Turkish People Are Not Racist

Since the beginning of the Syrian revolution, Turkey has hosted millions of Syrians and provided services to them on a regular basis. Recently, groups affiliated with Turkish opposition parties have appeared, spreading rumors and incorrect news with the aim of causing problems between Turks and Syrians, while the official authorities have arrested a number of promoters of sedition, racism and hatred. In addition, Turkish citizens launched several online campaigns to stand by the Syrians fleeing the war in their country. 

Activists reported that the racist campaigns witnessed by some Turkish regions against the Syrians do not represent the Turkish people at all and do not represent the official direction of Turkey. Journalist Ali Rajab said that “there is a misuse of the refugee card by some Turkish politicians, with the aim of serving their political orientations, and trying to attach some of their crises to the Syrians.”

Rajab stressed that “the participants in the campaign of racism against the Syrians are very few and never represent the majority of the Turkish people.” And he added, “Yes, there is fear among some Syrians about these campaigns,” attributing this fear to “ignorance of Turkish laws that protect refugees, and limit the authorities’ authorities in certain matters.”

Rajab called for “the need to confront the mistake made by the Turkish side with firm wisdom, in addition to spreading awareness to avoid confusion and chaos, as well as explaining the laws to refugees clearly.”

He stressed, “the importance of highlighting the positive points of the Syrian refugees academically, economically, tourism and investment.”

Rajab spoke about his personal experience in Turkey, noting that “he received only good treatment from the state and the people… What Turkey offered to the Syrian refugees was not found in any other country, and we can never deny this favor.”

For his part, the Executive Director of the “Amal” organization for the fight against cancer in Turkey, Muhammad Ghiath Martini, stressed that “the Turkish people are a non-racist people, and what happens in the street from time to time is the result of a misunderstanding by young people, and sometimes from mismanagement and lack of direction.” , in addition to the presence of intrusive people with targeted policies.”

Martini stressed that “the discourse of racism is individual cases, which is normal even among the people of the same country,” calling on Syrians to “understand and respect the customs and laws of the host country.”

He pointed out that “the relationship of the two Turkish-Syrian peoples between each other is a purely innate human relationship,” noting that “the Turkish people are known to be motivated to do good and take into account the conditions of refugees.”

It is noteworthy that Turkey is the first in the world to host refugees on its land of various nationalities, including 3.9 million Syrian refugees until 2019. The total spending of Turkey to serve Syrians has reached about 30 billion dollars since the start of the revolution in Syria.

Article written by: Noor Al-Kordi