Turkey’s parliament cans Coca-Cola over Israel ‘support’
Turkey’s parliament will no longer be serving Coca-Cola products as part of a boycott of companies that “support Israel,” according to a statement from the legislature.
“It was decided that the products of companies that support Israel will not be sold in restaurants, cafeterias and tea houses in the parliament campus,” read the statement, as seen by Reuters.
The decision was taken by the speaker of the parliament, Numan Kurtulmuş, but the statement did not specify which companies were banned, according to Reuters.
Turkish parliamentarians realized Monday morning that Coca-Cola and Nestle products were no longer on the menu. When they asked why, they were told that “the presidency of the Parliament has decided to remove the products of brands that support Israel from the menu,” Turkish news reported.
The ban comes a month after Hamas, a Palestinian militant group and political party, attacked Israel on October 7, killing some 1,400 Israelis and taking more than 200 hostages to Gaza. Israel retaliated with a “complete siege” of Gaza including daily airstrikes which, according to the Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza, have killed more than 10,000 Palestinians within a month.
Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan joined Bahrain and Jordan in pulling ambassadors from Israel to protest its bombardment of Gaza.
In September, the Finnish parliament attempted a similar boycott when the its restaurant stopped serving “blood Pepsi” over the parent company’s continued operations in Russia.
