In the second such ceremony in the country attended by a senior government official, Turkey marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Wednesday with a ceremony in the capital, Ankara.European Union Minister and Chief Negotiator Volkan Bozkır represented the government at the ceremony held at Ankara University with the attendance of prominent members of Turkey's Jewish community and foreign diplomats. Chief Rabbi İsak Haleva, Jewish community leader İshak İbrahimzadeh and United States Ambassador to Turkey John Bass were among the guests. Bozkır stressed Turkey's intolerance of anti-Semitism as well as hate speech toward any religious group or ethnicity in his speech.The ceremony comes at a time of a possible thaw in Turkish-Israeli relations, which were downgraded after the infamous Mavi Marmara raid in 2010 and the Israeli blockade of Gaza. Bozkır did not address relations with Israel in his speech, but focused on rising anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and xenophobia in Europe, in particular. "The European Union emerged as an exemplary peace project in an era of desperation in the aftermath of unmatched atrocities to prevent a repeat of them. Unfortunately, it is not safe to say that the values the European Union presented eradicated xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism, which poison the Old World," he said."We sadly observe a rise in racist attacks across Europe. We witness that the disease of anti-Semitism now has new companions in the form of Islamophobia and xenophobia. Doubts over multicultural society and coexistence and the rise of far-right parties raises concerns for the future. Unfortunately, we see that anti-Semitism, a phenomenon we can call an epidemic, is still prevalent in some marginal circles in our country as well, together with Islamophobia and xenophobia. We cannot tolerate any form of hate speech regardless of the religion, sect or ethnicity it targets," Bozkır said.Bozkır stressed that 2015 was an important year for Turkey in terms of "breaking taboos that were supposed to exist and to show the strong will of the Turkish state [in terms of fighting anti-Semitism]." He said along with last year's Holocaust commemorations, Turkey restored and reopened the Great Edirne Synagogue and held the first outdoor celebrations for Hanukkah. He mentioned that the participation of state officials in those ceremonies helped to keep Turkey's vigilance against anti-Semitism fresh.Speaking at the event, Haleva said the Holocaust was an attempt to eliminate moral values. "As a cleric, I believe that the Holocaust was the embodiment of a passion for supremacy, challenging God's purpose in creating mankind. It was something perpetuated by those who considered themselves on the same level as God to be able to claim the lives of people created by God. It should be remembered forever so that mankind will remember that its primary duty is the perseverance of dignity. It should be remembered so that humanitarian values heavily damaged in the Holocaust will be repaired and people would oppose other attempts to eradicate moral values," he said.Participants lit candles in memory of Holocaust victims at the event. Designated by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005, the day commemorates the victims of the Holocaust. In Turkey, the day is observed with a ceremony that has been held at the Neve Shalom Synagogue in Istanbul in recent years, but was held at a private university in Istanbul in 2014 for the first time. The state was represented for the first time during last year's ceremony, which was attended by then Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek.In 2008, Turkey joined the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental body established in 1998 to coordinate political and social support for Holocaust education, remembrance and research as well as to combat anti-Semitism."Liberation of Auschwitz," a short film about the Soviet army's liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp 71 years ago, was screened at the event. Violinist Orhan Ahıskal and pianist David Ezra Okonşar then played the theme from "Schindler's List," Steven Spielberg's acclaimed film about a businessman named Alfred Schindler who saved Jews in Germany from the Holocaust.Ankara University has a history of employing Jewish scientists and academics that fled persecution in Nazi Germany. In the 1930s, Turkey received more than 130 such academics. Albert Eckstein, a prominent professor, founded the Department of Pediatric Medicine at Ankara University. Ernst Reuter, another academic employed by the university, helped found the Urban Development Institute, while Friedrich Falke served as president of the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering. Ernst Hirsch, who lectured for two decades both at Ankara University and Istanbul University, was among the architects of several laws in his capacity as an adviser to the government.