Xanım Koçariavna Rustamova, a 66-year-old woman from Sovetskoy (Tugan Ayil), a Kurdish village in Kazakhstan, was killed in a racist attack on the 25th of March in her home. One of her neighbours talked about the killing and said that the attacks are systematic and wants their voice to be heard, Jin News reports.
No response from the police for the complaints
According to the information given by villagers from Sovetskoy and nearby, young Kazak men attacked Kurdish children and insulted them using racist expressions. Xanim, who wanted to intervene, was also insulted. Villagers said that Xanim’s son called the police and made a complaint but that the police did not come to the spot. According to them, the Kazak group said, “The police are our friends. You are foreigners,” and added that there was a second attack after Xanim’s son wanted to protect the Kurdish children.
“Two from the group attacking the Kurds were also injured and it was after this incident that the group attacked Xanim’s house,” the villagers said. They also added that the group entered the house by breaking the door open and killed Xanim.
‘They don’t want us since we are Kurdish’
A villager talking to the Jin News anonymously stated: “They are humiliating Kurds both with their words and also with their attitude. This state does not want us either. They are very racist and fascist. They are uncomfortable, especially about the Kurds. They are naming our region as Turkmenistan in order to prove that they sympathize with the Turks. They cooperate with the Turkish state and are hostile towards the Kurds. There have been attacks in the past too and the houses of Kurds were burnt.”
Kazakistan press not reporting the attack
The villager has also said, “The authorities and the press all remained silent. This is not a simple event and a Kurdish woman has been killed. However the press did not report this at all. The authorities on the other hand want to show this attack towards the Kurds as a fight between neighbours. But we know that it is not, it is an attack towards the Kurds.”
‘All Kurds should hear us’
The villager talking to Jin News said that they had no more patience left:
“They have oppressed the Kurds and they see them unattended. Since the state does not protect the Kurds, the Kurds in Kazakhstan are afraid of speaking about their problems. A Kurd collaborating with the state was elected for the Parliament. However there is no one who is speaking out for the Kurds in this region.”
The villager called for support: “So everybody should hear our voice and not leave us alone.”
Kazakhstan Kurds
Kurdish migration to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Naxçivan took place in 1937. Many of those who migrated to Nakhchivan (Naxçivan) then went to Kazakhstan and settled in a few villages. These villages are exposed to systematic racist attacks, and these attacks continue today.
