US embassy cable - 03ISTANBUL1579

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 001579 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2013 
TAGS: KCRM, PGOV, PHUM, TU, Istanbul 
SUBJECT: TWO MURDERS, THREATS SHAKE ISTANBUL JEWISH 
COMMUNITY 
 
 
Classified By: Consul General David L. Arnett for reasons 1.5 (d). 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: A recent extortion campaign against members 
of a Jewish retirement home's board of directors has shaken 
Istanbul's Jewish community.  One of the board members, Yasef 
Yahya, was killed on August 22 at his office.  Starting three 
weeks ago, other members of the board have been contacted 
with demands for large sums of money.  Another Jewish 
businessman, Mois Konur, was killed on October 8, in what 
appears to be an unrelated incident.  Police believe the 
killings were criminal rather than political.  End Summary. 
 
 
Retirement Home Killing and Extortion 
------------------------------------- 
 
 
2. (U) On August 22, a 39-year-old Jewish dentist, Yasef 
Yahya, was killed in his office in Sisli, in central European 
Istanbul.  Yahya was a member of the board of directors of a 
Jewish retirement home, a member of B'nai Brith, and a 
regular attendee at the Haskoy synagogue.  According to press 
reports, Yahya was killed "execution style," with a single 
bullet to the head.  Police report that Yahya was found with 
a woman's stocking stuffed in his mouth, and his briefcase 
and cell phone were missing.  However, Yahya's wallet, 
containing TL 43 million (USD 31) and his watch were still on 
the body. 
 
 
3. (C) Starting on September 26, another member of the board 
of directors of the same retirement home, Jaki (or Zeki) 
Kaziz began receiving threatening phone calls.  In 
conversation with Lina Filiba, Vice President of the Jewish 
Community's Lay Council, Poloff learned that calls were all 
made from a single cell phone number (90-555-512-4765). 
Kaziz was told that he had to pay one million euros, later 
reduced to USD 500,000.  As a means of showing how serious he 
was, the caller told Kaziz to look at 
"yahya2010@hotmail.com," using password "5555."  According to 
Filiba, in the e-mails were personal details about Yahya, 
including credit card numbers.  Several threatening e-mails 
came from "efraim@hotmail.com." 
 
 
4. (C) Threatening calls were also made to the office of the 
president of the retirement home board, Yasar Natan.  Natan 
recently died, however, and his son spoke with the caller. 
Again, the caller made threats and demanded USD 500,000. 
Filiba said a third member of the board was contacted at 
home, and the caller said his name was "Murat Velioglu." 
 
 
5. (C) The Jewish Community has shared all information with 
the Istanbul police regarding this case.  All families of the 
retirement home board members are now in hiding, and change 
residence weekly.  Jewish Community Lay Council President 
Bensiyon Pinto has spoken directly with both the Minister of 
the Interior and PM Erdogan about the case.  The Israeli 
Consul General was also informed of the situation. 
 
 
Caterer killed 
-------------- 
 
 
6. (C) Meanwhile, in an apparently unrelated incident, Mois 
Konur, a 29-year-old caterer was killed while walking on the 
street on October 8.  According to Jewish Community contacts, 
Konur may have had past interaction with organized crime in 
Turkey, possibly including unpaid debts.  Konur's family was 
unaware of any prior threats to him or of the retirement home 
case in general.  While Israeli and French press have 
reportedly linked the two killings, Jewish Community 
contacts, and the Istanbul police, believe they are separate. 
 
 
Pattern of Anti-Jewish Violence? 
-------------------------------- 
 
 
7. (C) In a discussion following the death of Yahya with 
other Jewish small business owners, some community members 
noted that it is not uncommon for Jewish small business 
owners to be threatened, particularly by "MHP supporter 
types."  Small time threats for protection money are "common 
for our doctors," according to Filiba.  However, small 
business owners noted in the same conversation that similar 
threats do occur with their Turkish colleagues as well. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
 
8. (C) At this point, the cases appear to involve extortion 
and organized crime.  Post will continue to monitor them, 
however, and report if any linkage to larger political 
motivations or groups which may have an anti-semitic agenda 
is discovered. 
ARNETT