New video has emerged of Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay blaming the "the Jewish diaspora" for inciting unrest in Turkey, one day after Atalay denied media reports that he had made the comments.
Atalay lashed out at the Jewish community in a July 1 speech, the Hurriyet Daily News reported earlier this week.
"There are some circles that are jealous of Turkey’s growth. They are all uniting, on one side the Jewish diaspora. You saw the foreign media’s attitude during the Gezi Park incidents; they bought it and started broadcasting immediately," Atalay said.
The deputy prime minister’s office quickly denied that he made the comments.
"In his speech [Atalay] has never intended, uttered, or indicated anything to offend Jewish citizens of Turkey or Jewish communities around the world," Atalay’s press office said in a statement, according to the Hurriyet Daily News.
Hurriyet Daily News posted video on Tuesday of Atalay’s speech that appeared to contradict his denial.
Anti-Semitism watchdogs have expressed concerns that statements from Atalay and other Turkish leaders could spark violence against the Turkish Jewish community.
"The anti-Semitic nature of [Deputy Prime Minister Atalay’s] conspiratorial statement would be disturbing if uttered by anyone in Turkey," said Abraham H. Foxman, Anti-Defamation League national director, in a statement. "It is all the more outrageous and harmful coming from such a high ranking member of the Turkish government. We share the concerns expressed by the Turkish Jewish community about the possible consequences of this rash remark."
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said last month that an "interest-rate lobby" was responsible for orchestrating the protests, which some interpreted as a thinly veiled attack on Jews.
"According to articles in a daily owned by the conglomerate where the [prime minister’s] son-in-law is CEO, the [interest-rate] lobby is a coalition of Jewish financiers associated with both Opus Dei and Illuminati," reported Hurriyet Daily News columnist Emre Deliveli. "It seems the two sworn enemies have put aside their differences to ruin Turkey."
Turkey has been besieged with protests after police violently cracked down on environmental activists in Gezi Park, who were protesting the government’s planned demolition of the site on May 27. The police raid sparked outrage across Turkey, fueled by public concerns about the increasingly Islamist and oppressive regime.
A court ruled against the demolition of Gezi Park in early June, according to a ruling published on Wednesday. It is not clear if the government will challenge the decision.