Late last month, a Turkish tourist visiting Israel stabbed a police officer in the Old City of Jerusalem and was later shot dead on the spot. The attack, which vilified a police officer, called into question the presence of Turkish tourists in Israel. The answer is yes. Turkish tourism exists, but not necessarily in a good way.
Approximately 30,000 tourists from Türkiye enter Israel every year. Behind these tourist groups are several Turkish Islamist groups, the most prominent of which are under the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, headed by Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, a close ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. TIKA, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, operates in In 2017, the former Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism visited the Temple Mount and encouraged Muslims around the world to visit these holy sites.
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Turkish flag, Temple Mount
(Photo: Shutterstock)
Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, head of the Waqf, which is responsible for Islamic holy sites, including Al-Aqsa Mosque, said such visits would help Jerusalem and the mosques claim that they belong to Islam, adding that more He expressed his desire to meet many Turkish visitors.
In 2023, the president of TIKA visited Jerusalem and opened a music room at the Yaboos Cultural Center, which was funded by the agency. The center accepts artists and writers with a clear anti-Israel stance, including those associated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The TIKA president also hosted an iftar dinner at the Ambassador Hotel with former Jerusalem Mufti Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, who was previously arrested on sedition charges, as the guest of honor.
Opposite the entrance to the Western Wall on Cheyne Street is Khan Abu Khadija, a cafe established by TIKA to accommodate Turkish tourists. The cafe’s Facebook page reveals a significant number of Turkish tourists and their ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. On the wall of the cafe, photos of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, who opposed the establishment of a Jewish state during the Herzl regime, and President Erdoğan are displayed along with Turkish flags.
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Khan Abu Khadijah
(Photo: Shareef Shalom)
The cafe sells books and souvenirs featuring the Temple Mount and the flags of Palestine and Turkey. It is run by Imad Abu Khadijah, a resident of Jerusalem’s Old City. Tourists are given special guidebooks promoting Erdogan and the Muslim Brotherhood’s message about Jerusalem, all of which is funded by the Turkish government.
In 2018, the Shin Bet arrested Turkish tourist Cemil Tekeli on suspicion of transferring funds from Turkey to Hamas in the West Bank. The organization said Tekeli was part of the Turkish branch of Hamas, led by Jihad Yagmur.
A study by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), founded by Haim Silverstein, a former senior adviser at the Ministry of Tourism and current leader of the “Jerusalem Keep” initiative, found that Islamic tourists, led by Turkey, also receive discounts from other European capitals. Charges that turned out to be coming at a charge. One of his major groups, Golden Dome Travel, offers tours of Jerusalem focused on promoting Islamic tourism as opposed to Christian and Jewish tourism.
Golden Dome Travel’s Facebook page lists tour dates in Turkish and English that highlight Islamic history and Ottoman heritage. He offers affordable packages for around 5,000 shekels for a six-day tour that includes accommodation, meals, and a guide. Their aim is to make visitors ambassadors for Al-Her-Aqsa around the world, with a marketing slogan featuring a woman wearing a hijab with the Dome of the Rock in the background. “We’ll be back today. We’ll be back again. We’ll always be there.” We never give up. ”
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Some Turkish tourists return home deeply influenced by these tours. For example, Kemal Karaman wrote an article titled “The Road to Jerusalem” in which he explained how his guide stopped using the word “Israel” for Jerusalem and insisted on “Palestine” instead. Similarly, Turkish tourist Ismail Yassin expressed concern about the low number of Muslims visiting Jerusalem and accused the Israeli military of representing occupation and invasion.
Ran Yishai, head of research at the JCPA, which monitors Turkish activities in Jerusalem, was not surprised by the identity of the Turkish attackers or Erdogan’s policies. “I would be surprised if another week passes without an appropriate Israeli response to the absurd situation in which Turkish groups promoting government policies continue to operate in Jerusalem,” Yishai told Ynet. He called on the city of Jerusalem, the Israeli police, and the Prime Minister’s Office to convene an emergency meeting to curb Turkey’s dangerous influence in the capital.
“In 2019, then-Foreign Minister Israel Katz declared war on Turkish influence, and flags disappeared from the streets,” said Yishai, a former Jerusalem affairs director and former ambassador. We must not forget that the social and political responses to improve their quality of life, while Turkey incites and supports terrorism to return Jerusalem to the Ottoman Empire and the Islamic Caliphate, while inciting and supporting Jerusalem and others on our behalf. There is no reason to do this in places like ”
