Turkish Governor wants synagogue closed and turned into a museum

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

Turkish – Israel relations are anything but normal yet. The fact a Turkish public official would make such comments only points to the growing anti-Semitism which is taking hold of the state.

Turkish – Israel relations are anything but normal yet. The fact a Turkish public official would make such comments only points to the growing anti-Semitism which is taking hold of the state.

A Turkish governor has threatened to turn a 100-year-old synagogue into a museum in retaliation for Israelโ€™s actions in and around Jerusalemโ€™s Al-Aqsa Mosque โ€“ the third holiest site in Islam.

โ€œWhen those bandits blow winds of war inside al-Aqsa and slay Muslims, we build their synagogues,โ€ Turkeyโ€™s Hurriyet daily cites the governor of the city of Edirne Dursun ลžahin as telling reporters on Friday.

โ€œI say this with a huge hatred inside me. We clean their graveyards, send their projects to boards. The synagogue here will be registered only as a museum, and there will be no exhibition inside it,โ€ he continued.

Aykan Erdemir, a member of Turkey’s parliament for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) said Sahin should either step down or be forced out โ€œto save the dignity of his post and Turkeyโ€™s honor,โ€ the daily cites him as saying in a written statement.

Built in 1907, Buyuk Synagogue is the second biggest synagogue in the Europe, with an original capacity for 1,200 people. The building, however, is in a state of serious disrepair, with restorations getting underway in 2010. Turkey has set aside $1.6 million for its renovation, which is almost complete.

Members of Turkeyโ€™s 26,000-strong Jewish community had applied to the governorโ€™s office to hold sermons and wedding ceremonies at the synagogue.

Meanwhile, tensions in Jerusalem have flared over the past several months between Palestinians and Israelis, with Al-Aqsa Mosque serving as a flashpoint for confrontation.

On Thursday, unconfirmed rumors in Arab language media claimed that Zionist settlers, with the aid of Israeli police, stormed the mosque. Dozens of Palestinians were reportedly injured in the clashes.

And earlier this month, clashes broke out at the entrance of the 8th century place of worship, with Palestinian officials claiming Israeli forces had crossed the threshold of the mosque for the first time since 1967. Israeli police deny entering the holy site.

Al-Aqsa was also closed twice in under a week due to intensifying violence in Jerusalem.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier warned Israel that its โ€œprovocationsโ€ and โ€œviciousโ€ actions regarding the mosque could spark a new โ€œnew intifadaโ€ or Palestinian uprising.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also lambasted Israel, saying its actions were โ€œnothing but barbarity to the core.โ€

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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