Post-quake environment could fuel anti-immigrant sentiment in Turkiye

Turkish and Chinese rescuers carry a 55-year-old Syrian refugee man, into an ambulance after he was rescued in Hatay, Turkey on February 12, 2023. (Reuters)
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Updated 13 February 2023
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Post-quake environment could fuel anti-immigrant sentiment in Turkiye

  • Experts warn against spreading fake news on social media about refugees over fears of negative backlash

ANKARA: As rescue efforts continue following the devastating earthquake on Monday, the death toll in Turkiye and Syria combined has surpassed 33,000, and is likely to increase.

Among those rescued alive are Turks, Syrians, Afghans and other refugees, many of whom were concentrated in cities in the area.

Of the 3.6 million registered Syrian refugees in Turkiye, about 1.6 million are living in the region affected by the earthquakes.

There is, however, no official record about the casualties and survivors among the refugee community in Turkiye.

The chaotic environment is likely to fuel an already strong anti-refugee sentiment in the country.

Under normal circumstances, Syrian refugees have to get the permission of provincial authorities to change the city that they are registered in, but given the extraordinary conditions, this stipulation has temporarily been removed.

Syrian refugees who have been living in the earthquake-hit zone can now relocate to another city for a duration of up to 90 days, excluding Istanbul.

In the meantime, Syrians living outside the quake-hit zone and who cannot reach their relatives because of the disruption have not able to travel to the disaster zone because they are not permitted legally to change city without an official paper.

Metin Corabatir, president of the Ankara-based Research Center on Asylum and Migration IGAM, told Arab News: “We are getting up-to-date news from the region and the majority of the Syrians (there) had their houses completely demolished, and they are now homeless. Children are staying in the streets, they are hungry.”

One major concern among Turks is that Syrians whose houses were destroyed could relocate to big cities and change local demographics.

After some neighborhoods in several cities from Adana to Hatay and Istanbul were turned into Syrian enclaves, new “Little Aleppo” examples could emerge in the days to come. 

For Corabatir, this is inevitable because Syrians who were living in the quake-stricken zone mainly worked in small industrial zones as part of a large unregistered labor force. 

“As these industrial zones were also destroyed, they will be obliged to find new jobs in other neighboring cities. It will therefore trigger a new emigration within the country,” he said.

About 27 camps were already established for Syrians in Turkey, and authorities are now working on expanding these camps to relocate Syrians to them.

Several municipalities in the region have reportedly prevented Syrian families entering the tent zones set up for the quake-affected local community. 

Experts, meanwhile, have warned against the negative impact of spreading fake news about refugees in Turkey.

Turkey’s Masterchef 2018 winner Ugur Kardas was jailed on Sunday after he falsely claimed a corpse pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building had been robbed by Afghan refugees.

“Against the backdrop of growing anti-immigration sentiment, … coupled with an increasing frustration from the deepening economic crisis and from the incumbent government, migration has in the last couple of years become a new driver of political competition,” Sinem Adar, an associate at the Center for Applied Turkey Studies in Berlin, told Arab News.

According to Dr. Adar, the devastating earthquake, the government’s late and inadequate response, and manipulation by political actors such as the leader of the marginal far-right Victory Party add insult to injury, turning refugees and irregular migrants into an open target of exclusionary and even violent treatment.

“This is a time when the principle of safeguarding public good should guide policy-making,” she said. 

“In the case of refugees, this means ensuring their access to earthquake relief, accommodation, and healthcare,” she added.

“Given the insufficient government capacity and lack of coordination among institutions, it is unclear whether this daunting task will be accomplished or not,” said Dr. Adar.

Recently, more misinformation was shared about the government allegedly relocating only Syrian quake survivors to a women-only dormitory in the southern province of Mersin and not admitting Turkish survivors.

Some fake videos were also shared online about Syrian refugees smoking shisha in the dormitory building, and watching pornography. 

A Turkish opposition lawmaker visited the dormitory to prove that there were Syrians but also Turkish survivors, and no obscenity was identified.

Some videos claiming that Syrians and Afghans were carrying out looting in the region, and misleading photos about Syrians being beaten after they were engaged in looting, also triggered anger among Turkish citizens, although no evidence supported these claims.   

Some political parties, like the anti-refugee Victory Party, also took advantage of the disaster to blame Syrians for looting.

“These news (stories) are triggering a fear mechanism. They are even spreading news that Syrians will buy all the quake-stricken buildings of Hatay to get the supremacy,” Corabatir said.

On a positive note, some media outlets also covered Syrian donors in other Turkish cities donating blood to earthquake survivors and helping with search and emergency aid efforts. 

Some Syrian shop owners in quake-hit Maras also offered vital goods to survivors by putting fruit and vegetables on the sidewalks. 

“Municipalities should also not discriminate against refugees as it could be perceived as a supportive argument for the already existing and escalating anti-Syrian sentiment in the quake-affected zone,” Corabatir said.


15 Turkish-backed fighters killed in north Syria clashes with Kurdish-led forces

Updated 6 sec ago
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15 Turkish-backed fighters killed in north Syria clashes with Kurdish-led forces

BEIRUT: At least 15 Ankara-backed Syrian fighters were killed Sunday after Kurdish-led forces infiltrated their territory in the country’s north, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said.
Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who controls swathes of the country’s northeast, “infiltrated positions of the Turkish-backed” fighters in the Aleppo countryside, said the Observatory, which has a network of sources inside Syria.
“The two sides engaged in violent clashes” that killed 15 of the Ankara-backed fighters, the monitor said.
An AFP correspondent in Syria’s north said the clashes had taken place near the city of Al-Bab, where authorities said schools would be suspended on Monday due to the violence.
The SDF is a US-backed force that spearheaded the fighting against the Daesh group in its last Syria strongholds before its territorial defeat in 2019.
It is dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), viewed by Ankara as an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which claimed the attack on Ankara.
Turkish troops and allied rebel factions control swathes of northern Syria following successive cross-border offensives since 2016, most of them targeting the SDF.


Israel moving towards a ceasefire deal in Lebanon, Axios reports

Updated 16 min 2 sec ago
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Israel moving towards a ceasefire deal in Lebanon, Axios reports

BEIRUT: Israel is moving towards a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon with the Hezbollah militant group, Axios reporter Barak Ravid posted on X on Sunday, citing a senior Israeli official.
A separate report from Israel's public broadcaster Kan, citing an Israeli official, said there was no green light given on an agreement in Lebanon, with issues still yet to be resolved.

 


Russia plane evacuated in Turkiye as engine catches fire

Updated 25 min 13 sec ago
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Russia plane evacuated in Turkiye as engine catches fire

  • “Eighty nine passengers and six crew members on board were safely evacuated at 9:43 p.m. (1843 GMT) and there were no injuries”

ISTANBUL: More than 90 passengers and crew were evacuated from a Russian plane Sunday after one of its engines caught fire while landing at an airport in southern Turkiye, the transport ministry said.
The incident involved a Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SU95) operated by Russia’s Azimuth Airlines.
They plane had just landed at Antalya airport on Turkiye’s Mediterranean coast when a fire broke out in one of its engines, a ministry statement said.
“A SU95 type and RA89085-registered aircraft of Azimuth Airlines traveling from Sochi airport in Russia to Antalya airport had an engine fire during landing,” it said.
“Eighty nine passengers and six crew members on board were safely evacuated at 9:43 p.m. (1843 GMT) and there were no injuries.”
All further scheduled landings at the airport would be canceled until 3:00 am, it added, saying other planes waiting to depart would use the airport’s military runway for takeoff.
An airport official told Anadolou state news agency that the fire had affected its left engine but had been quickly extinguished.

 


War-hit Lebanon suspends in-person classes in Beirut area til end of December

Smoke billows over Beirut’s southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, seen from Baabda.
Updated 25 November 2024
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War-hit Lebanon suspends in-person classes in Beirut area til end of December

  • Education minister announced “the suspension of in-person teaching” in schools, technical institutes and private higher education institutions in Beirut
  • Suspension of in-person teaching also applies to parts of neighboring Metn, Baabda and Shouf districts starting Monday

BEIRUT: Lebanon has suspended in-person classes in the Beirut area until the end of December, the education ministry announced Sunday, citing safety concerns after a series of Israeli air strikes this week.
Education Minister Abbas Halabi announced in a statement “the suspension of in-person teaching” in schools, technical institutes and private higher education institutions in Beirut and parts of the neighboring Metn, Baabda and Shouf districts starting Monday “for the safety of students, educational institutions and parents, in light of the current dangerous conditions.”
Earlier on Sunday, Lebanese state media reported two Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, about an hour after the Israeli military posted evacuation calls online for parts of the Hezbollah bastion.
“Israeli warplanes launched two violent strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the Kafaat area,” the official National News Agency said.
The southern Beirut area has been repeatedly struck since September 23 when Israel intensified its air campaign also targeting Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon’s east and south. It later sent in ground troops to southern Lebanon.


Legal threats close in on Israel’s Netanyahu, could impact ongoing wars   

Updated 24 November 2024
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Legal threats close in on Israel’s Netanyahu, could impact ongoing wars   

  • The trial opened in 2020 and Netanyahu is finally scheduled to take the stand next month after the court rejected his latest request to delay testimony on the grounds that he had been too busy overseeing the war to prepare his defense

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces legal perils at home and abroad that point to a turbulent future for the Israeli leader and could influence the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, analysts and officials say. The International Criminal Court (ICC) stunned Israel on Thursday by issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 13-month-old Gaza conflict. The bombshell came less than two weeks before Netanyahu is due to testify in a corruption trial that has dogged him for years and could end his political career if he is found guilty. He has denied any wrongdoing. While the domestic bribery trial has polarized public opinion, the prime minister has received widespread support from across the political spectrum following the ICC move, giving him a boost in troubled times.
Netanyahu has denounced the court’s decision as antisemitic and denied charges that he and Gallant targeted Gazan civilians and deliberately starved them.
“Israelis get really annoyed if they think the world is against them and rally around their leader, even if he has faced a lot of criticism,” said Yonatan Freeman, an international relations expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
“So anyone expecting that the ICC ruling will end this government, and what they see as a flawed (war) policy, is going to get the opposite,” he added.
A senior diplomat said one initial consequence was that Israel might be less likely to reach a rapid ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon or secure a deal to bring back hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
“This terrible decision has ... badly harmed the chances of a deal in Lebanon and future negotiations on the issue of the hostages,” said Ofir Akunis, Israel’s consul general in New York.
“Terrible damage has been done because these organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas ... have received backing from the ICC and thus they are likely to make the price higher because they have the support of the ICC,” he told Reuters.
While Hamas welcomed the ICC decision, there has been no indication that either it or Hezbollah see this as a chance to put pressure on Israel, which has inflicted huge losses on both groups over the past year, as well as on civilian populations.

IN THE DOCK The ICC warrants highlight the disconnect between the way the war is viewed here and how it is seen by many abroad, with Israelis focused on their own losses and convinced the nation’s army has sought to minimize civilian casualties.
Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, said the ICC move would likely harden resolve and give the war cabinet license to hit Gaza and Lebanon harder still.
“There’s a strong strand of Israeli feeling that runs deep, which says ‘if we’re being condemned for what we are doing, we might just as well go full gas’,” he told Reuters.
While Netanyahu has received wide support at home over the ICC action, the same is not true of the domestic graft case, where he is accused of bribery, breach of trust and fraud.
The trial opened in 2020 and Netanyahu is finally scheduled to take the stand next month after the court rejected his latest request to delay testimony on the grounds that he had been too busy overseeing the war to prepare his defense.
He was due to give evidence last year but the date was put back because of the war. His critics have accused him of prolonging the Gaza conflict to delay judgment day and remain in power, which he denies. Always a divisive figure in Israel, public trust in Netanyahu fell sharply in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas assault on southern Israel that caught his government off guard, cost around 1,200 lives.
Israel’s subsequent campaign has killed more than 44,000 people and displaced nearly all Gaza’s population at least once, triggering a humanitarian catastrophe, according to Gaza officials.
The prime minister has refused advice from the state attorney general to set up an independent commission into what went wrong and Israel’s subsequent conduct of the war.
He is instead looking to establish an inquiry made up only of politicians, which critics say would not provide the sort of accountability demanded by the ICC.
Popular Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth said the failure to order an independent investigation had prodded the ICC into action. “Netanyahu preferred to take the risk of arrest warrants, just as long as he did not have to form such a commission,” it wrote on Friday.

ARREST THREAT The prime minister faces a difficult future living under the shadow of an ICC warrant, joining the ranks of only a few leaders to have suffered similar humiliation, including Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi and Serbia’s Slobodan Milosevic.
It also means he risks arrest if he travels to any of the court’s 124 signatory states, including most of Europe.
One place he can safely visit is the United States, which is not a member of the ICC, and Israeli leaders hope US President-elect Donald Trump will bring pressure to bear by imposing sanctions on ICC officials.
Mike Waltz, Trump’s nominee for national security adviser, has already promised tough action: “You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC & UN come January,” he wrote on X on Friday. In the meantime, Israeli officials are talking to their counterparts in Western capitals, urging them to ignore the arrest warrants, as Hungary has already promised to do.
However, the charges are not going to disappear soon, if at all, meaning fellow leaders will be increasingly reluctant to have relations with Netanyahu, said Yuval Shany, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute.
“In a very direct sense, there is going to be more isolation for the Israeli state going forward,” he told Reuters.