![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/isra.jpeg\" "\\"isra\\"")
Head of Israeli-Turkish center in Yehud says latest deterioration in relations is part of chain that began with Second Lebanon War.<\/p>\n
Eyal Peretz, the head of the Arkadas Association, an Israeli-Turkish cultural institute, has been through this before.<\/p>\n
After the flotilla incident last year, in which nine Turkish activists were killed during an Israeli raid on a boat bound for Gaza, the Israeliborn son of Turkish parents called an urgent meeting at its center in Yehud where he and other Israelis of Turkish descent discussed at length how best to explain the incident to the Turkish public and mend ties between the nations.<\/p>\n
This time around, however, with the unilateral downgrading of relations with Israel announced by Ankara earlier this week, he doesn\u2019t bother.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is just an aftershock,\u201d he said over the phone on Tuesday. \u201cThe big shock came after the flotilla.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent years Peretz has seen his efforts to build bridges between Turkey and Israel crumble due to events out of his control.<\/p>\n
\u201cRelations between Israel and Turkey started to deteriorate during the Second Lebanon War,\u201d he said. \u201cThen there was Operation Cast Lead, then the flotilla, now this.\u201d<\/p>\n
His work has been directly affected. Arkadas ceased organizing Jewish heritage trips to Turkey two years ago due to security concerns and dwindling demand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very angry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve devoted most of my life as an adult to cultivate ties between the two people and I\u2019ve seen how a warm relationship has been erased in one fell swoop. It\u2019s very painful, very frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some 77,000 Israeli citizens were born in Turkey, according to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Most, like Peretz\u2019s parents, came to Israel during the 1950s and 1960s and settled in places like Bat Yam and Yehud, where one can still buy Turkish- style burekas and drink ayran in the city center.<\/p>\n
Salim Amado, the former president of the Organization of Turkish Immigrants in Israel who made aliya from Izmir in 1972, said the recent round of confrontations between Israel and his country of birth has taken a personal toll on Israelis of Turkish descent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hurt and angry and sad because we constantly tried to mend ties,\u201d Amado said. \u201cThis is a blow to us because we wanted the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, he said he believed Israel had \u201cnothing to apologize for\u201d and that it \u201cconducted itself very well and hasn\u2019t made any provocations or brought up issues sensitive to Turkey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turkey\u2019s Jewish community, which according to the World Jewish Congress numbers 23,000, has remained noticeably silent. Several attempts by The Jerusalem Post to interview leaders of the community failed. Amado, who is in close contact with friends and family in Turkey, explained their reluctance to speak to the press.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are Turkish citizens,\u201d explained Amado. \u201cNo matter how often the government says their problem is with the Netanyahu-Lieberman government, not Israelis or Jews in general, the Turkish people don\u2019t always understand, so they burn Israeli flags and there is massive security around Jewish institutions.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s not forget the bombing of a synagogue in Istanbul in 2003 and the murder of a dentist in Turkey just because he was Jewish. If someone in the Jewish community were to speak up and say \u2018our situation is not good\u2019 who knows where he\u2019d find himself the following day?\u201d Ankara\u2019s decision to expel Israel\u2019s ambassador from the country was not the first time a Turkish government had taken such action. Alon Liel, a retired Israeli diplomat and expert on Turkey, remembers the last time Israel\u2019s ambassador to Ankara was asked to leave 30 years ago during the First Lebanon War.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack then I was the second diplomat sent by the Foreign Ministry to conduct talks in Turkey and I saw how it affected the Jewish community in Turkey,\u201d Liel said. \u201cUsually, when relations with Israel are good the social state of the community \u2013 not necessarily the economic one – improves: The synagogues are open, the schools are open.<\/p>\n
But when there\u2019s tension the community goes underground.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Israelis and Turks are scheduled to clash again on September 15 \u2013 this time on the soccer field \u2013 when Maccabi Tel Aviv plays Beskitas in Istanbul.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t recommend that they go,\u201d Liel said. \u201cThere\u2019s a really tense atmosphere right now and there\u2019s no reason to put soccer players at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liel\u2019s concern is not without reason. In 2009, at the height of Israel\u2019s operation in Gaza, Israeli basketball team Bnei Hasharon was attacked by a Turkish mob chanting \u201cdeath to Jews\u201d during an away game in Ankara. The players took refuge in the changing room and the game was canceled.<\/p>\n
Despite current tensions all those interviewed hoped relations between the countries would quickly improve.<\/p>\n
Amado spoke fondly of his hometown Izmir where his father and brother are buried and which he visits often.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bottom line is we have no animosity toward Turkey,\u201d he said. \u201cNo Jew in Israel from Turkey hates Turkey.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s just no such thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
via Israeli-Turks watch relations crumble be… JPost – National News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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