https://www.al-monitor.com/original...ver-israels-war-gaza-spread-coca-cola-nescafe
ANKARA — Protests against Israel in Turkey are growing as the Turkish Parliament, several universities and local municipalities joined the boycott against major multinational brands over their alleged support of Israel’s war against Hamas.
Turkey’s parliament stopped its cafeterias from selling products made by multinational companies this week, claiming that they support “Israeli aggression.” Parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmus announced the decision in Turkey’s Black Sea region, calling on citizens to follow suit.
“We will not use any products of the companies that support the Israeli aggression that are used in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. We will not buy them from now on, and we will scrap those products that we had already bought,” Kurtulmus was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu News Agency.
Kurtulmus stopped short of naming brands, but Coca-Cola and Nescafe products were removed from the parliament’s restaurant and cafeterias. The news was first reported by the independent news outlet T24. Neither Kurtulmus nor his office, which also issued a statement confirming the boycott, provided an explanation of how these brands were supporting Israel's actions in Gaza.
The Turkey offices of Coca-Cola and Nestle could not be reached for comment. Last month Nestle said it temporarily closed one of its plants in Israel as a "precaution" in response to the war.
Academia boycotts
Separately, several Turkish universities announced academic boycotts against Israeli academic institutions.
Among them is Istanbul’s Bogazici University, which has been a scene of protests by academics and students for more than two years over the government’s controversial rector appointments.
In a statement issued in Turkish, English and Arabic on Wednesday, the university said it will refrain from collaborations with Israeli academia. "As part of the global academic community, we declare our intent to refrain from any academic collaboration with institutions or representatives of Israeli academia who opt to remain silent or support the treatment of Palestinian civilians by Israel until a lasting cease-fire is established,” it read.
A growing number of local municipalities have joined the boycott against multinational brands. More than a dozen local administrations in various regions of the country announcing they would stop selling products manufactured in Israel in their respective facilities, according to Anadolu.
Earlier this month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s younger son, Bilal Erdogan, called for a boycott against multinational brands. “The priority should be the brands that openly support Israel, then those that do not openly condemn Israel, and then those that do not support Palestine,” he was quoted as saying by the Demiroren News Agency. He was speaking alongside Ali Erbas, the head of Turkey's state-run religious affairs directorate, who also echoed the call.
Major multinational brands, particularly Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, are often the targets of regional protests and boycotts in the face of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Several McDonald’s stores across Turkey were vandalized amid anti-Israel protests last month.
In the face of growing boycotts, the US Embassy in Ankara issued a security alert, calling on its citizens to exercise caution.
“Any gathering, even those intended to be peaceful, could escalate and turn violent. Recent protests at well-known U.S. cafe and fast food chains in [Turkey] disrupted business and escalated to vandalism, property damage, and some injuries to individuals,” the alert on the embassy’s website read.
Over the weekend, footage circulated on social media of an individual releasing mice inside a local McDonald’s store in Istanbul to protest the company’s Israel branch providing discounts to Israeli soldiers.
