A Democratic Deputy in the Turkish Parliament, M. Gurkan, has begun drafting a bill which he plans to introduce prohibiting anyone connected with the “Varlik” tax of 1942 to run for national office. The tax discriminated against minorities in Turkey and brought financial ruin and imprisonment to a large number of Turkish Jews.
The opposition Republican Party has reacted violently to Mr. Gurkan’s proposal and is prepared to fight it in Parliament. The “Varlik” was passed when the Republicans were in power.
Ilhami Sanjar, head of the Republican People’s Party of Istanbul, the major opposition party in the government, has charged that Salomon Adatto, a Democratic deputy and Jewish leader, has been accompanying Chief Rabbi Raphael Shabban on a pastoral tour of Turkey in order to reap political benefits.
Mr. Sanjar, who stressed that his party had pledged not to permit anti-Semitic propaganda in its campaign, said that Mr. Adatto’s alleged action was “unfair. ” Both Mr. Adatto and the Turkish Grand Rabbinate have issued statements denying that the Jewish deputy had accompanied the Chief Rabbi on his tour. Mr. Adatto added that he had not seen Rabbi Shabban for the past three months.
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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.
