Rabat - Arab Today
A Turkish anchor who recently lashed out at Morocco and its citizens is now apologizing.
Following the negative feedback that she received from Moroccans for her harsh criticism of Miss Morocco Imane Al Bani and famous Turkish actor Murat Yildirim, the anchor appeared on Turkish television show “Soylemesem Olmaz,” expressing her “apologizes for Moroccans, one by one.”
The anchor’s initial aggression towards the famous newly weds stemmed from the fact that the wedding was “too Moroccan” in its display, a topic that had already been addressed in a previous episode of Soylemesem Olmaz.
“Why you are showing me Moroccan culture from the morning to the evening? A country that was not even accepted by the African Union. Africa does not want to accept it. A country which entered [the territory] of the Western Sahara through methods unknown to us.”
The comments of the anchor sparked an outrage among Moroccans, who discounted her criticism over the wedding. They took to social media platforms only to lambaste and fight back after the anchor politicized the issue of the wedding.
Though the anchor did apologize on air on Wednesday, she did not address the comments made relating to the Western Sahara, which is a serious patriotic issue amongst many Moroccans.
While expressing her apologies, the anchor only claimed that she “did not intend to offend them [Moroccans],” noting that she “only criticized Yildirim’s wedding.”
“I simply needed to see Yildrim celebrate his wedding in Turkey in accordance with the Turkish rituals,” she continued. “He will also celebrate another weeding in Morocco. He could celebrate it in accordance with Moroccan rituals.”
In regards to the many claims that the show’s comments were racist, the anchor’s colleage says, “No, it is not related to racism.”
“I apologize if I offended you,” the anchor concluded. “We end our show by saying ‘we love Morocco,’” one of her colleagues added.
Source:Morocco World News