A prominent news anchor in Turkey has been sacked after appearing on camera near a cup from Starbucks.
Meltem Günay, a 45-year-old veteran on the Turkish channel TGRT Haber, was presenting the news on Christmas Eve when the public spotted a cup from the coffee franchise in front of her.
People were quick to criticise this seemingly innocent oversight and accuse Ms Günay of endorsing Starbucks – a company accused by pro-Palestinian activists of supporting the Israeli Government in the midst of its war against Hamas and the bombing of the Gaza Strip.
Not long after the controversial broadcast on Sunday, the Istanbul-based media company announced that both the TV host and the director of her programme had been “terminated for just cause” for “covertly advertising” Starbucks, something that was against its principles.
The media company added it also “strongly condemned” the actions of the sacked people, adding the channel had an “understanding that knows the sensitivities of the Turkish people regarding Gaza and defends them to the end”.
The statement read: “Our institution has an understanding that knows the sensitivities of the Turkish people regarding Gaza and defends them to the end. It is absolutely impossible to approve any action or publication contrary to this.
“We do not approve of this action of the presenter and director, whose employment contracts were terminated, and we strongly condemn it. For this reason, their employment contracts were terminated.”
Starbucks has seen a nationwide boycott in Turkey in recent weeks. In late October, the Justice and Development – the party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – organised sit-in protests at the coffee chain’s stores around the country.
Last week, Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan responded to the boycott being enforced by pro-Palestinian activists by branding it a “misrepresentation on social media of what we stand for”, adding stores were being targeted by vandalism.
Ms Günay’s sacking came almost three months after Hamas terrorists went on an unprecedented murder spree in southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,400 people and taking more than 230 hostages.
Tel Aviv responded by launching airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, areas of which have since been razed. The death toll has surpassed 20,000, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
The scope and intensity of the retaliatory airstrikes and the ground operation that followed has attracted the criticism of members of the public around the world – as well as Mr Erdogan.
In his latest verbal attack against the Israeli Government, Mr Erdogan sensationally likened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and accused Western nations supporting Tel Aviv to be complicit in what he called war crimes.
Mr Netanyahu responded to these remarks, saying the Turkish president should be the last person to lecture Israel as he “commits genocide against the Kurds”.
Despite his criticism of Israel and boycott of Starbucks, Mr Erdogan maintains commercial ties with Tel Aviv, although Ankara has said its trade with Israel has fallen sharply since October 7. Nevertheless, the remaining links have drawn a backlash from opposition parties and Iran.
