Zionism has been prohibited in Turkey ever since establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the World Zionist Organization informed the Jewish Telegraphic Agency when told of raids on Jewish organizations in Istanbul in connection with the Zionist movement.
Before that time there had been considerable Zionist activity in Turkey, and in 1919 the Turkish Zionist Federation was formed to centralize Zionist activity. The organization has over 5,000 members. A special Jewish National Fund Commission was organized in Istanbul and an Istanbul Palestine office opened there. Emigration to Palestine was encouraged and the Zionist Federation cooperated with the American Jewish Joint Distribution in the work.
In 1920 the Turkish Zionists took part in the Jewish communal elections held in Turkey, obtaining a large number of seats in Istanbul and in the provincial centers. They even succeeded in convening a Jewish Constituent Assembly for Turkey, which held its sessions in Istanbul.
When the new Turkish national state was established under Mustapha Kemel Pasha and the Ottoman Empire ended, Zionism was proscribed in the country by the new intensely nationalistic governernment.
In an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 1924, the late Chief Rabbi, Chaim Bejerano, explained that the separation of church and state had ended the official authority and position of the rabbinate. He declared, however, that the Jews hoped that their rights would be safe by virtue of the minority clauses in the Lausanne Treaty. (Later, under pressure from the government, the Jews of Turkey repudiated their minority rights and declared themselves opposed to outside protection).
He also explained that under the new regime Zionism was impossible and that no funds were raised for national purposes.
There is, however, a growing tendency on the part of Turkish Jews to emigrate to Palestine, and the raids on the Jewish organizations in Istabul may be connected with this development, World Zionist Organization officials declared.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
