7 Syrian refugees are set to be deported from Turkey over a banana controversy. After a Turkish citizen complained that Syrian refugees could afford bananas while he cannot, it sparked a massive controversy in the aftermath of which the Syrian refugees will be deported for “provocatively” sharing images of themselves eating bananas.
“You’re living more comfortably. I can’t eat banana, you are buying kilograms of banana,” the Turkish man told a Syrian student in the video that was captured in Istanbul on the 17th of October. Soon, he was joined by a Turkish woman who accused Syrians of living in extravagant fashion instead of joining the fight in Syria.
Soon after, a social media trend gained momentum with Syrians sharing images of themselves eating bananas in response to the comment.
Subsequently, the videos sparked a reaction from Turkish extremists on social media who claimed that it was time to “shoot and kill” Syrians.
10 days since the first video was captured, on the 27th of October, the Turkish migration authority issued a statement saying, “Seven foreign nationals have been rounded up in a probe over the provocative social media posts and they will be processed for deportation.”