Racism against Arabs reaches unprecedented levels in Turkey

Anti-Arab racism continues in Turkey, where the rate of racism has increased recently and coincides with the approach of the presidential elections in the country, despite the rush of the Turkish regime to normalize relations with some Arab and Gulf countries.

Two Saudi citizens, who were in a traffic accident in the city of Rize in northern Turkey yesterday, Thursday, were also transferred to a hospital in Turkey, but they were eventually treated badly and their medical condition was not taken into consideration inside the hospital.

One of the injured revealed that they were subjected to ill-treatment, and that the ambulance was very bad and not equipped, in addition to performing an operation for him without the presence of any of his relatives. He confirmed that God’s care saved him from death while he was in the hospital because he did not care about his condition.

The other injured man said: “My condition was very difficult, driving the ambulance to the hospital was bad and I was sent to one of the private hospitals where the treatment was very bad and they operated on me in the abdomen because of a hole in the intestine, they claimed”. He added “I stayed alone for 24 hours, and then my father came from the city, and when he asked them why the operation was being conducted, they told him they suspected I had internal bleeding”.

The victim said in a statement that the Saudi Embassy in Turkey opened an investigation to uncover the circumstances of the Kingdom’s citizens in Turkey.

The incident occurred in Turkey last week, in which a number of tourists, including 18 Saudis, were injured. Six of them received treatment in Turkish hospitals, but the Kingdom announced the evacuation of its injured citizens to complete their treatment inside its territory.

Recently, hate speech and violence against Syrian refugees in Turkey escalated. The most recent of these was the circulation of a Turkish video calling for the expulsion of Syrians from his country, in Taksim Square in Istanbul, by shouting about a group of Syrians, saying: “This is Turkey, divide up!”

Last month, global tweeps and officials reacted in large measure to the video of Syrian boy Ahmad Kanju, known as “I am Human,” after he was racially attacked by 20 Turkish citizens in a video documenting Turkish racism against Arabs.

Most Arab, Gulf and Egyptian nationals were not spared racism in Turkey, which caused a decline in tourism within Turkey.