Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 03, 2009 11:43
President Abdullah Gul Tuesday warned the public not to engage in anti-Semitic activities, adding Turkey’s Jewish population has lived in the country for hundreds of years.
Gul said Jewish people living in his country have the same legal rights as Turkish people, and ruled out any negative attitudes against them.
"We cannot engage in (negative) attitudes against them. Israel and our Jewish citizens are different from each other", he told reporters Tuesday before his departure for an official visit to Saudi Arabia.
"I appeal to our citizens. Nobody should engage in such wrongful behavior against each other," Gul said.In every nation there are people who make mistakes, the Turkish president said, adding that people should warn against encouraging such actions.
Hundreds of thousands of people attended anti-Israel demonstrations in Turkey since the Gaza offensive began, as Turkey’s Jewish community raised concerns over the growing tension.The leader of the Jewish community in Turkey said earlier this week the country's majority pointed at discrimination against the minority, adding he did not believe there was generally anti-Semitism in Turkey, who is among the countries who directed the harshest criticism against Israel over its Gaza operations that killed more than 1,300 people.Silvyo Ovadya, however, said that he had not witnessed such a negative attitudes towards Jews in the past, citing examples of anti-Jewish billboards around Istanbul and anti-Semitic behavior by some Turks. Five leading American Jewish organizations also expressed earlier this month profound concern over the current wave of anti-Semitic manifestations in Turkey.
