An anti-Semitic attack targeted a Jewish cemetery in Istanbul and at least 36 gravestones were destroyed. The Chief Rabbinate of Turkey said that records of the incident have been forwarded to the authorities: "Our Hasköy cemetery was broken into in the middle of the night and 36 of the gravestones were vandalised. The matter has been forwarded to the relevant authorities with all the recordings and we expect the perpetrators to be caught as soon as possible."

The statement by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's spokesperson, Ibrahim Kalın, that this was a "heinous act" does not seem credible given the AKP's role in fueling anti-Semitism in Turkey.

Again and again, Erdoğan, following typical anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, portrayed "international Jews" as responsible for the crisis in Turkey. Erdoğan declared that these "string pullers" were also behind Fethullah Gülen and the Kurdish freedom movement and were secretly controlling the world and trying to wipe out Islam, Muslims and Turkey. Nazi-style anti-Semitic stereotypes such as calling Jews "bloodsuckers" come easily to his lips, while Erdoğan supports the Islamist Hamas on the basis of his connection to the Muslim Brotherhood.