ISTANBUL — Turkey’s first officially sanctioned commemoration of the Holocaust was held in a synagogue here on Thursday, reflecting government efforts to assuage the Jewish minority in the face of increasingly strained ties with Israel. But the event was overshadowed by the scheduled premiere on Friday of the latest installment in a series of popular Turkish-made adventure films that depict Israelis as evil.

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Murad Sezer/Reuters

Rabbi Ishak Haleva, left, and Huseyin Avni Mutlu, Istanbul’s governor, at a ceremony to remember victims of the Holocaust.

“Gathering in love, brotherhood and humanity should be our common language to ensure that we must never experience this crime against humanity, this attack against humanity ever again,” Huseyin Avni Mutlu the Istanbul governor, said after lighting a candle in commemoration of the Holocaust’s victims with Ishak Haleva, Turkey’s chief rabbi, at the Neve Shalom synagogue.

The synagogue, one of many around the world commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day, carries particular symbolism here because it was the target of a local radical Islamist network loyal to Al Qaeda in simultaneous attacks around the city in 2003.

The Istanbul ceremony was considered a milestone in bringing together the pro-Islamic government and Turkey’s Jews. Many Turkish Jews have expressed unease about relations between Turkey and Israel.

Those relations, which had been historically strong, have been declining since the Turkish government’s strong condemnation of Israel’s military operations on the Gaza Strip in 2008.

The Israeli commando raid on a Turkish aid boat en route to Gaza last May, which left nine dead, also infuriated Turkey and brought diplomatic relations to a virtual standstill.

The raid inspired the producers of the Turkish film series, known as “Valley of the Wolves,” which has portrayed Israelis as baby-killers and human organ thieves. Israel has criticized the series as viciously anti-Semitic fiction.

The latest film in the series was scheduled to open the day after the Holocaust commemorations, although it remained unclear whether the date was deliberate. The film, “Valley of the Wolves — Palestine,” is a tale of a Turkish agent sent on a covert mission to Gaza and the West Bank to avenge the raid victims.

The Turkish government has often asserted that its conflict with Israel has never been over Judaism, but with the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his policies toward the Palestinians, particularly on the Gaza Strip. While the Turkish government has often sought to assure Jews in Turkey that they are safe, productions like “Valley of the Wolves — Palestine” cause public concern.

“This film is anti-Israeli and has anti-Semitic reflections,” Gabby Levy, the Israeli ambassador to Ankara, was quoted as saying by the semiofficial Anatolian Agency. The film premiered on Holocaust Remembrance Day in Germany, which Mr. Levy said was “a highly interesting situation.” Egemen Bagis, a state minister for relations with theEuropean Union, which Turkey wants to join, dismissed the criticism, calling it freedom of expression, which his government promotes for a more democratic Turkey.

“The movie does not reflect the position of our government,” Mr. Bagis said. “The flotillaincident, where we lost nine civilians, however, has caused a social trauma in Turkey, which provides a story line for popular culture productions touching upon such sensitive issues.”