Understanding Anti-Semitic Rhetoric in Turkey Through The Sevres Syndrome

While various studies suggest that anti-Semitism is almost non-existent in Turkish society, the popularity of the conspiratorial rhetoric about Jews raises question marks about this view. This article probes into contemporary anti-Semitism in Turkey by scrutinizing conspiracy theories about a crypto-Judaic society called Donme. It explores the influence of the paranoid style in Turkish politics, known as the Sevres syndrome, on the popular conspiracy theories with anti-Semitic themes. The research relies on an analysis of the content of conspiracy accounts and interviews with their authors. It concludes that the influence of the Sevres syndrome is imperative to understand the rationale of anti-Semitic conspiracy rhetoric in Turkey.