“Romantic, yet exciting at the same time,” the a Twitter ad said. “Aspirations take flight in Turkey” it concluded, with a touristy video of landscapes and smiling people.
But thousands of Twitter users had a different idea of Turkey after the country’s shocking massacres and beheadings of Kurds following its invasion into Syria.
What followed was a stunning rebuke — in typical Twitter fashion.
“Never in my life, except airport transfers #BoycottTurkey,” one user wrote.
Other user comments included statements such as the following ones.
“Oh dear… timing might not be right.”
“Their aspirations now include northern Syria.”
“No thank you. I am not too fond of war crimes, totalitarianism or human rights violations.”
Throughout the comment thread, numerous similar statements appear. See the original tweet below.
Such reactions come after US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops from northeastern Syria — effectively allowing Erdogan to commence an invasion of the region.
American forces had been there supporting their Kurdish allies — enemies of Erdogan and prime targets of his regime — but Trump decided to withdraw them earlier this month following a phone call with the Turkish president, who immediately began the invasion.
The military operation started on October 9 when the Turkish Air Force launched airstrikes on towns along the Turkish-Syrian border — which has a predominantly Kurdish population. The attacks displaced more than 130,000 people while killing 70.
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