TURKEY'S CHIEF RABBI ASSESSES COMMUNITY'S SITUATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 001818

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/02/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY'S CHIEF RABBI ASSESSES COMMUNITY'S SITUATION

REF: ISTANBUL 1625

Classified By: Consul General Deborah K. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) Summary. Turkey's Chief Rabbi, Rav Isak Haleva,
underlined concerns in the Jewish community over a growing
"negativity" in the minds of average Turks toward Jews as
demonstrated in the press and daily interchanges between
neighbors. Describing Turks as characteristically and
traditionally hospitable and sympathetic to strangers, Rabbi
Haleva said the well was being poisoned in Turkey. While he
saw hope in the EU accession process for legal reforms, he
said the importance to the Jewish community of positive
U.S./Turkish relations could not be overstated. He noted
that the Community's traditionally low key and cooperative
approach with the GOT had enabled it to succeed where other
minorities had failed, for example in the re-opening of a
synagogue some 50 years earlier. End summary.

MANIPULATION BY EXTREMISTS
--------------


2. (C) During EUR/SE desk officer Paul Malik's trip to
Istanbul September 28-29, we took the opportunity to call on
the Jewish Community's Chief Rabbi, Rav Isak Haleva, who was
joined by Community Vice President Sami Herman and Executive
Director Lina Filiba. Haleva drew our attention to
traditionally charitable feelings of Turks; they are
personally warm and go out of their way to assist anyone in
need, no matter how poor. Even in small villages in Turkey,
it is customary to receive any visitor warmly and to offer
hospitality and assistance as needed. Haleva said the Jewish
Community worked easily with people as he had just described,
but that there was a down side to the trait. This overall
outlook was often wedded in Turkey to a certain simple
naivete that was subject to manipulation. With a significant
increase in negative, anti-Semitic stories in print and other
media, the Community feels increasingly endangered based on
their historical experience and the signals they see here
with increased frequency in their daily lives.


3. (C) The Rabbi detailed some of the factors contributing
to a downward spiral in the Community's own sense of
well-being. The summer crisis in Lebanon had been "hijacked"
and turned into a Muslim versus Jew conflict. He said the
extremist image-makers -- not all or even mostly in Turkey --
had done this purposely to build it into a generalized
conflict of cultures. It was in extremists' interest to
paint the conflict as a clash between one group and another
so as to invite sympathy and support from among the larger
Muslim community both within and outside of Lebanon. Some
Turkish leaders, Haleva suggested, felt the need to run for
political cover and give rhetorical support to a popularized
sense of a clash between peoples. Though the Rabbi implied
the Jewish Community understood political realities, these
statements nevertheless would leave wounds. The messages had
a strongly negative effect on Turkish society as a whole,
particularly among the more poorly educated who tended to
focus only on underlying or subtle anti-Semitic messages in
political statements. The Community had begun seriously to
worry, he said, about the "negative psychological atmosphere"
augmented by poison flowing from the pens of some leading
"Islamist" leaders. The danger was that although Turks and
Muslims tended to look the other way if someone took their
money, they lost all perspective and rational logic if their
deepest feelings were stirred.

VITAL TURKEY-AMERICAN RELATIONS
--------------


4. (C) Haleva and Herman underlined the importance to the
Community of good Turkish/American relations. A good feeling
between Turkey and the United States had great rewards.
Haleva particularly appreciated the consistent U.S. effort to
support Turkey's EU accession, explaining the Community had
seen strong evidence of positive changes as the GOT broadened
legal and other protections for all citizens as part of the
EU accession process. The Rabbi said that he viewed
continued positive working relationship between the United
States and Turkey as in the Community's vital interest. "We
see you as essential," he said and, "you have my prayers."
Switching to English, he commented that prayer is supposed to
be free but in this case, his prayers were not free -- to
him, they were obligatory -- it was that important an issue
to them. The Community had sought the meeting with Prime
Minister Erdogan (reftel) because of rising tensions, not
only as a result of Lebanon, but also flowing from
anti-Americanism as religious and nationalist extremism found
voice in Turkey. Community Vice President Herman cited polls
indicating Turks believe the U.S. is an enemy of Turkey and

ISTANBUL 00001818 002 OF 002


though the Prime Minister had "worked against anti-Semitism"
in Turkey, a television program recently told viewers the
Torah permitted the killing of women and children.


5. (C) The answer to raising the poor image of the United
States in Turkey, according to Haleva and Herman, was to
attack the PKK problem. Turkey's leadership, they said,
recognizes it is hard for the U.S. to act against the PKK in
Northern Iraq because of the U.S. interest in continued
stability in that area. However, at the end of the day, from
the leadership down, Turks feel in their gut that anyone not
stopping the PKK is just plain against Turkey. This is why
there is a strong undercurrent of anti-U.S. rhetoric at
"martyrs' funerals" for those killed by PKK terrorism with
the implicit message that the U.S. is to blame for that
death. The atmosphere is further spoiled by politicians
espousing nationalist/populist views in the pre-election
season. In this context, it is not fashionable for the
mainstream press to defend the United States and a downward
trend continues.

GETTING TO "YES" IN TURKEY
--------------


6. (C) Rabbi Haleva noted that while some minority
communities consistently underline the non-cooperation of
Turkish authorities, local and national, with respect to
desired projects and property issues, others, like the Jewish
Community, do not express concerns publicly and even say very
little privately on these matters. The Chief Rabbi described
his community's approach of quiet cooperation with Turkish
authorities as the secret to their success in maintaining or
broadening minority opportunities in Turkey. In the 1940s,
the Jewish Community listed, as then required by law, 95 to
98 percent of properties owned by the Community. Haleva said
that other minority communities generally tried to "hide"
their holdings. As a result of that "non-confrontational
approach," the Rabbi said the Community received cooperation
on a range of issues, even where no legal structure exists to
facilitate a given request. As an example, he cited the
special permission received to build a synagogue on the Asian
side of Istanbul some 50 years ago. This was done quietly
and extra-legally, "using the Ottoman mentality." Today, the
street in front of that active community synagogue takes its
name from the structure.


7. (C) Comment. The Jewish Community has lived comfortably
in Turkey since the days of the Spanish Inquisition and their
culturally sensitive approach to problem-solving has served
them well. The Community is by no means monolithic, however,
and earlier this summer -- prior to the events in Lebanon --
some senior Community leaders were privately critical of the
Chief Rabbi for his "Pollyannaish" approach to growing
harassment as well as his very public, albeit oblique,
criticisms (carried in a local daily) of certain Istanbul
community members he accused of inappropriately seeking the
limelight. Indeed, there was talk of voting him out.
Clearly he has turned a listening ear and now acknowledges
the growing unease within the Community, a result both of
regional events and anti-Americanism focused largely on the
PKK in Iraq, and resultant nationalist/populist political
impulses. Though supportive of EU accession for Turkey,
Istanbul's Jews do not sense the EU can effectively replace
the overall positive influence of American friendship toward
Turkey. End comment.
OUDKIRK