Gul: "Turkish jews are equal citizens of our republic"

Speaking to reporters before leaving for Saudi Arabia yesterday, President Abdullah Gul said every citizen of the Turkish Republic has equal rights and that Turkish Jews are no exception this, urging the Turkish public to be more sensitive to Turkey's Jewish population in protesting the recent Israeli attacks in Gaza. Asked about claims by the Israeli media in particular that anti-Semitism in Turkey is on the rise in the wake of the Gaza attacks, Gul said, "Our Jewish citizens are equal to me and you. They can also serve as deputies or president. Each and every citizen of the Turkish Republic has equal rights. Any discrimination against them is out of the question. Israel is one thing and our Jewish citizens in Turkey are another." He added, "Israel's policies toward Gaza and Palestine in general have been criticized. The prime minister explained that his criticisms were directed at Israeli government policies, not Israelis or the Jewish people. There is a need to differentiate between these issues. Everyone should know this." Gul also touched on Turkey's efforts to urge Hamas, which won the 2006 elections in Gaza, to take a proper stance on the Middle East peace process, to work to dispel the international community's concerns about it and to act as a political party, not an armed group. Turkey told Hamas the right path to pursue and the consequences it will face should it go astray, Gul said. He added that if Turkey's efforts had been supported everything in the region would have been very different now. Turkey will do whatever it can to help the Palestinians work together, he said.