The nationalist outlook of the Turkish state since the beginning of the Republican era in 1923 targeted uniform identity formation. While Turkey did not recognize the existence of ethnic identities as long as they were Muslim, non-Muslims were challenging this ideal. During this social engineering, the religious minorities and the state had very turbulent relations based on mistrust, resulting in many discriminative legislations. The Republican story of the Jews provides significant insight to highlight the difficulties and challenges encountered in the formation of the Turkish Republic as well as the changes in the Turkish public with the new nation state in effect.Following the Second World War, a new state was established in the Middle East. During the Cold War, the Soviet threat led Turkey to recognize the State of Israel, established as a Jewish state. The main reasoning of Turkey in recognizing Israel was to be accepted to the Western camp. While the bilateral relations of Turkey and Israel increased gradually, a surprisingly high number of Turkish Jews, nearly 40 percent of the Jewish community in Turkey, immigrated to the new country.This book is an attempt to investigate the establishment of the State of Israel, Turkey's recognition of the Jewish state and its repercussions on the Turkish public between the years 1936 and 1956. It explains the establishment of the State of Israel and the first three decades of the Turkish Republic. It includes the religious minorities of Turkey, with a special focus on the Jewish community as it is one of the major links between Turkey and Israel. It combines Turkish public reaction to the establishment and recognition of the State of Israel, shedding light on the reasons of the mass Jewish immigration, which is at the same time the second biggest immigration out of Turkey after the labor immigration to Europe starting from the 1960s.

AcknowledgementsDedicationTable of ContentsIntroduction1 Introduction1.1.Turkish Public Reaction1.2.Methodology1.3.Literature Review1.4.Turkish Press1.5.Two Critical Clarifications1.5.1.Palestine1.5.2.Zionism2 The Road Toward the Establishment of the State of Israel2.1.Pre-First World War Palestine2.1.1.Demography of Palestine2.1.2.Historical Homeland vs. Nature of Population:Two People, Two Claims2.1.3.The Yishuv2.1.4.First Aliyah and the Jewish Settlement2.1.5.The Establishment of Agricultural Settlements2.1.6.Ottoman Reaction to the Jewish Immigration to Palestine2.1.7.Struggle to Survive2.1.8.The Arab People of Palestine2.1.9.Second Aliyah and the First Jewish Defense Organizations2.1.10.Theodor Herzl and The Zionist Congress2.1.11.The Rise of Pan-Arabism2.2.The First World War and the Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire2.2.1.The Outbreak of the First World War2.2.2.The Role of the Palestinian Jews in the First World War2.2.3.The Balfour Declaration vs. Hussein-McMahon Correspondence2.2.4.Conflict Between the Arab and Jewish Population of Palestine2.2.5.The Third and Fourth Wave of Aliyah and 1920 Riots2.2.6.The Establishment of Haganah and the division among Zionists2.2.7.The Fifth Wave of Aliyah and 1929 Riots2.2.8.The Arab Revolt of 1936, the Introduction ofthe White Paper in 19392.3.The Mandate of Palestine During the Second World War2.4.HaShoah (Holocaust)2.5.The UN Partition Plan and the Creation of the State of Israel2.6.Palestine Issue in the Turkish Press During 1930s and 1940s3 The Jews of Turkey3.1.The Jewish Population of the Ottoman Empire3.1.1.The Millet System of the Ottomans3.1.2.A Revolutionary Change in Education;The Alliance Israelite Schools3.1.3.Nationalist Movements in the Ottoman Empire3.1.4.The Treaty of Lausanne3.2.Turkish Republic, a New Beginning Full of Hope3.2.1.The First Decade of the Republic3.2.2.The Ideal of Turkism3.2.3.From Nationalism to Racism3.2.4.Creating a Turkish-Muslim Middle Class3.2.5.Restoring the Effendi Class3.2.6.Turkish Language as a Unifying Element3.2.6.1.The Language of the Minorities3.2.6.2.Unification of the Education3.2.6.3.'Citizen, Speak Turkish!' Campaign3.2.7.Steps for Dismantling the Community Structure3.2.8.Two Positive Steps on Turkification Process; the Lawon Headgear and Dress (Hat Revolution), and the Law of Surname3.2.9.A Milestone in the History of the Jews of Turkey;The Murder of Elza Niyego4 Changing Balance in International System Affects Turkey4.1.Rise of Fascism, Nazi Ideology4.1.1.Turkey during 1930s, under the Shadow of Nazism4.1.2.Press Freedom in Turkey During the First FourDecades of the Republic4.1.3.German Academics, 19334.2.The Settlement Law of 2510 and the Exodus of the Jews of Thrace4.3.Turkey's Foreign Policy during the Second World War4.4.Jewish Immigration to Palestine4.5.Discriminatory Policies Concerning the MinoritiesDuring the Second World War4.5.1.The Conscription of the Twenty Classes(Yirmi Kur'a ¿hritiyat) 1941-19424.5.2.The Capital Tax 1942-19444.5.3.Republican Party and Minority Report4.6.Survival Tactics: Kayadez5 Turkish - Israeli Relations and Turkish Aliyah of 19485.1. Zionism in Turkey5.1.The Idealist Pioneers5.2.The UN Partition Plan, 19475.3.Urfa Massacre, 19475.4.The Creation of the State of Israel and Turkey's Position5.5.Aliyah Boosted with the Establishment of the State of Israel in 19485.6.Reactions to the Immigration5.7.Turkish Jews in Israel5.8.The Recognition of Israel - 28 March 19495.9.An Historical Date: The Opening of the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul5.10. Turkish Foreign Policy During the Cold War5.11. Turkish Aliyah Expanded5.12. Cultural and Economic Relations5.13. Life in Turkey for the Ones Who Stayed6 ConclusionBibliography