The Denver Jewish news., 1924-07-10
THE SITUATION OF THE
JEWS IN TURKEY

years the director of Ibr school of the
Illf,veroln der Dcma.hon Judcu In
Coustuutluople. sees black outlook
for the Jews Ia Turkey THE relations
between the Turks aud the Jews have
lost their traditional cordinity," he
writes In IN article an Turkey and the
Jews In the Rnni Birth News for
June. The government NJ Angorn no
longer cares to see In thr Jew, as form
rrly political confederate. II np-
pears that the government would pre-,
fer In treat him with the same Sns'
plclon that is accorded 10 the Greek
and The Armenian Jewish education
r. threatened. CO.. II these reports are
true historical situation that has
lasted four and half centuries would
hc brulally ended. Il would be- the
end uf the Jewish 'Millrt'
"'Nlillet' Is the official title Of the
collective Jcwry in the Turkish con
Stitution. II means nation. Both
Christian minortics In the kingdom
hear this name, rs also all distinct
groups In the Ottoman state. The
Turkish Jews have that which the
Jews in many eastern European coun-
tries have been striving for since the
world War, namely recognition nS n
national minority and the right Ia OH
tain possible political. aud nt least cul-
tural autonomy. ....
But what have the Jews made of
their richtsf They have become
economically the poorest, politically
the weakest. culturully the most back
ward Of all the Jews Of the world
An explanation can be found only by
taking into consideration the million in
which they We're compelled to live
The Turks themselves were an uncul.
tured people who spread over the most
tlnurishing countries Of the Orient \
band of fire and war circlcd around
the Turkish empire and cut OF every
cultural tie between the Moslem and
Christian worlds. o.. War remained
their Cthc TurksD only ideal. They
remained intellectually Inactive through
centuries. go.
Turkish Jcwry could not protect it.
self against this downfall. The first
agency that haStenrd to help was the
Alliance Israelite UniycrSclle. II spread
a net Of schools over the Turkish cap
itnl and opened or assisted numerous
others in the provinces 1t could not
reSurrect the old Jewish culture but II
prepared the new generation for mod
ern life.
Then came the IIlfsvcrcin from
Germany, which. though possessed O
fewer resources. still helped to further
the cultural work already begun. Bu
that was not ull that oriental Jewry
needed; it was more important II
arouse it to consciousness of its owl
pOtentialtics. No better begin
ming could he wished for than that af
forded by the Young Turkish revolu
tion. The sultan's despotic power.
were abolished. National individuality
awoke." The Jews hoped that under
the new democracy they could mod
erniZc and dcmocratiZe their Self-gOv
ernment. Naturally it was not
the idea of the Jews to harm the en-
pire by improving their own privileges.
But unfortunately this development
was hampcrcd from the start. The rul
ing nation saw no good in it. only
dangers. . They (the Young Turkish
leaders, formed the fantastic Utopia
of Turkish state and people. Here
no nationaliticS were to exist except
the one nation to be known as the
Ottoman. Only the Turkish language
was Ia he heard. And a single central
power was to exist unhampered by
privileges or autOnomcs q: The re,
suits were catasthrophic; repression
and massacreS on the one hand, reyolu.
tiOns, treason and descrtion, on the
other. e.. The Treaty Of Sevres.
seemed to give the Millcts IA new start
But these hopes, too, were un,
fulfilled"