New York to host symposium on history of Jewish communities in Turkic world

Azerbaijan Society of America (ASA) and Azerbaijan-America Council (AAC) will organize one-day symposium “Jewish Identity in the Turkic world” in New York on Nov. 23 together with the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA), the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA), ‘Turk of America’ magazine, International Charitable Fund of Mountain Jews (STMEGI) and the Uzbek Initiative (UZI)

The event of the educative nature is organized under the auspices of the initiative Pax Turcica will be held at the Center for Jewish History in New York. In addition to the major sponsors, the event is also sponsored by the Turkish-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TACCI), community of Bukhara Jews of the U.S. and Canada, the Turkish-American Action Committee and the Jewish Youth Center "Caucasus".

Organizers believe that there strong historical basis to hold the symposium. Jewish communities have lived in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and other regions of the Turkic world for centuries. Tens of thousands of Sephardic live in Turkey since 1492, when the Ottoman Empire offered refuge to Jews who escaped the Spanish Inquisition. Mountain Jews comprise one of the largest Azerbaijani communities in America. They settled in Azerbaijan for about two millennia ago, and tens of thousands of them continue to live in the northern regions of Azerbaijan to this day in an atmosphere of prosperity and tolerance. Bukhara Jews of Uzbekistan also lived in an atmosphere of tolerance and mutual respect in the Central Asia for more than two millennia.

Over the last decade, multi-faceted cooperation between Israel and Turkic-speaking countries, in particular Azerbaijan, has turned into a strategic partnership. The Azerbaijani-American Council (AAC) together with the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and ATAA started the initiative "Building bridges from the Caspian to the Mediterranean" in California in Nov. 2008. The aim of this project was to transform dynamic relations between Azerbaijan, Israel and Turkey to  cooperation between Turkic and Jewish communities in the United States. Pax Turcica event to be held on Nov. 23 will be logical continuation of this initiative.

In addition to panel, the program of the symposium will include viewing of the documentary "Desperate Hours" directed by Victoria Barrett which describes the role of Turkish diplomats in saving thousands of Jews from the Holocaust during the Second World War. Barry Habib, director of the famous Broadway musical "Stone of Ages" and Yildiz Yuksek Blackstone, President of the famous fashion company Lutsa Lutsa will share impressions of the personal and professional life.

Symposium is expected to end with an exhibition of paintings by young artist Stas Shpanina, native of Baku, as well as displaying the Ottoman archival documents about the history of Turkish-Jewish relations.

Day.Az