https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/382615
An award-winning TV news anchor in Turkey was fired for appearing on camera with a Starbucks cup on her desk, The New York Post reported.
Displaying a Starbucks cup is perceived as a provocative act in Turkey as the company is considered to be pro-Israel.
Meltem Günay, a 45-year-old veteran newscaster with TGRT Haber, and the director of the program were fired immediately after the Sunday broadcast, according to the Turkish television conglomerate.
The Istanbul-based media company said it “has an understanding that knows the sensitivities of the Turkish people regarding Gaza and defends them to the end.”
“We do not approve of this action of the presenter and director, whose employment contracts were terminated, and we strongly condemn it,” it added.
According to the statement, the anchor and the director of the newscast were “terminated for just cause” after they were found to have “acted contrary to this principle.”
The New York Post noted that coffee drinkers in Turkey have waged a nationwide boycott of Starbucks in recent weeks due to what pro-Palestinian Arab sympathizers allege is the company’s bias toward Israel.
Social media users have circulated viral videos showing them protesting outside Starbucks locations and demanding that customers shun the coffee giant, according to the report.
Israel and Turkey formally announced last year that they would normalize relations by returning the ambassadors and consuls, after years of tensions.
However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has upped his attacks on Israel since the start of the war against Hamas on October 7.
In late November, Erdogan referred to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “the butcher of Gaza.” Several weeks earlier, the Turkish President said during a rally, "Hamas is not a terrorist organization, but you, Israel, are the occupier."
