The Turkish Ministry of Interior issued an order today which exempts Turkish Jews of Greek nationality from the Government’s directive of last March, ordering the expulsion of all Greek nationals living in Istanbul. The exemption, which applies to all “Greek nationals who are not of Greek origin, ” was announced just a few days before the expulsion deadline, which had been extended to October 16.
The expulsion order of last March, issued in the wake of growing tension between Greece and Turkey over the Cyprus dispute, abrogated a 1930 agreement between the two countries, giving residence and working rights to Greek citizens living in Turkey.
Today’s directive, which exempts Jews from the expulsion order, has met with widespread satisfaction among leaders of the Istanbul Jewish community. It is now expected that applications for Turkish citizen ship by the Jews affected by the order will now be accepted by the authorities, and that financial restrictive measures imposed on them along with other Greek nationals will be lifted in the near future.
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