A promotional tourism video by the Turkish government featuring airline employees and hospitality staff wearing yellow protective masks with the slogan "Enjoy! I've been vaccinated" has sparked widespread anger among the Turkish population. Opposition sources claimed that the promotional video insults Turks and residents who have long been waiting to receive COVID-19 vaccines, amid a high surge of the pandemic in the country, where only about 13 percent of the population has been vaccinated.
The official tourism site "Go Turkey" published a video on Thursday promoting tourism in the country, branding it as a "safe haven" for foreign tourists. The images showed tourists without face masks being served in hotels by staff wearing masks. The video stated, "We call it double safety for tourism. Our guests call it peace of mind," adding that the resorts were sanitized and employees vaccinated.
The video, which was later removed from the tourism platform, elicited angry responses and widespread criticism among Turks, prompting activists to trend a hashtag on Twitter calling for the resignation of Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. The hashtag meaning "Sorry, I'm Turkish" became one of the most discussed topics.
Turkey entered a strict lockdown at the end of April following a surge in daily infections exceeding 62,000 cases, but after the government's imposed restrictions, daily infections dropped to around 11,500 cases.
