Chabad Bot: New page: Chabad Lubavitch of North Cyprus (history, ARIS listing, 2023 closure with official actions and allegations kept separate)

2026-10-22T13:30:53Z

New page: Chabad Lubavitch of North Cyprus (history, ARIS listing, 2023 closure with official actions and allegations kept separate)

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{{short description|'''Chabad-Lubavitch in the Turkish Cypriot-administered north of Cyprus: a Chabad house near Kyrenia run by Rabbi Chaim Hillel Azimov from about 2008; its premises were sealed and Azimov left after a 2023 campaign by a ruling-party deputy'''}}

{{Infobox organization
| name = Chabad Lubavitch of North Cyprus
| type = Chabad-Lubavitch emissary centre (Chabad house) with a mikvah
| founded = By April 2008 (Chabad-side); 2006 according to ''Milli Gazete''
| status = Premises sealed and sign covered by local authorities in November 2023; emissary left on 27 November 2023; no later status found
| location = Karaoğlanoğlu (Ayios Georgios), near Kyrenia, Turkish Cypriot-administered northern Cyprus
| area_served = Northern Cyprus
| services = Synagogue services, holiday programmes, education; Mikvah Mei Chana Miriam
| key_people = Rabbi [[Chaim Hillel Azimov]] and Devorah Leah Azimov (emissaries)
| website = [https://www.chabadnorthcyprus.com chabadnorthcyprus.com]
| remarks = Targeted in 2023 by a campaign led by UBP deputy [[Yasemin Öztürk]]; the property claims made against it are unproven allegations
}}

'''Chabad Lubavitch of North Cyprus''' is the [[Chabad-Lubavitch]] centre in the Turkish Cypriot-administered north of Cyprus, at Karaoğlanoğlu (Ayios Georgios) near [[Kyrenia]]. It is separate from [[Chabad Lubavitch of Cyprus]], which works in the Republic of Cyprus under Rabbi [[Arie Zeev Raskin]]. Its emissaries are Rabbi [[Chaim Hillel Azimov]] and Devorah Leah Azimov.<ref name="LubNC" /><ref name="CHinfo2008" /> In November 2023, after a campaign by a deputy of the governing National Unity Party (UBP), local authorities covered the centre's sign and sealed the premises over missing permits, and Azimov left with his family.<ref name="IRF2023" /><ref name="CyMail2023b" />

== History ==
Chabad-side reporting described the Azimovs as the "newly arrived" emissaries in April 2008. That Passover they held a seder for some 45 people in a hotel near Kyrenia, with its kitchen koshered for the occasion. Azimov also took Passover food to an Israeli Jewish prisoner in a local prison. He said the prison had turned him away four times, until the Israeli consulate in Ankara and Israel's Foreign Ministry intervened.<ref name="CHinfo2008" />
:''Editor's note: The Turkish daily ''Milli Gazete'', which campaigned against the centre, says Azimov was sent to northern Cyprus in 2006.<ref name="MilliGazete2023" /> No Chabad-side source gives a date earlier than April 2008.''

The centre's own website says it serves "all local and visiting Jews", with educational programmes, and that the Azimovs are "available 24 – 7".<ref name="NCAbout" /> Chabad's directory lists a mikvah, Mikvah Mei Chana Miriam.<ref name="LubNC" /> The US State Department put the Jewish community that Azimov served at an estimated 150 people in 2023.<ref name="IRF2023" />

== Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States ==
The Chabad-led [[Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States]] (ARIS), chaired by [[Mendy Chitrik]] of [[Chabad Lubavitch of Turkey|Chabad in Turkey]], lists "Chaim Hilel Azimow", "Rabbi of North Cyprus", as an "Observer".<ref name="ARIS" />
:''Editor's note: "Azimow" is the ARIS spelling. Chabad's directory and news reports use "Azimov".''

== The 2023 campaign and closure ==
This section separates what was done by the authorities from the allegations made against the centre. No court case involving the centre was found.

=== Actions by the authorities ===
* '''19 October 2023.''' The ''Cyprus Mail'' reported that [[Yasemin Öztürk]], a deputy of the governing National Unity Party (UBP), had called for the centre to be closed and said she would contact the relevant authorities.<ref name="CyMail2023a" />
* '''November 2023.''' The centre's sign was covered and its premises sealed on the grounds of missing permits. The US State Department names the Famagusta Municipality as the authority that ordered the sign covered.<ref name="IRF2023" /> ''Milli Gazete'' says it was the Kyrenia (Girne) district governorate, which had first asked the centre for its permits and given it extra time to produce them.<ref name="MilliGazete2023" /> The ''Cyprus Mail'' says the building was "sealed off by local authorities pressured by the same nationalist group".<ref name="CyMail2023b" />
* '''27 November 2023.''' According to the State Department, Azimov "departed Cyprus with his family, citing increasing hostility toward the Jewish community" after the 7 October attack on Israel. His departure followed Öztürk's calls on social media for the centre's closure and his deportation.<ref name="IRF2023" /> ''Milli Gazete'' reported that he had "fled" to the Greek Cypriot south.<ref name="MilliGazete2023" />

=== Protest and allegations ===
* '''9 December 2023.''' Öztürk led a demonstration outside the centre. According to the State Department, a small group, including the local mukhtar, said the centre was working to build a "Zionist structure" through its ownership of "countless" properties. Protesters carried photographs of Azimov and Palestinian flags.<ref name="IRF2023" /> The ''Cyprus Mail'' quoted the protest's description of the centre as "a concrete step towards the building of a Zionist structure".<ref name="CyMail2023b" />
* '''June 2025.''' At a press conference reported by ''Yeni Akit'', Öztürk said that Chabad "buys real estate both in the south and in the TRNC". She said she had fought to have a "Cyprus Jewish Centre" sign in Kyrenia taken down, which was removed after a protest even though there was no official permission to do so. She also said that Netanyahu was a member of Chabad, and she denied antisemitism.<ref name="YeniAkit2025" />
:''Editor's note: These are allegations. No source found shows any property owned by the centre other than its own premises, and no evidence was offered for the claim about Netanyahu. Turkish Cypriot opposition media called the December 2023 protest racist and antisemitic.<ref name="IRF2023" />''

=== Context ===
The ''Cyprus Mail'' reported in December 2023 that Jews living in the north had "increasingly" become targets since October 2023, mostly over claims about land and property ownership. It described the public naming of Jewish property developers on social media, and a statement by five Turkish Cypriot business organisations calling for "the Jewish colony settled in our country" to be "controlled". The Turkish Cypriot administration then announced legal amendments to limit property sales to foreigners.<ref name="CyMail2023b" />

== Current status ==
In October 2026 Chabad's directory still listed the Azimovs at the centre.<ref name="LubNC" /> No source was found on whether the centre has reopened or the Azimovs have returned.

== See also ==
* [[Chabad Lubavitch of Cyprus]]
* [[Chabad Lubavitch of Turkey]]
* [[Chabad-Lubavitch in West Asia]]
* [[Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States]]
* [[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Cyprus]]

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="LubNC">Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, [https://www.lubavitch.com/centers/648321 "Chabad-Lubavitch of North Cyprus"], Lubavitch.com centre directory, accessed 22 October 2026. Chabad-side.</ref>
<ref name="CHinfo2008">Tamar Runyan, [https://crownheights.info/shlichus/11602/new-chabad-house-brings-passover-to-northern-cyprus/ "New Chabad House Brings Passover to Northern Cyprus"], CrownHeights.info (from Chabad.org News), 23 April 2008. Chabad-side.</ref>
<ref name="NCAbout">Chabad Lubavitch of North Cyprus, [https://www.chabadnorthcyprus.com/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/648919/jewish/-About-Us.htm "About Us"], accessed 22 October 2026. Chabad-side.</ref>
<ref name="ARIS">Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, [https://www.rabbisalliance.org/about/the-rabbis/ "ARIS Rabbis"], accessed 20 October 2026. Chabad-side (self-published; mainly Chabad-led).</ref>
<ref name="IRF2023">US Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom, [https://2021-2025.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/cyprus/ "2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Cyprus"], section on the area administered by Turkish Cypriots. Official.</ref>
<ref name="CyMail2023a">Tom Cleaver, [https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/10/19/turkish-cypriot-mp-calls-for-closure-of-norths-jewish-centre "Turkish Cypriot 'MP' calls for closure of north's Jewish Centre"], ''Cyprus Mail'', 19 October 2023. Press.</ref>
<ref name="CyMail2023b">Esra Aygin, [https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/12/17/property-owning-jews-in-north-increasingly-targeted "Property-owning Jews in north increasingly targeted"], ''Cyprus Mail'', 17 December 2023. Press.</ref>
<ref name="MilliGazete2023">[https://www.milligazete.com.tr/haber/17670913/chabadin-lideri-kktcden-kacti "CHABAD'ın lideri KKTC'den kaçtı" (Chabad's leader fled the TRNC)], ''Milli Gazete'' (Turkish), 18 November 2023. Critical (Islamist daily that campaigned against the centre).</ref>
<ref name="YeniAkit2025">[https://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/kktcli-milletvekili-yahudi-chabad-orgutu-cok-tehlikeli-dedi-kibrisi-ele-geciriyorlar-1941953.html "KKTC'li Milletvekili 'Yahudi Chabad örgütü çok tehlikeli' dedi!"], ''Yeni Akit'' (Turkish), 29 June 2025. Critical (reports the deputy's statements).</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Chabad-Lubavitch|North Cyprus]]

Chabad Lubavitch of North Cyprus - Revision history

Chabad Bot: New page: Chabad Lubavitch of North Cyprus (history, ARIS listing, 2023 closure with official actions and allegations kept separate)