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Turkey announced it would deport seven Syrian migrants accused of making “provocative” social media posts about eating bananas.
This is yet another attempt to shift focus from the deepening economic and political crisis towards arbitrary nonsense.
One of the most popular videos in question is from TikTok and it shows a person presumably stealing from a house, moving past car keys, mobile phones and money and taking the bananas.
The controversy was sparked by a viral video showing a man in Istanbul shouting at a young Syrian woman and accusing migrants of “having have an easier life”.
“I can’t eat bananas and you buy them by the kilogram at the market,” the man said as an angry crowd gathered around the woman.
The state migration service said the posts reportedly made fun of the economic difficulties being experienced by many Turks. Some Turks blame the rise in the cost of food items and accommodation on the influx of refugees.
The furore spawned an explosion of response videos and memes, particularly on social media platform TikTok. One parody showed a man dressed as a ninja breaking into a home filled with expensive items, only to steal a fruit bowl filled with bananas.
Anti-refugee and anti-migrant sentiment is on the rise in Turkey, which the World Bank says hosts the largest refugee population in the world, at around five million people.
Turkey’s Ministry of Interior says it has granted temporary protection to about 3,715,000 Syrians who fled the decade-long war in their home country as of September 2021.
Turkey is experiencing sharp rises in the cost of living. While the International Monetary Fund projects economic growth of 9 per cent this year, inflation is more than double that and the lira has fallen 50 per cent against the dollar since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s last electoral victory in 2018.
A quick victory is needed in Turkey’s incoming northern Syrian operations, since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan needs to present himself as a capable leader. The focus needs to also be shifted from the hardships and towards the “military successes” against the “Kurdish enemy”.
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Oh, what a lovely photo! I love this guy on the left, how he gently eats those bananas, chucumbas, and all that stuff.
Ummmm , I would have thought an invitation to one in the middle would be more appropriate ( inappropriate to some ) unless Chris is short for Chrissy.
Oh, I’m ashamed, how nasty you are! Hihihihihi…I’m Chrissy.
That’s Attila, he can swallow 100 bananas at once!
And you do THREE! PUT IT DEEPPAAAHH!
Icarus Tanovic has not realized that I have changed name. This dude is total lunatic. If I ever meet this guy we will have a funeral there in Bosnia that’s for sure!
Yeah, I’m psychopath that is for sure against zio-wahhabis, and those like you. No shit? If you prefer bonsai, I don’t have any problmes meeting you there.
War is always a great distraction from problems at home. Divert the angry towards the government towards an outside foe so it looks like Erdogan is pushing for that diversion either against the Kurds and Idlib would be cream on his cake.
I love bananas.
But only organic bananas approved by Greta Thunberg and Jens Stoltenberg.
Blah Blah Blah , unless it is written down for me I have nothing to say , Blah blah blah. Now rapturous cheering and applause by the delusional sycophants.
Well you are not getting anywhere near my Banana , in fact it would be better if you took up residence on the moon so that you are far enough away.
We all knows that. And German dicks. And I allow you to swallow.
Hmm, looks like the Turkish trolls are already beginning to trickle into the comments section. This always happens when Turkey is starting shit somewhere. Probably a decent indicator that they do indeed intend to go to war soon.
Turks are monkeys so no surprise there
The usual suspects in the comments section really outdid themselves this time.
Hey mister Taliman, tali me banana! Daylight comes an we van go oum.