The largest Jewish cemetery in Istanbul, partly abandoned, was desecrated overnight and two of the perpetrators arrested, representatives of the Jewish community and the authorities announced on Friday July 15.
“
Our cemetery in Hasköy on the Golden Horn was visited at midnight and 36 of our headstones were destroyed,
” reads a post on the Jewish community's Twitter account that features several snapshots of the destruction.
“
The case has been forwarded to the competent authorities with all the photos and video recordings and we expect the perpetrators of this vandalism to be arrested as soon as possible
,” she continues.
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu immediately “
condemned the heinous attack on the HasKöy cemetery
” via Twitter.
“
Two of the perpetrators have been arrested by the police and the investigation is continuing
,” he added, warning that “
those who try to disturb our unity and solidarity by such provocations will never have citizenship
”.
Hasköy Jewish cemetery is the largest in Turkey and Istanbul, hosting the vast majority of some 15,000 Turkish Jews - compared to 200,000 at the start of the 20th century.
Recurring tensions between Ankara and Tel Aviv, accompanied by a rise in anti-Semitism, as well as the deadly attacks on the synagogues in Istanbul - the last, in 2003, killed 30 people - have contributed to reinforcing this withdrawal.
But recently diplomatic relations have warmed up significantly between the two capitals.