Bloomberg: In Saudi Arabia, the Turkish burger has become Greek

London – “Al-Quds Al-Arabi”:

Bloomberg published a report prepared by Vivian Nirim in which she said that the Turkish burger had become Greek in Saudi Arabia.

In it she said that the “Herfy” Burger series did not mean much beyond the brand and the Ottoman cowl above the black mustache, but this did not prevent it from being included in the political battle taking place today between Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

And this week, as tensions increased between the two countries, the Turkish burger chain announced that it would replace it with a similar, but Greek, burger, and lowered its price to a high degree. According to a tweet on Twitter: “Even if you don’t travel to Greece, we’d like you. Try our Greek burgers and we guarantee the taste will leave you far “.

“It’s the same thing” and “but the name has changed,” a Herfy network employee named Mahmoud Bassiouni confirmed to a customer. The author comments that the sudden change in meals is an expression of how the relations between the two countries are deteriorating and in the area of ​​the commercial boycott, which is affecting international brands such as Mango.

Relations between the two countries have been in a state of tension since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul 2018, but it reached a low point this month. Turkish merchants complain about the obstacles that the Saudi authorities place on the entry of Turkish goods, which the Saudi authorities deny.

Turkish merchants complain about the obstacles, and Saudi Arabia is the 15th market for Turkey, as it sold 1.91 billion dollars in the first eight months of this year.

And after the head of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, Ajlan Al-Ajlan, called for a boycott of Turkish goods, saying that the “responsibility” of every Saudi is to stop importing Turkish goods and investing or traveling to Turkey, due to “Turkey’s continued hostility to our leadership and our country,” as he put it, social media accounts supporting the Saudi government began And the people influencing it by calling for a boycott, and the campaign has a hashtag and even a slogan. “The real Saudi does not wait for the government,” Salman Al-Dossary, a Saudi commentator, wrote on Twitter.

Saudi Arabia is Turkey’s 15th market, as it sold $ 1.91 billion in the first eight months of this year, and exported carpets, clothes, grains, furniture and steel.

During the past two weeks, Saudi food and grocery companies such as Abdullah Al-Quthaim Markets have announced that they will stop selling Turkish products. However, Turkish milk is still declining in some Tamimi markets in Riyadh, but the company has joined the boycott.

And a site that only sells Turkish clothes announced that it had stopped working a month after it was announced. Businessmen and companies portrayed the decision as a quick response from citizens who suffered years of frustration due to what they saw as the hostility to their country from Turkey.

And in a country where freedom of expression is not allowed and the state controls the media, it is not expected that the campaign would be spontaneous and not carried out without payment or official support.

The Herfy series did not respond to questions from the site. However, the extent of the boycott campaign on social media is unknown.

“Certainly, why not,” said Abdullah Al Naami, who bought his favorite drink from Herfy, and added, “We have boycotted Denmark before,” after the controversy over the pictures of the messenger in 2006. On the boycott of Turkey, he said: “This is the first time I have heard of it.” I don’t follow the news. ”