A meme of a cat in a straw hat with a thin moustache, posted by a Turkish account with fewer than 85 followers, somehow ...

A meme of a cat in a straw hat with a thin moustache, posted by a Turkish account with fewer than 85 followers, somehow became what millions of users are calling the "First Twitter War" between Turkey and China. It started on October 19 when the account ArdaaZz posted the meme widely seen as mocking Chinese people. Chinese user LeLe (@LeLeluax) fired back with Patrick Star from SpongeBob parachuting next to the Turkish flag, implying the crescent and star symbol came from the cartoon. That single reply racked up more than 9 million views, according to Newsbomb. From there, both sides piled on fast. Turkish users claimed the Great Wall of China was built out of fear of their ancestors. Chinese users hit back with historical geography and references to the Xiongnu, a confederation of nomadic peoples who actually drove the wall's construction. Greece got pulled in on the Chinese side, along with Iran, India and Egypt. Japan, Taiwan, Azerbaijan and Spain sided with the Turks, according to X user @MsMelChen. Some Chinese users argued that modern Turks are largely Islamised and linguistically Turkified Anatolians, Byzantine Greeks and Caucasians with little ethnic connection to the Central Asian Turks of history. One account posted that it "fully supports Greece" and called Turkey "a country founded by invaders," claiming many modern Turks are actually Turkified Greeks who deny their real heritage. These are the opinions of social media users, not established fact. Many Chinese users also dug up the 2001 Varyag incident, when Turkey held up the future carrier's Bosphorus passage for 16 months, demanding guarantees, compensation and two million Chinese tourists a year. After the ship finally entered the Aegean, a violent Force 10 storm snapped its tow lines and it drifted toward the Greek islands of Skyros and Evia. A sailor died during the crisis before control was regained on November 6. The vessel later became the Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier. #Greece #Turkey #China