Turkish Embassy in Moldova presents film about horrors of Holocaust

Chisinau, 07 March /MOLDPRES/ – The Embassy of Turkey in Moldova together with cultural center Kedem organised yesterday in Chisinau watching of documentary film "The Turkish Passport".

The documentary illustrates the story of Turkish diplomats who worked in European countries during World War II and were able to save a considerable number of Jews in concentration camps.

The event was attended by Moldovan Deputy Speaker Liliana Palihovici, Head of EU Delegation, Pirkka Tapiola, representatives of diplomatic corps accredited in Chisinau, other officials.

In his speech, the Turkish ambassador to Moldova, Hulusi Kılıç said that, as known, "in the course of the World War II, our Jewish friends were killed just because they belonged to different race, religion and concrete culture. Also, Ataturk rejected Hitler's demands to deport Jews from Turkey and invited Jewish scholars, artists and academics from Europe to Turkey."

According to the official, at that time, Turkish diplomats offered passports of Turkey to thousands of Jews who were to perish in concentration camps and facilitated their movement in Turkey, thus saving their lives in such a mode.

"The documentary film "The Turkish Passport" recounts how the Turks were with Jewish friends and protected them as it was during deportations from Spain. Similar did the Jewish friends when they come to Turkey and made an important contribution to creating a solid foundation of the Republic which was just forming at that period. Turkey was and will remain a refuge not only for Jews, but for all those who suffer, as it was in 1990 for the Kurds from Iraq and from Syria nowadays," said Hulusi Kılıç.

The director of Jewish Culture Center Kedem, Stela Harmelina thanked the Turkish Embassy for invitation to be partners at that event. She noted that it was impossible to forget the heroism of Turkish diplomats who during the war had saved lives of more than 2,000 Jews. "Over the years, Turks and Jews have lived in harmony and mutual respect," said Stela Harmelina.

Almost six million Jews became victims of Holocaust during WW II.

(Reporter N. Roibu, editor M. Jantovan)