A new migratory wave of Turkish Jews going to Israel has been building up here for the past few weeks. Unlike earlier immigrants, most of whom were poor, these are essentially middle class, middle aged Jews.
The pressure building up behind this migratory wave is the economic crisis in Turkey which, accompanied by restrictive economic legislation, is making conditions quite difficult for merchants and industrialists. In the past few weeks two parties of Turkish Jews–totalling 800 persons–left for Israel, chiefly on tourist trips. However, it is known that many of the tourists are inspecting the Jewish State with an eye toward settling there.
There have been reports of businessmen who, after a visit to Israel, have returned home to liquidate their businesses and have migrated to Israel. Many others are know to be contemplating similar action.
Dozens of prospective immigrants and tourists can be seen outside the Israel consulate on any day. Surprisingly, some of them are Jews who left Turkey for Israel once before and then came home dissatisfied. Prospective immigrants also include doctors and engineers. The number of Turkish Jews who left for Israel in the two previous migratory waves, in 1943 and 1948, came to about 37,000.
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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.
