Hardly a day passes without someone in Turkey's political establishment accusing Israel of barbaric acts and comparing the Jewish state to Nazis, but an incident in Istanbul shows that tolerance in Turkish society for the original Nazis themselves may be at an all-time high.
Video: Youths in Istanbul dress up as Nazis / Credit: Social Media
The uproar began when a video circulated on the social media platform X showing two young Turkish men walking around the popular Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul, the country's largest city, dressed in SS officer uniforms. Users estimated this was a particularly shocking choice for a Halloween costume, celebrated mainly among liberal young people in the city.
What's no less shocking than the young men's attire is the fact that other young people passing by on the street approached them and asked to be photographed, giving Nazi salutes and smiling. A Turkish X account that posted the video published alongside it the caption, "Young people are photographed on Istiklal Avenue while they are dressed in Nazi uniforms and giving Nazi salutes. Even if you call them idiots, I still can't understand the young people who approach them and ask to be photographed."
On other accounts, the video sparked an entire debate. The user identified with the nationalist right, wrote, "I don't understand why people go crazy like rabid dogs every time they see Nazi uniforms. Was your grandfather a Jew in a concentration camp that you react like this?" A commentator responded, "Do you really have to be the victim to oppose a murderous regime?"
