Turkey: Petition calls to end 'racism' against Syrians

ANKARA (AA) - On Sunday, various Turkish NGOs, journalists and various member sof civil society issued a statement Sunday against what they perceived to be instances of 'racist' stances, namely against Syrians.

"We fiercely condemn all the media outlets, correspondents, authors and social media users who promote a racist attitude and point at our Syrian brothers and sisters as targets," the declaration stated.

"We Condemn Racist Media The provocative language of some media outlets that promote racism, point refugees as a target and plant the seeds of hate against our Syrian brothers and sisters [...]," said the statement.

The Initiative for the Fight Against Racism and Discrimination in Media which garnered the signatures of 165 people including former members of the parliament, executive directors, managers, editors, news directors, columnists, journalists, poets, producers, and authors, demands that media outlets using racist language be prosecuted.

In addition, the Turkish Journalists Association, the Press Council, Directorate General of Press and Information Office were called upon to take action against those who use racist rhetoric and promote hate towards refugees.

* Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara.