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Friday, December 11, 2020

Dealing with Ottoman Empire and Now Turkey

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                  

Jews lived in the area of Asia Minor before the Empire existed as a synagogue was in the old capital of Brusa in 1326.  Later, other Jewish communities were brought in by conquest with the capture of Salonica in 1430 and Constantinople in 1453.  After 1492 (Spanish Inquisition) sultans opened the gates of the Ottoman Empire to the refugees of Spain and then Portugal, etc,  and the Turkish Jewish community was of importance.  Jews were great in trading and were an artisan element of their population.   

Christianity's history centers on the city of Constantinople (Istanbul), a Turkish city.    Jews during the Byzantine Period suffered continuous persecution.  It was captured by the Turks in 1453 by Sultan Mehmed II.

The fall of Constantinople was May 29, 1453, and the conquest of  Constantinople was  by Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire. The dwindling Byzantine Empire came to an end when the Ottomans breached Constantinople's ancient land  after besieging the city for 55 days.

Jews lived here in 1919 with a population of 90,000, but only 20,000 were here by 1990.  The Ottoman Empire lasted for 400 years, lost to Turkey, who were the Ottomans, in WWI when they were on the wrong side of the war.  Palestine, renamed Palestine by Romans in 135, was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1517 to 1917.  37,000 Jews emigrated from Turkey to Israel in 1948.  

 Anti Semitism comes to us from both Christianity's history, and to a lesser extent from Islam's history. Jews were always 2nd class citizens (dhimmis)  in Islamic countries.   Since 1948 it has come from all the Islamic nations blatantly while Christianity's existed as a residue from former times, picking up  momentum recently.                                 

It's been very strong from Turkey, showing up in the incident of a Turkish ship, Mavi Marmara leading a Gaza flotilla to break Israel and Egypt's blockade,  ignoring the warnings of this going against Israel's plea. The organizers were connected to Hamas (IHH), a terrorist group of Palestinians.  The UN which ultimately condemns Israel automatically, again condemned Israel.  

The two countries were close allies, but relations broke down after the killing by Israeli commandos of 10 Turkish activists on board a ship that was part of an aid flotilla attempting to breach the blockade of Gaza on 31 May 2010.  At the end, "Israel formally apologized to Turkey in 2013 and in 2014 committed to paying compensation to the families of the victims. But the Gaza naval blockade has not been lifted.

                                          

                        Erdogen, born 26 February 1954

What has caused Recep Erdogen, President of Turkey, to become so religious and down on Israel?  He's acting more like Iran's Ayatollas.  He  comes from an Islamist political background and is self-describing as a conservative democrat, and has promoted socially conservative and populist policies during his administration. They would both benefit if they had good relations, especially over gas and oil.  Israel continues to be a partner in NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue along with Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, Mauritania and Morocco.

In July 2020, Erdoğan ordered the reclassification of Hagia Sophia church as a mosque. It's also called the Turkish Ayasofya, Latin Sancta Sophia, also called Church of the Holy Wisdom or Church of the Divine Wisdom, an important Byzantine structure in Istanbul and one of the world's great monuments.

The redesignation has been controversial, invoking condemnation from the Turkish opposition, UNESCO, the World Council of Churches, and many international leaders.   

Turkey is involved with Russia in Syria.  ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s president on Friday confirmed the country tested its Russian-made S-400 missile defense system, despite objections from the United States. 

 Erdogen is interested in a piece of land of Syria.  Idlib Governorate is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Hama Governorate to the south, and Latakia Governorate to the west. 

But in a nod to Turkey’s interests, a deal also puts the brakes on Syrian President Bashar Assad’s push to reclaim control over all of Idlib province, the last opposition-controlled region that borders Turkey.

Erdogan said he and Putin agreed to help refugees return to their homes. More than 900,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since Assad’s forces began an offensive in December backed by Russian airstrikes.                              

Greece, Italy, Cyprus and France at 

                          military practice August 2020

 The Greeks and Turks are again locked in a quarrel about the territorial status of Mediterranean real estate and waters — and more importantly the oil and gas reserves beneath them. The energy potential of the eastern Mediterranean has raised the stakes. Neighboring powers in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East are being drawn into a standoff as the risks rise of open conflict between NATO allies.

They have come to these agreements: Turkey will reportedly not demand the full lifting of Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza, settling for greater access and presence in Gaza. Israel will acquiesce to continued Hamas political activities in Turkey and will not demand the removal of Hamas operative al-Arouri from Turkey, but will get Turkish assurances that al-Arouri’s involvement in terror will cease.)  Now we see that Hamas's 2nd home is Turkey!  

Ankara’s current regime under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been increasingly hostile to Israel for the last decade, comparing the country to Nazi Germany and vowing to “liberate” al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Reports now indicate that intelligence and military assessments in Israel see Ankara as a challenge and threat.


Resource:https://www.jpost.com/tags/israel-turkey-relations

https://www.bbc.com/news/10203726

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2016/06/23/are-turkey-and-israel-on-the-verge-of-normalizing-relations/#:~:text=Israel%20formally%20apologized%20to%20Turkey,blockade%20has%20not%20been%20lifted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recep_Tayyip_Erdo%C4%9Fan

https://www.voanews.com/europe/turkey-greece-maritime-squabble-risks-unfortunate-war

https://apnews.com/article/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/erdogan-confirms-russian-s-400-missile-defense-system-tests-despite-u-s-objections

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idlib_Governorate

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