TURKISH JEWISH COMMUNITY ANXIOUS ABOUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000869 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/24/2017 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL TU SUBJECT: TURKISH JEWISH COMMUNITY ANXIOUS ABOUT CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM AND ADL STATEMENT Classified By: Consul General Sharon Wiener for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Turkish Jewish community secular leaders expressed their anxiety about the impact of potential constitutional reforms now capturing headlines during the Consul General's September 20 introductory call on Chief Rabbi Haleva. In separate meetings, community representatives had also recently expressed to us their concern over a recent Anti-Defamation League statement recognizing an Armenian "genocide" while using the Turkish-Jewish community to justify its position against an associated congressional resolution. Though anti-Semitic language continued to be evident in the press and on the Internet, the representatives explained, there was none to be found within government institutions, and the community continued to enjoy warm relations with neighbors in society. End summary. CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM -------------- ¶2. (C) Chief Rabbi of Turkey Isak Haleva and Turkish Jewish community secular leaders expressed a variety of opinions concerning the results of the recent Turkish parliamentary and presidential elections during a September 20 introductory meeting with the Consul General. Rabbi Haleva conveyed his optimism regarding the ability of the newly re-elected Justice and Development Party (AKP)-led government to improve on the experience of its first administration. Community President Silvyo Ovadya expected no legal reforms associated with improving the situation for religious minorities but stressed this was not the most important issue. He and the President of the community's foreign relations committee Daniel Navaro were rather more concerned with potential changes to the Constitution now being discussed. Navaro specified that loosening restrictions on the wearing of headscarves in public institutions, including universities, is the greatest cause for anxiety because it has the potential to "change the country" by creating social pressures that would restrict the freedom of secularists. Community Executive Vice President Lina Filiba argued such societal pressures are already evident as people begin to realize they can get ahead by being outwardly religious. INTER-MINORITY DIFFERENCES -------------- ¶3. (C) In response to Consul General's comments concerning �A;U/S Burns' September 18 call on Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (septel) and USG support for re-opening Halki Seminary, Ovadya questioned whether the closed status of Halki Seminary was really a problem or a political issue. He contrasted the Greek Orthodox minority attitude regarding education of clergy to that of the other two "Lausanne minorities," arguing the Jewish community sends its aspiring rabbis to the United States and Israel while the Armenian Orthodox community has proposed creating an ecumenical divinity studies program at an existing university -- a solution that the Jewish community also favors. Noting that the Jewish Community does not have the problems that the Armenian and Greek Orthodox communities have with the government, Rabbi Haleva proudly pointed out a photograph of himself with PM Erdogan and Armenian Patriarch for Istanbul and all of Turkey Mesrob II. Notably absent from the photograph was Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. ConGen responded that in the USG view, the Greek Orthodox minority should have the right to train its clergy in Turkey if it wished to do so. ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE STATEMENT -------------- ¶4. (C) During a separate recent meeting, Filiba told a Congressional Study Group on Turkey staff delegation that Anti-Defamation League (ADL) national director Abraham Foxman's August 21 statement recognizing an Armenian "genocide" while maintaining the ADL's position against a congressional Armenian Genocide resolution (AGR) were the result of a "local management problem." ADL's New England regional office had faced pressure from co-constituent Armenian Diaspora groups for ADL's policy not to recognize the Armenian "genocide," she explained. Foxman's August 21 statement followed significant public backlash related to the firing of ADL's New England regional director after the latter broke with the national ADL policy by suggesting that the organization should acknowledge the Armenian "genocide." ¶5. (C) Filiba expressed particular dismay that Foxman's ISTANBUL 00000869 002 OF 002 August 21 statement threw the Turkish Jewish community into the middle of ADL's public relations troubles by using the community in its justification for ADL's continued opposition to an AGR. In his statement, Foxman suggested that the AGR, "may put at risk the Turkish Jewish community and the important multilateral relationship between Turkey, Israel and the United States." Though she later privately confessed to us she agreed an AGR would create risks for the community, Filiba told the delegation that the community leadership told the Turkish MFA that Foxman's suggestion was "absurd." The MFA recognized it did not make sense and released a public statement saying Turkey's Jews are not at risk and are Turkish citizens, she said. While explaining the Turkish Jewish community's opinion regarding the AGR, Filiba echoed sentiments expressed earlier in the meeting by a Turkish Armenian community representative: foreign legislation is not a solution for establishing historical facts. ANTI-SEMITISM IN MEDIA -------------- ¶6. (C) Filiba also told the delegation that the rise in anti-Semitism in the Turkish press and on the Internet that began following the summer 2006 conflict between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah is still present. She stressed there was no indication of anti-Semitism within government institutions however, and that the community continues to feel accepted within society. Filiba asserted the community's lack of juridical personality presented a particular challenge for using the courts as a defensive recourse to anti-Semitic attacks. The Chief Rabbi is the only individual who can bring such cases to court, she explained, but doing so puts his security at greater risk. Private citizens are recognized as victims in court only after an attack has happened, lamented Filiba. ¶7. (C) Comment. The Jewish community leaders are the first to admit there is no single voice for a community perspective on any issue and indeed secular leadership opinions frequently do vary with those of the Chief Rabbi, especially. Still, the secular leadership appears to have unanimously rallied around the fear that proposed constitutional changes could increase societal pressures resulting in the favoring of conservative Muslim expression and marginalization of others. Thus, unlike others designated a "Lausanne minority," the Turkish Jewish community much prefers to accept a few inconveniences regarding lack of juridical personality and property rights rather than see reforms that, although they would increase their rights as a minority, would also increase freedom of expression for the majority Muslim population and in the process, possibly foment public pressure on minorities to conform to majority practices. End comment. WIENER