President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan extended his greetings to citizens of the Jewish faith on the occasion of Hanukkah.
In a message marking the holiday, Erdoğan said he congratulated members of the Jewish community on Hanukkah and wished them peace, well-being and happiness.
Hanukkah, observed by Jewish communities around the world, is an eight-day and eight-night festival that begins on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, typically falling between late November and late December on the Gregorian calendar.
The word “Hanukkah” means “dedication” in Hebrew and commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid Monarchy in 165 B.C. Widely known as the Festival of Lights, the holiday is marked by the lighting of the menorah, along with traditional foods, games and the exchange of gifts.
The Jewish community in Türkiye is largely composed of descendants of Sephardic Jews who found refuge in the Ottoman Empire after being expelled from Spain in the late 15th century. Today, the community is primarily based in Istanbul, though its population has declined over time due to historical violence and waves of migration, particularly to Israel.
In 2015, Türkiye’s Jewish community marked Hanukkah publicly for the first time in decades with a ceremony in Istanbul. The event carried particular symbolic significance, as it took place in a city where two synagogues were targeted in terrorist attacks in 2003, underscoring both resilience and the importance of public religious expression.
