and the tools, they can
make or break anyone. [â~@¦] Who can oppose them? We saw the best example
of this in what the German Interior Minister did to our newspaper Vakit.
Against all the European human rights agreements, German police was
putting pressure on our paper. We were in the midst of a judicial
process. Our paper was illegally shut down [â~@¦] Then the German Interior
Minister interfered. He banned our paper. [â~@¦] This was a [perfect]
example of execution without a trial. [â~@¦] It is obvious that he [the
interior minister] was directed [by someone high above] into making such
a decision. [â~@¦] This is how powerful the Zionists are. And this is the
supposedly ‘civilized and modern’ West.
“[â~@¦] the German Interior Minister, who was so angry at us because we
said ‘Hitler had not killed six million Jews,’ cannot be German. We are
very curious to know whether he is a Jew?”
“Jewish Paranoia”
Columnist Yusuf Kaplan of the Islamic Yeni Å~^afak writes: [12]
“Jewish paranoia ( = fanaticism) is a phenomenon found in Jews that is
an integral part of their character, blood and soul. Since paranoia is
the form of Jewish existence and self- expression, they have never
refrained from exposing it at every occasion, in the past and the present.
“[â~@¦] the Jewish paranoia can reach barbaric, cruel and inhuman
dimensions [â~@¦]
“Jewish paranoia has determined the color and the shape of our times.
What keeps this paranoia alive is the power that the Jews possess [which
enables them] to shape and direct the politics, economies and cultures
of especially the western countries.
“[â~@¦] Jews also rule the Western universities and world media. [â~@¦]
“Jewish desire to dominate everything in the Western countries, and the
way they easily and arrogantly exploit organizations and individuals to
serve Jewish interests, may end up causing a short circuit within the
democratic institutions of the West. Their nosy interference with
everything, and their actions beyond the reach of their size, have
already started to draw serious reactions in the Western countries.
Because the Jewish paranoia is blown to extreme, forced and artificial
dimensions, it can explode any day and take care of them [the Jews] and
cost them dearly.”
“The Jews and Christian Zionism”
In his article titled ‘Globalization Projects and Nationalists’ Israfil
Kumbasar of the nationalist-Islamic daily YenicaÄ~_, summarizes a lecture
by Mehmet Gul [13] at a recent [pan-Turkic] Turan Cultural Foundation’s
meeting: [14]
“[â~@¦] The only ‘secret’ power behind the globalization project are the
Jews and the masons!…
“The ‘Jewish Zionists whose goal is the ‘total Jewish domination of the
world’ claim that a ‘messiah’ will come down from the sky and will build
the ‘World Kingdom’!…
“The same expectation is widely shared by the ‘Christian Zionists’ who
accept all that the ‘Old Testament’ says!… The Christian Zionists
believe that all humanity will become Christian with the coming of
Jesus, the ‘son of God’!…
“The Neo-Con representatives of Evangelism that amalgamates the
‘Christian Zionism’ and the ‘Jewish Zionism’ are ruling America
now!…[â~@¦] they are looking for ‘sacred allies’ in the Islamic world,
who will serve their purposes!…
“In recent years some communities with ‘messianic views’ are appearing
within the Islamic world [â~@¦] !…
“[â~@¦] We can understand the games played on the Muslim world if we learn
that the ‘Wahhabism’ which originated in Saudi Arabia is plotted by the
‘masons’ to ‘leave the Muslims behind.’ Bahaism, Kadianism [â~@¦] and other
‘messiah waiting’ Muslim communities all help serve ‘the new world
order’!… [â~@¦] it seems that these ‘Zionist Muslims’ will soon say that
‘greater Israel’ is the will of the great architect of the universe’!…
The Muslim Turks who follow them will only see the realities when it is
too late and our lands between the Euphrates and the Tigris will already
be in Israeli hands.
“[â~@¦] ‘Messianic belief’ is a ‘Zionist trap’ for all humanity! [â~@¦]”
NOTES
[1] On November 15, 2003, two major synagogues in Istanbul were bombed
by Turkish Islamic terrorists, killing 26 and wounding hundreds, most of
them Muslim Turks who were in the vicinity. On August 21, 2003, a Jewish
dentist, Dr. Y.Yahya, had been murdered in his clinic. The perpetrator
confessed upon his arrest that he had wanted to kill ‘a Jew’ [after what
he read about the Jews in the press]. On March 9, 2004, a Masonic lodge
in Istanbul was also attacked by two suicide bombers, killing one and
wounding five, and the bombers were later found to have had ties with
the synagogue bombers. A gun used in the attack against the Masonic
lodge proved to be the same one used in the execution style murder of
the Jewish dentist.
[2] The ‘Dönme’ are descendants of the Jewish followers of a
self-proclaimed messiah, Sabbetai Sevi (1626-1676) who was forced by the
sultan to convert to Islam in 1666. They consider themselves Muslims and
officially are recognized as such. Dönme is the Turkish word for
‘convert’ but it carries overtones of ‘turncoat’ as well.
[3] Radikal 2 (Turkey), March 13, 2005.
[4] According to the most recent reports, ‘Mein Kampf’ has climbed to
second place in Turkey’s ‘Bestsellers’ list. The first place is occupied
by a book titled ‘Metal Storm,’ a futuristic novel set in 2007 when
Turkey is attacked by the U.S. military, after which a young Turkish
hero explodes a nuclear bomb in America.
[5] YenicaÄ~_ (Turkey), March 15, 2005. This Turkish daily newspaper is a
synthesis of radical Islam and MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) nationalism.
[6] YenicaÄ~_ (Turkey), March 26, 2005.
[7] Vakit (Turkey), August 17, 2004. In February 2005 publication of
this newspaper was banned in Germany, for antisemitic incitement and its
denial of the Holocaust.
[8] The Wall Street Journal, February 16, 2005.
[9] OrtadoÄ~_u (Turkey), February 19, 2005. OrtadoÄ~_u is a nationalist
Turkish daily close to MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) which was a
coalition partner in the previous government.
[10] Radikal (Turkey), January 23, 2005.
[11] Vakit (Turkey), February 28, 2005.
[12] Yeni Å~^afak (Turkey), February 21, 2005. This Islamic daily
newspaper is known to be an unofficial mouthpiece of the AKP government.
The newspaper’s owner and PM ErdoÄ~_an have become in-laws, after the
recent marriage of their children.
[13] Mehmet Gul is a former member of Parliament from MHP (Nationalist
Movement Party), and he was addressing a Turan [pan-Turkic]
ultra-nationalist gathering.
[14] YenicaÄ~_ (Turkey), March 4, 2005.
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