Syrians in Turkey change attire, avoid cars after mob attacks

Joshua Levkowitz

Jul 13, 2024

Syrians attend the burial of a man killed during clashes with Turkish troops, in Afrin in northern Syria on July 2, 2024. Hundreds demonstrated throughout the territory following a rampage against Syrian businesses and properties in central Turkey where a Syrian man had been accused of harassing a child. — AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images

ISTANBUL — Anti-migrant riots over the past couple of weeks in Turkey have forced Syrians living in the country to take extra precautions to conceal their identities in public, from changing their outfits to avoiding their own vehicles.

“The women are even changing the way they wear their hijabs,” Nadya, who asked that her last name not be disclosed, told Al-Monitor, adding that women were replacing their usually mono-color dresses for bold prints worn by Turkish women.

Nadya said she didn't see any Syrian men in the area as she stood kitty-cornered from the Irani Bazaar, one of the main Syrian street markets that remained largely closed days after the unrest unfolded.

The destructive anti-Syrian riots erupted in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri on June 30, after a Syrian national allegedly molested a Syrian girl there. The riots then spread out in all directions, even making their way through Syrian communities across the country.