There are no permanent friends or enemies in international politics. Only interests. This is important to note as Saudi Arabia and Turkey are at loggerheads over…. food names. Apparently Saudi Arabia is so incensed at Turkey, they ended up renaming the Turkish Burger to Greek Burger because of politics.
Recently, a Saudi fast-food chain Herfy decided to rebrand its ‘Turkish burger’ as Greek. Oh, and there was nothing Turkish about that burger in the first place.
Herfy’s ‘Turkish Burger’ didn’t have Turkish ingredients or anything. It was being just marketed with the help of an Ottoman fez over a black mustache.
But thanks to political tensions between the two Muslim countries, the food chain had to substitute the gimmick for another one when a geopolitical shitstorm hit.
مافيه سفر صح؟
بس عندنا الطعم اللي بيسفرك ✈️🍔 جرّب كومبو الهندي أو اليوناني بـ 20 ريال 😍
وانبسط بالطعم اللي يوديك لبعيييد 😋 pic.twitter.com/YvBI0LgYqy— هرفي (@HerfyFSC) October 18, 2020
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Herfy’s ‘Greek burger’ now has the same beef patty and sauce but for half the price. At least that’s what Bloomberg said a Herfy employee told customers.
“It’s the same thing, …Just the name changed.”
What’s behind the latest Saudi Arabia and Turkey tensions?
Ties between Turkey and Saudi Arabia soured when Turkey emerged as a regional powerbroker amid the Syrian conflict. Turkey went to the frontline while Saudi Arabia was sidelined from the issue.
Later on, things really went South with the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
In recent months tensions began to simmer again when Turkish businessmen said Saudi Arabia was hindering the entrance of their goods. The Saudi government denies this. However, the chief of Saudi Arabia’s Chambers of Commerce, Ajlan Al-Ajlan did call for a Turkish boycott.
He said;
“It is the responsibility of every Saudi to stop importing Turkish products, investing in Turkey or traveling there due to the continuous hostility of the Turkish government to our leaders and country.”
المقاطعة لكل ماهو تركي، سواء على مستوى الاستيراد او الاستثمار او السياحة، هي مسؤولية كل سعودي "التاجر والمستهلك"، رداً على استمرار العداء من الحكومة التركية على قيادتنا وبلدنا ومواطنينا،
— عجلان العجلان (@ajlnalajlan) October 2, 2020
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So are they really taking the boycott that far that Herfy’s had to rebrand an inauthentic Turkish burger as a Greek one?
Do you think food should be spared the sourness of political tensions? Because this is looking like Freedom Fries vs French Fries all over again.
They can do anything if ordered by USA. Who can know better than, us Pakistanis. KSA and UAE, gave their biggest civilian awards to Modi, when he murdered hundreds of innocent Kashmiris. Now they are recognising Israel. Because USA ordered them on both the occasions
I lived until recently in Saudi. I used to be a big fan of the Turkish burger at Herfy’s. It is a bit more than just the sauce, the patty was also spiced differently and having had Turkish food was reminiscent of the cuisine. I think it is a testament to the popularity of the burger that the chose to rename it rather than drop it. In any case, Turkish and Greek food tend to be the similar, except for the use of pork!
What about the Greek fact ? Don’t we know that Greek is enemy of Islam as well as enemy of turkey ? How come Saudi can say turkey should be banned when they have accepted Israel under cover ….
No other country has damaged Islam face other than Saudi Arabia, dual face Hippocrates