WASHINGTON D.C. - The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which is one of the important Jewish institutions in the U.S. criticized on Wednesday the words of former French president and current President of the Convention on the Future of Europe Valery Giscard D'estaing who said that Turkey should not become a member of EU.
The Center noted that it showed its reaction to the words of Giscard D'estaing in a letter saying that ''Mr. D'estaing has argued that Moslem Turkey has no place in the European Union. Ironically, in the fifteenth century, when European monarchs expelled the Jews, it was Moslem Turkey that provided them a welcome. During the Holocaust, when Europe was slaughtering its Jews, it was Turkish consuls who extended protection to fugitives from Vichy France and other Nazi allies. Today's European neo-Nazis and skinheads focus upon Turkish victims while, Mr. Giscard D'estaing, you are reported to be considering the Pope's plea that your Convention emphasize Europe's Christian heritage.'' The Center suggested that Giscard's new Constitution ''underline the pluralism of a multi-faith and multi-ethnic Europe, in which the participation of Moslem Turkey might bolster the continent's Moslem communities - and, indeed, Turkey itself - against the menaces of extremism, hate and fundamentalism. A European Turkey can only be beneficial for stability in Europe and the Middle East.''
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the biggest international Jewish human rights institutions in the U.S. to which 400,000 families are registered. The Center is represented in international organizations such as Council of Europe, UNESCO and U.N. as a non-governmental institution.