GENEVA (A.A) - 30.04.2002 - Jews with Turkish origin living in Switzerland is founding an association in order to lobby for Turkey and to bring together the Jews with Turkish origin in the world.
State Minister Sukru Sina Gurel will attend the reception to be hosted on May 2 for the foundation of the Association of Turkish Jews.
The film entitled ''Desperate Hours'' will be shown during the reception. The film is about Turkey's closeness and assistance to Jews during the genocide of the Nazi Germany staged in World War II and about the lives of scientists who escaped from genocide and took shelter in Turkey.
The documentary film which was shot in Turkey, Israel, Austria, Italy and the United States was directed by author and director Victoria Barrat. It will be the first time that this film will be shown in Europe.
Albert Covo, one of the eight founder members of the association, said that there was a friendship between Turkey and the Jews for centuries.
Covo noted that the association aimed to strengthen ties between the Jews and Turkey and lobby for Turkey.
Showing the so-called Armenian genocide allegations as an example when mentioning the lobbies for Turkey, Covo said that they had earlier worked in the same direction. He stated that his article published in Le Temps, one of the most efficient newspapers in Switzerland, regarding this issue drew attention and was discussed.
Covo expressed pleasure with participation of State Minister Gurel in the reception and said that around 200 people would attend the reception.
Turkey's Permanent Representation to the United Nations (U.N.) in Geneva said that Turkey welcomed the foundation of the association.
The association, which is being founded in a period when Muslims and Jews are clashing in the Middle East and when religious conflicts are mentioned, is being considered ''as an initiative which will draw the attention to the closeness between the Muslims and the Jews'' in the whole world.