Pakistani men made it to the trending list on the social media app Twitter in Turkey this week and it is not a moment of applause.
The hashtags reading ‘Pakistani Perverts’ and ‘Pakistan Get Out’ started trending after a bunch of men filmed inappropriate TikToks and videos of Turkish women and children while visiting.
Actor and VJ Anoushey Ashraf voiced her opinion on the hypocrisy of Pakistani men and the image they put out of the country on global grounds. Referring to the outrage around actor Esra Bilgiç’s ‘revealing’ pictures on social media, Ashraf shared the screenshot of a news article headlining the Turkey incident and wrote, “Considering everyone’s concern over Halime Sultan’s choice of clothing, Pakistani men should first hand over a certificate or diploma on ‘experience with women as humans, not on their choices in life or clothes’ before giving them visa to any place in this world.”
Taking a jibe at how men get triggered on the phrase ‘not all men’, she added, “But hey #notallmen but somehow #allwomen feel unsafe around these men. Odd.”
Social media users also expressed their agitation with the actions of Pakistani tourists and its consequent travel restrictions. A Turkish user wrote, “It’s actually quite pathetic that some Pakistani men travel to Turkey to film Turkish ladies and upload their videos. Apparently they do this back home too and upload the videos or send the videos to the girl’s parents.”
Another user added, “Pakistani men caught stalking Turkish women and taking their illegal photographs. Pakistanis take their extremist attitude abroad and then cause problems for countries who let them in. Sorry, the world is not like Pakistan. I don’t want Pakistanis in Turkey.”
What’s ironic is that the decision to play Halime Sultan in Diliris Ertugrul became quite taxing for Bilgiç. While the historical drama gained great popularity in Pakistan, thanks to PM Imran Khan, the local fans of the show repeatedly criticised the actors for living their lives outside of their characters. They would morally police them for wearing clothes that did not align with their cultural values but apparently when they left Pakistan, they found the same clothes attractive.