Turkish policemen remove Arabic shop signs in Adana

A viral video from Turkey’s city of Adana showed policemen removing or cutting business signs on Tuesday for having Arabic writing on them. Earlier this month similar images could be seen in Izmir, the country’s third-largest city. Both Adana and Izmir are governed by mayors from Turkey’s main opposition party. Anti-refugee and anti-Arab sentiments have been on the rise in Turkey in recent years, as the country struggles with an economic crisis while simultaneously hosting over 3.5 million Syrian refugees. Last year a children’s t-shirt featuring Arabic writing being sold by popular clothing retailer LC Waikiki also sparked outrage, leading to the shop putting out a statement blaming it on a stocking error and subsequently pulling the item from its range. The Arabic alphabet was used to write Turkish until 1928, when it was replaced by the Latin alphabet as part of reforms spearheaded by the republic’s founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Subscribe to our channel: http://