None of the national minorities in Turkey speak Turkish enough, and the Jews speak it least of all, complains Cumhuriyet (The Republic), the official government newspaper.
When an Armenian or a Greek fails to speak Turkish he at least speaks his own language, the publication continues, but a Jew who does not speak Turkish speaks Ladino or some other European language.
“We would have nothing against the Jews if they spoke Hebrew, theri national language,” Cumhuriyet says. “But we can’t bear to have them speak neither their own language nor the language of the land.”
A call to all the Jews to use Turkish in their business dealings was issued during the High Holidays. It was sent out by the Hachamla, the Jewish Culture Society.
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