Beware of new provocations

A group gathered and demonstrated in front of the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district late on July 20 to protest the Israeli government's recent move to place metal detectors at the entrance to al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. 

If it had remained as a peaceful protest, you may have said it was the wrong address but was still legal.

 Everyone has and should have the right to protest as long as it's peaceful and doesn't turn violent; this is what article 34 of the Turkish constitution says. However, demonstrators stoned and kicked the door of the synagogue, according to news agencies. The person who introduced himself as the Istanbul district head of the ultra-nationalist Alperen Hearths, Kürşat Mican, spoke on behalf of the group that protested outside the synagogue. 

"Zionists should pull themselves together. They shouldn't prevent our brothers from the freedom to worship. We will prevent your freedom to worship here just like you are preventing ours there. We can come here tomorrow just like we are standing here today. You will not be able to go inside," he said. 

Thus, in this act, there is violence and the threat to continue violence increasingly, as well as the threat of blocking the freedom of worship, which is guaranteed under article 24 of the constitution. No one was detained nor were their testimonies taken by police at the end of the protest.

The fact that the protesters, who mobilized in the streets after the Israeli government's move against al-Aqsa mosque, targeted the Jewish community in Turkey and freedom of worship is not only wrong but also damaging. 

President Tayyip Erdoğan is involved in the developments at al-Aqsa at the highest level. Erdoğan on July 20 called both Palestinian...