Mob justice reveals anti-Syrian sentiment in Turkey
Two violent incidents on the same day have ignited a storm of anti-Syrian rhetoric over Turkish social media, exposing the fear and suspicion still prevalent in the world's largest host of Syrian refugees.
![TURKEY-EUROPE/REFUGEES Two Syrian refugees walk along fences in Nizip refugee camp, near the Turkish-Syrian border in Gaziantep province, Turkey, November 30, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTSU1PW](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2017/07/RTSU1PW.jpg/RTSU1PW.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=OyFg0KQV)
A beautiful summer day in Turkey’s Black Sea town of Samsun turned ugly on July 2, when a mob tried to lynch two Syrian men for allegedly taking pictures of women swimming and sunbathing at a local beach. The police used batons to disperse the crowd and save the two injured men, who were hospitalized.
In a similar incident that same day in the capital, Ankara, residents of the working-class neighborhood of Demetevler brawled with Syrian and Iraqi refugees. The fight broke out over rumors that a Syrian man had raped a 5-year-old girl. Police used water cannons and tear gas to break up the fight. One Iraqi Turkmen man was stabbed during the scuffle and taken to a hospital for treatment.