History of the Union of Jews from Turkey in Israel, “UJTI”
The UJTI was founded on August 1st, 1960 by a lawyer, Mr. Yehouda Adiri. (z.l.) Messrs. Heinz Ziffer, Faik Mutlu, Max Menahem Baruh and David Pardo were also among the founders.
In 1999, following the devastating earthquake in Turkey, the Union, together with Joint, contributed significantly for the welfare of the victims. The donations helped in building the Yarbay Refik primary school in Adapazarı.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during Mr. Ismail Cem’s term, honored our Union with the “Outstanding Service Medal” as an appreciation of our contributions to the bilateral relations between Israel and Turkey.
In 2004 the offices of the UJTI were moved to “Erol Akmen Kültür Merkezi”. In 2009 the Union moved to their current premises in Batyam.
These years were the ones during which the bilateral relations between the two countries reached their top. Many Turkish dignitaries, among them, Messrs Abdullah Gül as foreign secretary, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as Prime Minister, Necdet Sezer as President, and Kürşad Tüzmen and Recep Akdağ as ministers visited Israel.
After a long period of inactivity, in 2016 Ambassadors Kemal Ökem and Eytan Nae were hosted in our facilities. In addition, as a Turkish minister visiting Israel after a long interval, Mr. Nabi Avcı, the tourism Minister was hosted at our offices in Batyam.