Racism is in full swing in Turkey. While we reproach the government for its silence, we also believe that one day it will show its fist to those who find the field empty. No action has yet been taken against the organized racists whom our President called “charlatans”, but we have high hopes that action will be taken.
Not only the government, but everyone needs to speak out against those who ostracize, inflict violence and provoke society for their racist purposes. There will be those who will oppose this demand by saying “I don’t want Arabs in my country” and even accuse us of being Arabist. Our answer to them is that we are neither Arab lovers nor Arab enemies. We like the good ones, we do not like the bad ones. We are not full of Arab hatred like you. You say Arabs have occupied everywhere. If they have occupied, why do you gang up on the streets and not them? If there is occupation, can you count how many Arab soldiers are in these lands? And how many Arab countries have Turkish soldiers? Let us tell you; at least in four countries. We should clarify that our soldiers are there either for our own security or at the invitation of the relevant country.
One may be uncomfortable with the arrival of millions of migrants en masse. They may also be asked to leave. But if you come together on the street and beat foreigners, we doubt your humanity before your Turkishness. Besides, you are not honest. If the foreigner is Russian, Ukrainian, etc., you are silent. Or when an Arab company invests, you say “They sold the country to Arabs”, but when a European company buys a company here, you don’t speak out. You also say Syrians are taking your jobs, but when Syrians establish companies and employ themselves, you say “The streets are full of Syrian shops”. Also, when someone else comes to your country, you are nationalistic, but when you yourself migrate to another country, you rub it in people’s eyes as if it is an achievement.
You have the Arabic signs removed, but you do not raise your voice against the English ones. Some of you say, “We are Europeans, there is no problem with European languages”. Let’s talk about your Europeanness then. What kind of Europeanness is this that you go to a visa-free transit country with a passport and then walk a thousand kilometers illegally through forests to reach your destination? We wonder if Europeans are aware of your Europeanness.
For years and years, your elders were and still are saying, “Why Muslims do not migrate to Muslim countries but they migrate to European countries? Here you are, people from all Muslim countries have come to Turkey in droves, but you are preventing them. So the problem is not Islam but your racist attitudes.
If the election results are any measure, the number of those who are extreme in their racism in this country is not so big. Thank Allah there are not many of them, but their damage is too much. The government should not keep silent about their crimes for the sake of votes. We know that the government won the elections despite the racists and not a single one of them will vote for the government in the upcoming local elections. The government has so far done the right thing on the issue of migration (except for migration management). The doors could not be closed to those fleeing the war. And those who came could not be sent to the middle of the war.
Most people know that what they are doing is right, but not everyone is in favor of what is right. For example, everyone thinks it is right to help the poor, but some don’t help or do little. Except for the racists, the rest of the society is a bit like this. They know that the right thing is not to let people go until the war is over, but they still say Syrians should go. There is such an attitude especially among conservatives. They should not forget that if an incident that makes their ego happy offends Allah, there is the possibility of a Divine slap. Perhaps Allah is testing the brotherhood of Muslims and separating the true brothers from the false ones. It is a great disappointment to be on the wrong side in such a possible test.
