Wiesenthal Center Urges NATO Chief and Member States to Denounce Turkish PM's Anti-Semitic Rant

July 20, 2014

Erdoǧan's Vile Rhetoric Could Endanger Turkish Jews

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is urging NATO Secretary General Rasmussen and member states of NATO to denounce the Turkish Prime Minister for saying that the Jewish state "surpasses Hitler in barbarism."

"Erdoǧan's latest libel, coming on top of other anti-Israel and anti-Semitic canards by Turkish leaders, endanger Turkish Jewry and fuel the flames of violence and intolerance across Europe," charged Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, Dean and Founder and Associate Dean of the leading Jewish Human Rights NGO.

"Such hate rhetoric and Holocaust inversion, must be denounced by NATO. There must be a clear message from NATO, an organization founded to protect democracies and freedom, that there is no room for such hateful and dangerous attacks on NATO's only ally in the Middle East," they added. 

"The Turkish Prime Minister's canard comparing Israeli actions---which have included advance warnings to Gazan civilians before attacks--are also an ultimate example of the hijacking of Holocaust imagery to demonize Israel and Jews", they noted. "Instead of denouncing Hamas for brutally forcing its own civilian constituents to serve as human shields the Turkish leader fans the fires of violent anti-Semitism. He should also be condemned by the leaders of democracies, churches and human rights NGOs ," Wiesenthal Center officials concluded.

Late last week, in wake of earlier violent attacks and rhetoric by Turkish leaders protesting Israel's efforts to quell Hamas' terrorist onslaught, the Wiesenthal Center announced a travel advisory for anyone considering travel to Turkey.

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 The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).