Confused Turkish nationalists protest Russian air strikes in front of Dutch Consulate

ISTANBUL

A group of demonstrators in central Istanbul protesting Russia’s air strikes in Syria has targeted the Dutch Consulate instead of the Russian one. 

A group of protesters wanted to march to the Russian Consulate on İstiklal Street late Nov. 20 to protest the air strikes in the Turkmen-controlled regions in northern Syria.

However, the group voiced their protests in front of the Dutch Consulate on the same street. 

“Often angry Turkish demonstrators mistake us for our close neighbors (Russian Consulate).Like tonight, throwing eggs,” Dutch Consul General Robert Schuddeboom wrote on his Twitter account, sharing a photo of the protesters at the consulate’s gates.

Often angry Turkish demonstrators mistake us for our close neighbors (Russian Consulate).Like tonight, throwing eggs pic.twitter.com/91ltg7yjf6

— Robert Schuddeboom (@rschuddeboom) 20 Kasım 2015

 It was not the first time the nationalists in Turkey got confused during their protests. 

A group nationalists who gathered in central Istanbul on July 4 to protest China’s restrictions on religious freedom of ethnic Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang attacked a group of Korean tourists, thinking that they were Chinese.

In the southern Turkish province of Adana early Sept. 8, a group of Turkish nationalists accidentally beat one of its own members on the presumption that he was Kurdish during a demonstration to protest the terror attacks by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).