The port of Istanbul, Turkey. The vandalized synagogue was located in the Jewish neighborhood of Balat in Istanbul. Photo: WikiCommons.

JNS.org – A Turkish synagogue was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti days after holding its first prayer service in 65 years, the Turkish daily newspaper Today’s Zaman reported.

“Terrorist Israel, there is Allah” was painted on the external walls of the Istipol Synagogue, located in the Jewish neighborhood of Balat in Istanbul.

“Writing anti-Israel speech on the wall [outside] of a synagogue is an act of antisemitism,” Ivo Molinas, editor-in-chief of Turkish Jewish newspaper Şalom, told Today’s Zaman.

Molinas said that “widespread antisemitism” in Turkey “gets in the way of celebrating the richness of cultural diversity in this country.” He added that the Turkish-Jewish community has no connection to Israeli political policy.