A Kurdish family consisting of a single mother and her five children were forced to leave their home after another racist attack targeting Kurds in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. The 38-year-old mother Z.D. spoke to MA and explained how she and her children were harassed by her neighbours.
Z.D., who moved from the eastern city of Hakkari (Colemêrg) two years ago and settled in Ankara with her five children and began working as a housekeeper.
She said they have been subjected to verbal abuse from the neighbours for some time, being called “dirty Kurds” and “terrorists”.
“They’ve been insulting us for the last few weeks. The residents of the adjacent apartment also collected signatures to force us to leave” she said.
“Last night they made an attempt to attack me and my children. They insulted us, and when we called the police they continued harassing us in front of the police. As the police officers were trying to stop them, one of them came right to the door and tried again to attack me. My eldest son grabbed a knife in fear. The police scolded and threatened him saying, ‘We could have shot you’.”
While no legal action has been taken against the harassers, the family has moved from the Elmadağ district to another neighbourhood in Ankara.
