The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has expressed alarm at news reports that Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization is investigating individuals who may be dual citizens of Israel and Turkey in connection to the Mavi Marmara “Flotilla Incident” in 2010.
Reports suggest that targets of the investigation are Jewish without a thorough identification process and go on to mention that the identities of those being investigated will be disclosed at a later time.
According to Turkish daily Zaman, five Turkish citizens helped Israel during the 2010 raid on the Mavi Marmara ship that attempted to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza, in which nine Turkish citizens were killed.
In a filing to the Istanbul court prosecuting Israeli military leaders in absentia, Turkey's National Intelligence Organization said the Turkish citizens were either among the troops that raided the ship or interrogated pro-Palestinian activists after the raid, the paper said.
The investigation looked at all Turkish citizens who traveled between Israel and Turkey in the month surrounding the Mavi Marmara incident, according to Zaman. The investigation centered on Istanbul and Izmir, which have larger Jewish populations.
Around 30,000 Jews live in the country.
In a letter to Turkey’s Ambassador in the US, Namık Tan, ADL stressed that the vague allegations being reported « may be intimidating to the Turkish-Jewish community and could create a sense of alarm for Turkish Jews who have felt protected by the government in Turkey for centuries. »
“Throughout Jewish history, similar tactics have fomented anti-Semitism by publicly raising suspicions of Jewish dual loyalty in the minds of fellow countrymen,” said ADL’s National Director Abraham H. Foxman.
“If your government has information about specific individuals under investigation, that should be disclosed immediately in order to relieve any sense of uncertainty about the Turkish Jewish community in general,” Foxman wrote, adding, “if the news reports are unfounded or misleading, an immediate and public clarification is needed.”