The “Jewish diaspora” and “foreign powers” are behind recent unrest in Turkey, the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay claimed Monday, according to Hurriyet Daily News.
Atalay said the international media had a big role in “the conspiracy”
“The ones trying to block the way of Great Turkey will not succeed,” he said.
“There are some circles that are jealous of Turkey’s growth. They are all uniting, on one side the Jewish diaspora. You saw the foreign media’s attitude during the Gezi Park incidents; they bought it and started broadcasting immediately, without doing an evaluation of the [case],” Atalay continued.
The Turkish Jewish Community issued a press release saying “we would like to express our concern that all Jews around the world, including Turkish Jews, may become the target because of this sort of generalization in almost every situation.”
The Gezi protests started in May, presumably triggered by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s plan to remove a unique green area, Gezi Park, next to the iconic Taksim Square to build a replica of Ottoman artillery barracks and mall.
A sit-in by peaceful protesters turned into mass protests across the country with nearly 2 million people in 79 of the 81 Turkish cities attending, according to figures released by the Interior Ministry.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly blamed an “interest rate lobby” and the world media for boosting the protests, according to Hurriyet Daily News.