Model Citizens of the State

The Jews of Turkey during the Multi-Party Period

By (author) Rifat Bali

Publication date:

13 April 2012

Length of book:

540 pages

Publisher

Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

ISBN-13: 9781611475364

Model Citizens of the State: The Jews of Turkey during the Multi-Party Period is about the history of the Turkish Jews from 1950 to present. By using unpublished primary sources as well as secondary sources, the book describes the struggle of Turkish Jews for the application of their constitutional rights, their fight against anti-Semitism and the indifferent attitude of the Turkish establishment to these problems. Finally, it describes Turkish Jewish leadership’s involvement in the lobbying efforts on behalf of the Turkish Republic against the acceptance of resolutions in the U.S. Congress recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

List of Abbreviations & Acronyms
Preface
PROLOGUE
1. Minorities during the Single Party Period
2. The Democrat Party in Power
Chapter I: The Democrat Party Years, 1950-1960

Chapter I: The Democrat Party Years, 1950-1960
The Democrat Party: Hopes and Expectations
The Rebirth of the Islamic Movement
Relations Between the DP, Turkish Jewry and American Jewish Organizations
The National Election of 1954 and the Minorities
Questions Surrounding the Use of the Turkish Language
The Events of September 6-7, 1955
The National Elections of 1957 and the Minorities
The Situation of the Jewish Community During the 1950s
Toward the Revolution of May 27, 1960

Chapter II: From the 1960 Revolution to the 1971 “Memorandum”

The Revolution of May 27, 1960
The Dissolution of the Lay Council and the Election of the Chief Rabbi
The General Elections of 1961
The Cyprus Question and its Effects on the Jewish Community
Minorities and the Citizenship Question
The Six Day War and Its Effects
The Attempted Arson of the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Ensuing Reactions
The National Elections of 1969: The National Salvation Party

and the Birth of Political Islam

The Situation of the Jewish Community during the 1960s

Chapter III: From the “Memorandum” of March 12, 1971 to the Military Coup of September 12, 1980

The Effect of Socio-Economic Conditions
The 1974 “Peace Operation” on Cyprus and its Effects
The Situation of the Jewish Community in the 1970s
Events Leading up to Military Coup of September 12, 1980

Chapter IV: The Years of Military Administration, 1980-1983

The Aftermath of September 12
Organizing a Turkish Lobby in the United States
The Armenian Genocide Question

Chapter V: The Özal Years, 1984-1993

Relations among Turkey, Israel and American Jewish Organizations
The Warming of Relations between Turkey and Israel and the Armenian Genocide
The Attack on the Neve Shalom Synagogue
The Islamic Movement and Anti-Semitism in the 1980s
Reconceptualizing Turkey’s Public Relations Activities: The Quincentennial Foundation
The Situation of Turkey’s Jewish Community in the 1980s (1980-1992)

Chapter VI: The Rise, Fall and Ideological Transformation of Political Islam, 1994-2003

The Period of Ascendance (1994-1997)
The Collapse of Political Islam (1997-2001)
Relations with Fethullah Gülen’s Community
The Period of AKP Rule (2001- )
Anti-Semitism and the Intellectual Elites During the 1990s
Relations between American Jewish Organizations and the Republic of Turkey
Societal Transformation in Turkey and the Situation of the Minorities
The Suicide Bombings of Istanbul Synagogues, November 15, 2003
The Jewish Community During the 1990s

Conclusion
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

The book provides an expose of the treatment of the Jewish community in Turkey from 1950 to the present, their fight against anti-Semitism, the struggle for their constitutional rights, and the attitude of the Turkish state and society towards these problems. ... Groundbreaking…unearthing facts and first-hand accounts that unmistakably illustrate how the Turkish establishment blackmailed the leaders of the Jewish community—and through them Jewish organizations in the United States—to secure their support of the Turkish position against the Armenians’ campaign for genocide recognition… The book also offers rich material about how Turkish diplomats and semi-official spokesmen of Turkish policies, threatened both Israel and the U.S. ... This book serves as a valuable case study of how realpolitik in domestic politics and foreign relations distorts the truth, and how coercion by the powerful contributes to the violation of collective human rights. It will be of interest to academics and students of non-Muslim minorities in Turkey, political lobbyists in America, Israeli policy-makers, as well as to the Jewish, Greek, and Armenian communities around the world.