Erdogan didn't suddenly become philosemitic

In 2019, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan compared Israeli actions in Gaza to the Holocaust, saying “we view the Holocaust in the same way we view those besieging Gaza and carrying out massacres in it.”

Last year, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Erdogan released a video about the dangers of xenophobia and Islamophobia, and didn't say the word "Jews" once. He talked about various genocides, pointedly excluding the Armenian genocide.

Lately, Erdogan and Turkey gave a different message. 

In December, Erdogan hosted members of the Jewish community in Turkey and the Alliance of Rabbis in the Islamic States. He's been emphasizing his goal of improving relations with Israel. He invited Israel's President Isaac Herzog to visit Turkey.

But a lot of this is smoke and mirrors. Turkey still hosts Hamas even though it "leaked" news that it will expel the terror group. 

Al Arab analyzes Erdogan's actions and says "Turkey, which is living in difficult economic conditions, and has failed to resolve the crisis of the lira's collapse.... is looking to open channels of communication with international financial influence circles, which means that the message issued on the memorial of the Holocaust is not a real apology nor a review of the situation as much as an opportunistic step to solve Erdogan's crisis."

In short, Erdogan sees Jews as the people who control the world's money supply and he wants to suck up to them. 

His pretense of friendliness to Israel and Jews is based on his antisemitic view of the world!

Antisemitism is not going away. If Jews have to choose between being hated or being respected for the idea that they control the world, respect is a lot better. 

But don't confuse these overtures with philosemitism. It's quite the opposite.

---

---