The Lego Company is accused of being racist by members of the Turkish Cultural Community of Austria. According to the Austrian Times, the Community feels offended that their Jabba's Palace toy model resembles the Hagia Sophia Mosque in Istanbul, the Jami al-Kabir mosque in Beirut and a minaret, therefore reinforcing the negative stereotypes about the Middle East.
They threatened legal action against Lego if it does not withdraw the toys from market.
It isn't just Jabba, but the group also has issue with the secondary figure that are included in the Jabba toy set.
"The terrorist Jabba the Hutt likes to smoke a hookah and have his victims killed. It is clear that the ugly figure of Jabba and the whole scene smacks of racial prejudice and vulgar insinuations against Asians and Orientals as people with deceitful and criminal personalities." said the statement posted on the organization's website.
The group furuther states that some of the crimes that are associated with the figures, like murder, slavery, terrorism and human sacrifice, allows them to urge parents "not to buy toys of war or discrimination" because the toys go against peace coexistence of different culture of Europe.
Turkey, are accused, by the U.N., of oppressing their own people, crimes against humanity, and then, lest anyone has forgotten, the occupation of Northern Cyprus, and, the even more controversial, denial of the Armenian Genocide.
Katharina Sasse, a public relations manager working on behalf of Lego, denied any link between Jabba's Palace and the mosque to The UK Telegraph.
"The Lego Star Wars product Jabba´s Palace does not reflect any actually existing buildings, people, or the mentioned mosque," she said. "The Lego mini-figures are all modeled on characters from the movie. We regret that the product has caused the members of the Turkish cultural community to come to a wrong interpretation, but point out that when designing the product only the fictional content of the Star Wars saga were referred to."
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