Yigal Schleifer RSS

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• Istanbul synagogue reopens

  July 29, 2004 9:00am

  The reopening of an Istanbul synagogue hit by a suicide bombing last fall reflects the position of the city’s Jewish community — striving to move forward but aware that it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to return to life as it was before.

• Turkey and Israel: Splitsville?

  May 20, 2004 9:00am

  Is Israel’s relationship with Turkey on the skids? Though Turkish and Israeli officials have denied any coolness between their nations, all is not necessarily well in the regional alliance.

• Jews wary as Azerbaijan election nears

  October 8, 2003 9:00am

  With presidential elections approaching in Azerbaijan, the political opposition is mounting an unusually vocal campaign against the leading candidate, a son of the current president, Heydar Aliyev. Azerbaijan’s Jewish community, which has enjoyed a close

• Keeping Ashkenazi heritage alive in Istanbul

  September 18, 2003 9:00am

  At a dome-topped synagogue in one of Istanbul’s old Jewish neighborhoods, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the high points of the religious calendar in more ways than one: the holidays are the only time of the year that the city’s last Ashkenazi synagogue

• Islands alive with Turkish Jewish life

  August 10, 2003 9:00am

  Each summer, Turkish Jews flee urban Istanbul for Buyukada and other isles in the Princes’ Island chain. It is a season for the Jewish community to relax and reconnect, with no cars in sight but with plenty of kosher food and beach clubs close at hand.

• Turkish-Israeli relations improve

  July 14, 2003 9:00am

  A flurry of Turkish-Israeli visits indicates growing trade relations between the two countries. Observers say the visits also illustrate Turkey´s attempt to use the Israel lobby in Washington to repair its strained relations with the United States.

• JDC, Israel help Turkish urchins

  May 7, 2003 9:00am

  Thousands of impoverished children work on the streets of the Turkish city of Diyarbakir. A new community center, which seeks to help keep these kids from leaving their homes and schools, is the latest expansion of non-sectarian efforts by the American Je

• Israeli foreign minister visits Turkey

  April 15, 2003 9:00am

  Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom’s day trip to Turkey, the first high-level Israeli visit to Turkey since the election of the Justice and Development Party, highlight’s Turkey status as perhaps Israel’s most important strategic par

• Kurdish leader a Jew?

  April 7, 2003 9:00am

  Fueled by what one historian describes as a Turkish fear of being controlled by a hidden Jewish cabal, the mainstream press in Turkey has theorized that the leader of a powerful faction of Iraqi Kurds is in fact Jewish and comes from a long line of Kurdis

• Turkish Jewish population dwindles

  December 22, 2002 10:00am

  The Turkish city of Edirne was once home to almost 30,000 Jews. Now, only three remain. The survival of communities like Edirne is doubtful, since most young Jews leave for Istanbul, the only remaining substantial enclave of Turkish Jewry.