By Harut Sassounian Publisher, The California Courier Dr. Shimon Samuels, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Director for International Liaison, sent a letter to the Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul last month, expressing horror at an anti-Semitic article published in the August 17th issue of the Turkish newspaper Vakit. The writer, Abdurrahim Karakoc, had glorified Hitler and justified the Holocaust. Here are brief excerpts from that article: "The Concentration camps which were set up in Germany during World War II have been set up in Israel now. It is impossible not to admire the forethought of Adolf Hitler who was presented to the public opinion as 'racist, sadist, [and] monster'." Karakoc went on to say that Hitler "predicted what would happen these days. He got rid of the Jews, because he knew that the conjurer Jews, who perceive racism as a religion and take pleasure in splattering the world with blood, would be a big trouble for the world." Karakoc added: "We should, in fact, be thankful to Hitler, as we are all thankful to Osama bin Laden today." Dr. Samuels, in his letter, reminded Foreign Minister Gul that he and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the Wiesenthal Center's Associate Dean, had met with him in Ankara on January 12, 2004, during which they had thanked him for condemning anti-Semitism. In his letter, Dr. Samuels told Gul: "The content of the Vakit article ... not only appears to violate Turkish law, but its apologia for genocide and incitement to anti-Semitism contravene the anti-racism provisions of the European Union which Turkey aspires to join. They also negate conventions of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe [OSCE], to which Turkey is a signatory." The Wiesenthal Center urged the Turkish Government to vigorously denounce and "publicly condemn this article and to take disciplinary measures against its author and the editors of Vakit." The Vakit article is not an aberration. As various polls have repeatedly indicated, both the government and people of Turkey hold very strong anti-Jewish views. Turkish newspapers from time to time publish blatantly anti-Semitic articles. That is why we have regularly cautioned some Jewish-American organizations not to join Turkish anti-Semites in lobbying against the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. The Wiesenthal Center should be commended for not putting up with such vicious anti-Jewish articles for the sake of Israel's strategic interests in the Middle East! In fact the Center issued a statement on June 17, 2004, directly condemning the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for accusing Israel of state terrorism. Ironically, another Jewish organization, the American Jewish Congress, honored Erdogan earlier this year with its "Profiles in Courage" Award. In contrast to the Wiesenthal Center's criticisms of both Vakit and Erdogan, the American Jewish Congress has remained shamefully silent!

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