CENTRE SIMON WIESENTHAL - EUROPE
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Wiesenthal Center to Turkish Foreign Minister: "US and European Reports on Uncondemned Antisemitic Literature May Impact upon Turkish EU Accession"

In a letter to Turkish Foreign Minister, Abdullah Gül, the Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Liaison, Dr Shimon Samuels, noted that "The United States Congressional Helsinki Committee convenes today for hearings on the condition of religious minorities in Turkey," adding "Jewish friends of Turkey are deeply concerned that reports in American and European capitals of antisemitic literature sweeping Turkey, may impact upon the negotiations for Turkish EU accession which are due to begin on 3 October 2005."

Samuels expressed his sadness at finding Hitler's Mein Kampf in four different editions as the bestseller of Istanbul bookshops, street stalls and, even at the international airport. He found these volumes flanked by such antisemitic classics as Henry Ford's The International Jew, and the Russian Czarist forgery which is a paradigm for all hate literature and conspiracy theories, The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion, stressing, "The prefaces of these new editions reveal their purpose, replete with racist stereotypes and libels, they incite to hatred and violence against contemporary Jews." (see photo)

The letter also addressed the spate of antisemitic articles in the press, especially pointing to "The Aylik (monthly) newsletter of IBDA-C, the Turkish branch of Al-Qaeda implicated in the 2003 Istanbul synagogue bombings. This month's copy was sent, inter alia, to foreign delegations in Ankara and consulates in Istanbul. Its front cover displays a Star of David and the headline "The Cursed People: The Jews," while its editorial glorifies the arch-terrorist Carlos."

Samuels assured the Minister that, "The Wiesenthal Centre's championship of Turkey's entry into Europe is steadfast, but requires gestures from Ankara in the spirit of the Turkey of 1492 that welcomed Jewish fugitives from the Spanish expulsion; and of 1942 that protected its Jewish citizens trapped under Nazi Occupation."

The Centre urged Gül to "Condemn these publications, which would be legally actionable in most EU countries." It also encouraged Turkey to "Join the International Task Force on Holocaust Education and Commemoration which emerged from the Stockholm Forum, of January 2000, to which Turkey participated," explaining that "The Task Force's some two dozen

member-states have now been emulated by the European Union, in declaring an annual Holocaust Commemoration Day and in including Holocaust education in the national school curriculum."

The Centre offered its professional competence on the Holocaust for a cooperation programme with the Turkish educational authorities.

Samuels concluded, "Such steps would greatly assist your friends to better interpret Turkey's concerns in the challenges ahead."

For further information, please contact Shimon Samuels at +33 6 09 77 01 58.