US embassy cable - 04ISTANBUL474

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000474 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2014 
TAGS: PHUM, PTER, TU, Istanbul 
SUBJECT: TURKEY'S JEWISH COMMUNITY: FRIGHT BUT NOT FLIGHT 
 
 
REF: A. (A) 2003 ISTANBUL 1579 
     B. (B) 2003 ISTANBUL 1703 
     C. (C) 2003 ISTANBUL 1704 
     D. (D) ISTANBUL 432 
 
 
Classified By: Consul General David L. Arnett for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( 
 
 
d). 
 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: Two synagogue bombings and a recent attack on 
a Masonic lodge (which attackers reportedly believed was 
filled with Jews) have thoroughly unnerved Turkey's Jewish 
community.  Synagogue services are now more centralized and 
sparsely attended, and youth and cultural groups have 
suspended activities or relocated.  Though some within the 
Jewish community have discussed the possibility of 
emigration, none appears to be planning to leave.  Another 
spate of attacks could change that, though.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
History and Fantasy 
------------------- 
 
 
2. (U) Most of Turkey's Jews are descendants of the original 
Sephardim, who were evicted from Spain by Ferdinand and 
Isabella in 1492.  Offered refuge by the Ottoman emperors, 
they have lived in Istanbul and parts of western Turkey for 
500 years.  A small group of Ashkenazi (European) Jews also 
sought refuge in Turkey during the Second World War, and have 
remained.  Since the founding of the State of Israel, Turkish 
Jews have generally felt more secure and been more prosperous 
than other Jewish communities in the Muslim world.  Today, 
Turkey's 20,000 Jews represent the last vibrant Jewish 
community in a Muslim-majority country. 
 
 
3. (U) Another, less well-known offshoot of the Jewish 
population in Turkey are the Sabbateans, (or "Donme"), the 
followers of a 17th century Jewish cleric, Sabbatai Sevi, who 
lived in Izmir (and later Thessaloniki) and claimed to be the 
messiah.  Confronted with the option of converting to Islam 
or dying, Sevi became a Muslim.  Many of his followers did so 
as well, while secretly maintaining their Jewish observances. 
 No accurate statistics exist regarding the size of the 
Sabbatean community, or how many of those still adhere to 
Jewish traditions, though they may number in the thousands. 
 
 
4. (C) Jewish history in Turkey occasionally provides fuel 
for the paranoid fantasies of extremely nationalistic 
Islamists.  Among the facts occasionally cited as "proof" of 
Jewish interference in Turkish political life are: Ataturk's 
birth in Thessaloniki (a heavily-Jewish city at the time), 
and attendance at a school run by Sabbateans; Masonic 
(believed to be a Jewish/Zionist organization by many Turks) 
membership of many leaders of the Young Turks and early 
Republic; the relative affluence and better education of 
Turkey's Jewish community; and the widely-accepted rumor that 
former Foreign Minister Ismail Cem was descended from 
Sabbateans. 
 
 
Recent Attacks 
-------------- 
 
 
5. (C) On August 22, 2003, a 39-year-old Jewish dentist, 
Yasef Yahya, was killed in his office in Sisli, in central 
European Istanbul (ref A).  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. 
 
 
6. (C) On November 15, 2003, two truck bombs were 
simultaneously detonated in front of synagogues in Istanbul, 
killing 23 and wounding over 300 people (refs B and C).  Each 
attack was carried out by suicide bombers using small trucks 
with fake license plates carrying 300-400 kilograms of 
explosives. 
 
 
7. (C) On March 9, 2004, two suicide bombers entered the Free 
Mason temple in Yakacik in the Kartal district of Istanbul, 
shot a security guard, and, while shouting Islamic slogans, 
opened fire on a Masonic lodge assembled for dinner (ref D). 
Police report that 4 of 14 bombs strapped to the bombers then 
exploded, killing one bomber and a waiter, and injuring the 
other bomber and several Masons.  The investigation has led 
to over a dozen arrests.  Police have linked one of the 
weapons used in the attack to the murder of Yasef Yahya.  One 
of the men arrested has reportedly confessed to Yahya's 
murder. 
 
 
Jewish Community Reaction 
------------------------- 
8. (C) Poloffs spoke with Jewish merchants, lawyers, 
academics, and Lay Council members about the changed security 
environment confronting the community, all of whom concurred 
that the events of the past year have deeply shaken the 
community.  Synagogue attendance is down significantly, and 
the community leadership now organizes services at only two 
of the four commonly-used synagogues.  Security at the 
synagogues has been increased, and police are providing more 
officers before, during, and after services.  Youth and 
cultural centers (which were in unsecured rented space) have 
been closed.  The Swissotel has offered assistance, and youth 
activities now take place in the hotel's ballroom when it is 
not otherwise occupied.  Jewish families have stopped letting 
youth volunteer as synagogue security.  Two families have 
removed their children from the Jewish school, fearing it may 
be a future target.  Lay Council VP Lina Filiba recently 
returned from a fund-raising tour in the United States, 
soliciting Jewish communities there to help pay for necessary 
school upgrades to Jewish schools, synagogues, and other 
properties. 
 
 
9. (C) All contacts spoke of the linkage between the murder 
of Yasef Yahya and the attack on the Masonic Lodge as a 
source of fear.  One interlocutor, Prof. Rifat Bali, said 
that he believed the knowledge that Yahya was killed by 
terrorists willing to carry out larger operations simply for 
being Jewish was even more frightening to the community than 
the synagogue bombings.  Individual assassinations, he said, 
were more fearsome than larger-scale attacks. 
 
 
10. (C) Still, none of post's contacts reported any knowledge 
of Jewish community members planning to leave Turkey.  One 
on-line Turkish-Jewish discussion group laid out options in 
case of a substantially worse situation, and discussed 
relatives in the U.S., Israel, and Europe who might help them 
emigrate, but at this time no one appeared to be doing so. 
Jewish shop-owners with whom poloffs spoke said they too had 
discussed various options outside Turkey with their families, 
but had no plans to leave, because their families and 
businesses were in Istanbul. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
 
11. (C) Conspiracy-theory fueled fantasies have convinced 
some radical Islamists that Zionists and Masons are behind 
all the woes of the world's Muslims.  This paranoia is not 
exclusive to Turkey.  Now, however, radical groups in 
Istanbul are acting upon these fantasies, and making the 
city, like much of the Middle East, a hard place of residence 
for Jews. 
ARNETT