Starbucks and Burger King branches in Diyarbakır (Amed), Turkey, were attacked on Sunday by members of the Free Cause Party (Hüda-Par), a minor Islamist ally of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The incident led to the detention of 16 individuals who were released shortly after, raising allegations of favoritism from the security forces who also watched as the mob attacked. This latest incident adds to a series of recent violent actions by the group, which has escalated its vigilante violence in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast, this time ostensibly in support of Palestine.
Hüda-Par has increasingly targeted businesses and public gatherings in Diyarbakır. The recent attacks on Starbucks and Burger King are part of this pattern, which has also included assaults on events such as the Swing Amed dance group’s gathering on 9 June. Despite organising attacks via social media, the group had not faced police action until now, and even then, the response was lenient. According to the manager of one of the targeted stores, about 70 people participated in the attack. However, only 16 individuals were detained by the police a day after the incident, and all were released the same day. Security camera footage shows the attackers forcibly removing customers from the store, while plainclothes police officers and watchmen (bekçi) do nothing.
The recent attack and the release of security camera footage have reignited debate over the role of watchmen in the country. Disbanded in 2008, the watchmen were reinstated by the AKP in 2016, a move heavily criticised by the opposition who see it as an attempt to create a militia. Watchmen undergo less training than police officers but are granted similar levels of authority, raising concerns.
Burger King branch manager Ömer Felat Kaya stated that the establishment had received threats prior to the attack. “We were assaulted by around 70 people and threatened with further attacks if we continued to open the store,” he said.
Diyarbakır, a city symbolic of Kurdistan, is known for its tense political environment. Regular identity checks and the banning of protests, particularly those organised by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, are common. Despite this, Hüda-Par’s violent actions have largely been ignored until their recent attack.
Hüda-Par, an Islamic party advocating for Sharia law, is seen as the legal arm of the Turkish Hizbullah (unrelated to Lebanon’s Hezbollah), notorious for violent crimes in the 1990s. Although Hüda-Par denies links to Hizbullah, many former Hizbullah members are active within the party. Turkish journalists have reported that Hizbullah, previously involved in torture and kidnapping under the National Intelligence Organisation’s (MIT) control, had a strained relationship with the state after the early 2000s.
The recent electoral alliance between AKP and Hüda-Par has drawn criticism from opposition parties due to Hüda-Par’s contentious history.
