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The banana has become the surprising symbol of the growing tensions between Turks and the nearly 4 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. Viral TikTok videos in which young Syrians film themselves eating the yellow fruit have sparked the wrath of Turkish police, and Ankara has ordered the deportation of 11 Syrians who posted banana videos.
It all started with a video filmed in Istanbul showing a heated exchange about the role of refugees in Turkey’s economic crisis. In the clip, a Turkish man lashes out at a Syrian student, whom he accuses of buying “kilos of bananas” while he can’t afford to “eat a single one”. Another woman intervenes and accuses Syrians of living comfortably in Turkey rather than returning to their country to fight (Syria has been gripped by civil war for over a decade). The student tries to explain that she has nowhere to go in Syria, but her words fall upon deaf ears.
Mocking xenophobia with banana videos
Inspired by the video, young Syrians living in Turkey turned to TikTok. Using derision to denounce the everyday xenophobia experienced by Syrians in the country, they made videos of themselves eating bananas using the sound clip from the original video.
Bazı Suriyeli kullanıcılar ise Türk Lirası’nın dolar karşısındaki değer kaybının ardından “Muz” görseli bulunan banknotlar paylaşmaya başladı. pic.twitter.com/QMKyjwHH98
— Aykırı (@aykiricomtr) October 25, 2021
Other Syrian users shared images of the Turkish flag with the crescent replaced by a banana. Users also made light of the country’s economic situation, posting videos of themselves cutting a banana into pieces to share with their families or…
Source : france24
