INTERVIEW

The signing of Abraham Accords is a significant development in the unstable Middle East. We talked with Prof. Dr. Efraim Inbar, the Israeli position and the future of the Turkish-Israeli relations. Prof. Inbar is the president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies (JISS), and professor emeritus of political science at Bar-Ilan University. He was the founding director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA), a position he held for 23 years. He specializes in Middle Eastern strategic issues, Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy, and Turkey-Israel relations.

The book ´Refugee: An Activist’s Testimonies on Refugee Camp´ (in Turkish) written by Rakel Sezer based on her own experiences and her conversations with the refugees whom she assisted, acts as a documentary that will enable us to look at the events with empathy…Let us listen to the rest from Rakel Sezer, herself…

Turkish Ashkenazi Community Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, tracked down traces of the Jewish past, all around Anatolia...

I would like to introduce you to Ömer Faruk, who became interested in the Sephardic culture after he had heard the song ‘Adio Kerida’ by Yasmin Levy and has decided to write his master thesis on this subject.

We talked with Henri Çiprut, the ‘young’ member of the team who strive to spread and keep Ladino (Judeo Espagnol) alive through the Ottoman Turkish Sephardic Research Center, the future of Ladino.

Nesli Kohen, also known as Nesly K, is one of our community’s young talents who is continuing her education and life in the U.S... The music studies that had been in her life starting from her family environment, ever since she was very small, guided her helping her decide what to do in life. Kohen who is continuing her career as a ‘teaching artist’ in New York where she is studying for her master´s degree, is also teaching kids music, giving modern vocal training to people of all ages, besides writing and composing songs.

Ersin Anjel, who started studying aeronautics and space in Turkey and continued his education in US is now working at NASA and developing security software for UAV’s (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). We talked with Ersin Anjel about his adventurous life that started in Nisantasi and about his work at NASA.

Ivet Bahar, Ph.D., who explained what happens in our cells on a molecular level with the computer software she designed herself, thus regarded as one of the pioneers of bioinformatics, was elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. We discussed with Prof. Ivet Bahar who designs the future of science, her academic career full of success, and what she is doing to develop a treatment for COVID-19 in her ´Bahar Lab´ with her team she calls ´my academic grandchildren´.

Director of the Infectious and Immunological Diseases Research Center and the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Moshe Arditi, MD, told us how the world of science went out of their way to be victorious in the COVID vaccine race. Professor Arditi shared the details of the BCG vaccine experiments he is directing, which also made the headlines in Turkey concerning the struggle with COVID-19. The professor with Cerrahpaşa Medical University background also cleared the wrong association of the Kawasaki illness he’s an expert in, with COVID-19.

Silvyo Behmoaras is a young talent who works in different branches of production business. Besides directing TV commercials and music videos, he also works in editing and audio/visual effects.

Aydemir Ay´s new book “The Cuisine of Edirne Jews” is getting ready to hit the shelves. We listened to Ay’s passion for Edirne in his words.

This year, for the first time, between dates June 3-5, Mediterranean Exporters´ Association (AKIB) is organizing a Turkish Export Products Expo in Tel Aviv.

For four years, during the Ankara University´s Holocaust Remembrance Day Assemblies, the events most remembered have been the concerts. Prof. Dr. Hasan Yener from Ankara University State Conservatory and his wife Prof. Dr. Yeşim Alkaya Yener from Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory are the architects of these wonderful concerts that fill the hearts and minds...

Mois Navon quit his job after Mobileye was sold to Intel and he followed his passion for Jewish philosophy. Now he is known as ‘the rabbi of Mobileye’ and giving lectures about Torah and science.

Melike Çapan from Independent Turkish spoke to our newspaper Şalom’s Editor in Chief, Ivo Molinas, on antisemitism, a concern to many people including the politicians and a specific group among the society.

Emil Aliyev who is living in Azerbaijan found out at the age of 15 from his father’s cousin that he is Jewish. With significant achievements that came one after the other, today Aliyev is getting ready to be the youngest assistant professor in the field of medicine in Turkey. He shared with us in his own words about the moment he found out that he was Jewish and how that changed his life. He also enlightened us on being a Jew in Azerbaijan.

Interview with the German Philosopher Werner Stegmaier...

Pera Film presented ‘Chosen Families: Tomer Heymann’, a selection of films by Israeli documentary producer and director Tomer Heymann.

Sebla Selin Ok, an academic from Marmara University Fine Arts Faculty Photography Department, decided to dig up her own roots after researching photographs that keep the integrity of identities alive.

With Françoise Caraco, who begins her story saying “I found some old photos at my father’s house,”, we talked about her project ‘Hidden Istanbul’ based on her family history dating back to the end of 19th century. I met Caraco, who has been coming back and forth to Istanbul since 2012, via an e-mail. I wanted to share this interesting story, which in fact could happen to any one of us.