Anti-Syrian sentiment on the rise in Turkey скачать в хорошем качестве

Anti-Syrian sentiment on the rise in Turkey

(24 Jul 2017) LEADIN: There are concerns over a rise in attacks on Syrian refugees in Turkey. Turkey hosts more than three million people who have fled the conflict. STORYLINE This is the Aksaray neighbourhood of Istanbul, otherwise known as Little Syria. There are a plethora of Syrian restaurants here, employing refugees from the country and serving dishes like kebbe. Turkey hosts more than three million people from the war-torn country. But a spate of recent attacks against Syrians have triggered fears of an anti-Syrian sentiment in Turkey. At the beginning of July a mob tried to lynch two Syrian men who allegedly were taking pictures of women swimming in Turkey's Black Sea town of Samsun. A second incident happened in Turkey's capital Ankara when local residents fought with Syrian and Iraqi refugees over rumours that a Syrian man had raped a minor. A few days later a pregnant Syrian woman was raped and killed together with her 10-month-old baby in the north-western province of Sakarya. Mohammad Niza Bitar opened a Syrian-Ottoman restaurant in Aksaray back in 2010. He has been following the news with concern - but thinks Syrians must show the country that they are good people. "Syrians have a mission which is to change that bad image," he says. "The murder that happened is proof that each community contains bad and good people. But the main idea is that we are a reality in Turkey and we hope this reality will get better. The refugees' situation should be better, and the Turkish government should turn them from refugees to legal residents or give us the (Turkish) nationality." Syrians live in Turkey under a status of 'guests', and are not officially recognised as refugees. But they have access to education and medical services provided by the local authorities. Abdullah al-Bahlawan, a 45 year-old from Zabadani, moved to Turkey four years ago and works in the restaurant owned by Nizar Bitar. "Syrians are making problems in general and the Turkish are making problems also. Any community contains good people or bad people. Syrians also have good people and bad people," he says. Mohammad (no given surname) moved to Turkey at the end of 2016. The 25 year-old from Damascus is scared by the recent developments against Syrians. "In situations like mine I escaped the Army, I have no place to go. I cannot go anywhere. Now I only have this country." The incidents have given rise to anti-Syrian posts on social media including Twitter, prompted by Turks under hashtags such as "Syrians should return home". According to Turkish expert and anthropologist Senay Ozden, this is not the first time Syrians have come under attack. "Each time this happens it coincides with summer time when refugees become more visible in public places," she explains. "The general sentiment among the public in Turkey is 'ok, let's have the refugees in Turkey as long as they are not in our public spaces." And she says the authorities are looking for ways to deal with this new and large population. "I think the government is aware that Syrians, at least most of them, are going to be staying in Turkey, because we don't see any peace process starting inside Syria," she says. "And because of the deal with the EU (European Union), the road to EU is also closed. So this means Syrians are going to be staying in Turkey, which means there is need for a permanent solution." Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...