More than 500 Jewish students from across Europe are meeting in the Turkish town of Sile, near Istanbul, as part of a summer program organized by the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS). Some 70 Jewish students from Istanbul have joined the group at the week-long event, the first time that Jewish students from Europe held their annual summer university in Turkey.
EUJS organizers said they chose Turkey particularly in order to promote better understanding with a predominantly Muslim country, adding that they were happy to have the chance to share common values and foster interfaith dialogue. "We want to send a signal that Turkey is involved with Europe and is part of it," one EUJS official told the Turkish Daily News. The EUJS represents 36 Jewish students unions throughout Europe, with some 200,000 members.
