„Betty and Suzette are among the thousands of Turkish Jews seeking foreign passports this year amid growing religiosity in a society where civil rights activists and some ethnic minorities are feeling the weight of the increasingly authoritarian policies of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s Islamist president who has used anti-Israel rhetoric. ‚Of course we’re thinking about emigrating,‘ said Betty while scanning the top floor of the café – a quiet place that she proposes for an interview because she does not want to be overheard speaking about Jews to a journalist. ‚Everyone in the Jewish community is because it is hard to imagine a future for ourselves here. Many Muslims are, too.‘
Of the 4,500 Sephardic Jews who have applied recently for Spanish citizenship, at least 2,600 are Turks, according to Pablo Benavides, the consul general of Spain in Turkey. Last year, a law of return went into effect for Sephardic Jews whose ancestors were chased out of Spain during the Spanish Inquisition 500 years ago. Hundreds more have applied for naturalization in Portugal, where a similar law also went into effect last year. Indeed, Turkish Jews are the largest single group of applicants for a Portuguese passport. And approximately 250 Jews from Turkey have immigrated to Israel in the past year – a figure that is more than double the 2015 tally and constitutes more 1 percent of Turkey’s Jewish community of approximately 17,000 people.“ (Cnaan Liphshiz: „In post-coup Turkey, Jews plan their future abroad“)
