Turkish prime minister approves reconstruction of old synagogue
Gaziantep will have a Jewish center for first time since 1979
An old Turkish synagogue, destroyed 30 years ago, will be restored after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan approved the move, Israel Hayom reported on Wednesday.
Turkey’s sixth largest city, Gaziantep, is located near the country’s border with Syria. For hundreds of years it harbored a Jewish community, until the last Jew left in 1979. Shortly afterwards the synagogue was destroyed.
According to the report, Erdogan gave his approval — which is needed to open any new synagogue in Turkey — to open a new Jewish prayer house in Gaziantep within three months. Dozens of Turkish Jews planned to journey to the city for the event, and they will bring with them a Torah scroll that was taken from the old synagogue to Istanbul in the 70s. Erdogan himself may attend the ceremony.
Local authorities reportedly hired a shochet (ritual slaughterer of animals) to provide a kosher feast on the special occasion.