Karel Valansi'nin kaleminden...

International Holocaust Remembrance Day was commemorated in Ankara on January 24, 2019. The day started with a morning prayer held in Ankara Synagogue with the attendance of Turkish Jewish community members, and ambassadors and foreign mission representatives based in Ankara. Ankara Synagogue opened its doors for the Sahrit (morning) prayer. Chief Rabbi of Turkey Isak Haleva, co-President of the Turkish Jewish Community Ishak Ibrahimzadeh and the President of Ankara Jewish Community Can Özgön made speeches expressing the importance of commemorating the Holocaust. After the prayer for the memory of the Holocaust victims, Anoten prayer was read for the sake of the state of Turkey. The group met for a family photo with the sign #WeRemember to support World Jewish Congress’ initiative. Following the ceremony in the Synagogue, the official ceremony was held in Ankara University where Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Faruk Kaymakçı, President of Ankara University Prof. Dr. Erkan Ibis, C...

Turkey marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day with a ceremony held in Ankara with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister Yıldırım Tugrul Turkes, Head of International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Turkey Committee Ambassador Aylin Tashan, and the president of the Turkish Jewish Community Ishak Ibrahimzadeh. Turkey marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 th  with a ceremony held in the capital, Ankara. Deputy Prime Minister Yıldırım Tugrul Turkes represented the government at the ceremony held at Ankara University with the attendance of Jewish community leader Ishak Ibrahimzadeh and prominent members of Turkish Jewish community and foreign diplomats including Israel’s Ambassador to Turkey Eitan Na’eh and United States Ambassador to Turkey John Bass. During the ceremony, chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Turkey Rav Mendy Chitrik and his son Chaim Chitrik performed Eli Ata and a Holocaust documentary was screened.

The victims of the Holocaust were officially going to be commemorated in Turkey – as they would be in many other countries. This was huge. And it would happen in Ankara, the heart of Turkey! We already had a Yom HaShoah, a Holocaust memorial day. The UN’s Holocaust International Remembrance Day was first commemorated in Turkey five years ago at Neve Shalom Synagogue. Last year, the commemoration was held for the first time outside Jewish institutions, at Kadir Has University in Istanbul. This year it would be held at Bilkent University in Ankara. This year was also important because the Speaker of Parliament, Cemil Çiçek, would be attending the ceremony. It would be the first time that such a high ranking official did so.

I was excited; this is the best word to describe my feelings that day. Every detail of the ceremony had been worked on for weeks. We were going to Ankara! And to commemorate the Holocaust nonetheless, this was huge! The victims of the Holocaust were officially going to be commemorated in my country, as it will be in many other countries. And in Ankara, at the heart of Turkey!