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Warsaw (dpa) - International anti-Semitism watchdog, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, has called for action against what is identifies as a recent rise in anti-Semitic literature in Turkey.
Wiesenthal Centre representative Shimon Samuels described as "epidemic" a recent increase in the number of anti-Semitic publications in Turkey, such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Anti-Semitic texts such as Hitler's Mein Kampf are "even on sale in many editions at Istanbul International Airport," Samuels told delegates to a Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) human rights-focused meeting in Warsaw Thursday.
Samuels also said he recently discovered several blatantly anti- Semitic Turkish-language publications at Germany's Frankfurt Book Fair.
A statement issued by the Wiesenthal Centre Thursday stressed that the publications in Turkish "fit the EU Monitoring Centre's definition of anti-Semitism and violate the OSCE's Berlin Declaration, as also European conventions on incitement to racism."
It also claimed books with titles such as 'Buyuk Israil Stratejisi' (The Greater Israel Strategy - Istanbul 2005) - a conspiracy theory book detailing alleged Jewish plots against Turkey - were available at the Frankfurt book fair at a stall operated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey.
"This is no longer a case of freedom of expression. Indeed, it could dangerously be construed as government endorsement," said Thursday's Wiesenthal Centre statement to OSCE delegates.
The Paris-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre also urged Ankara to condemn, investigate and punish "those responsible for this outrageous exhibit."
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
