Jews in Turkey
The debates are less heated when it concerns the country’s Jewish population. Anti-semitism has never been strong in Turkey, even at periods when the Near East issue deteriorated. This is no doubt due to Turkey’s long multi-ethnic and multi-confessional past. Turkey remained Israel’s major ally in the region and Jewish "lobbies" worked in favour of Turkey, especially in the United States. Having said this, during the Second World War, a part of the Turkish intelligentsia was swayed by the fascists’ writings, which led to imposition of a special tax on non-Muslims, a tax that mainly targeted the Jews.