Anti-Arabism in Turkey  Anti-Arabism in Turkey refers to the opposition, hostility, hatred, distrust, fear, and general dislike of Arabian people or culture in Turkey. It is among the strongest in the world. Turkey has a history of strong anti-Arabism dated back from the Ottoman rule, which has been on a significant rise because of the Syrian refugee crisis. The Ottoman Empire was a multi-cultural empire. However, the Arabs were mostly excluded and instead only got appointed in local positions. Most of government's main positions were either held by Turks or non-Arab people, except for the Emirate of Hejaz under Ottoman rule. Future policy of anti-Arab sentiment, including the process of Turkification, led to the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans. Haaretz reported that anti-Arabian racism in Turkey mainly affects two groups; tourists from the Gulf who are characterized as "rich and condescending" and the Syrian refugees in Turkey. Haaretz also reported that anti-Syrian sentiment in Turkey is metastasizing into a general hostility toward all Arabs including the Palestinians. Ümit Özdağ, the deputy Chairman of the İyi Party, warned that Turkey risked becoming "a Middle Eastern country" because of the influx of refugees. The current mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu has complained of Arabic signs on shop fronts, and said Syrians refugees were stealing jobs from locals. He also told BBC that “There are some parts of Turkey where the refugees outnumber the actual residents.” Due to long historical anti-Arabism in the Ottoman Empire and subsequent Arab Revolt as a result, there is a strong negative depiction which was dated from Kemalist Turkey in 1930s, associating Arabs with backwardness. This has continued influencing modern Turkish historiography and the crusade of Turkish soft power, with Arabs being frequently stereotyped as evil, uncivilized, terrorists, incompetent, stupid, etc. This depiction is frequently used in contrast to the alleged depiction of Turkic people as "noble, generous, fearsome, loyal, brave and spirited warriors". Anti-Arab sentiment is also further fueled by ultranationalist groups, including the Grey Wolves and pan-Turkist nationalist parties, who called for invasions on the Arab World's Syria and Iraq, to prevent the ongoing Arab persecution of its Turkic populations in many Arab countries of the Middle East. Subsequently, Turkey has begun a series of persecuting its Arab population, as well as desire to recreate the new Turkish border.