An armed racist attack targeted a Kurdish family living in the Meram district of Konya in central Anatolia. A group of around 60 people, some of whom were armed, attacked a Kurdish family and killed 43-year-old Hakim Dal following a dispute, according to MA.
The family who are from Diyarbakır (Amed) have been residing in Konya for 20 years and have reported that they have previously been receiving racist abuse and threats.
“They did not want us here because we are Kurds. They were putting pressure on us to leave. They wanted us out of here, they had threatened us before,” Hamdil Dal, the brother of Hakim Dal told MA.
The brother explained that the armed attack had followed a quarrel between the Kurdish family and the assailant group as the Kurdish family were feeding their animals on an empty plain.
“They brought a gang of around 60 people after the argument. We were only three people, who were attacked. They used the debate as an excuse to attack us arbitrarily, because we are Kurds. My brother was killed during the attack.”
A witness of the incident, Mehmet Emin, also shared his view of the background of the attack. “The family make a living with animal husbandry. They have been living in this village for a long time. They were attacked three times before,” he said.
According to Emin, the mukhtar of the village was the instigator of the racist attack. “The mukhtar was instigating the locals against the family. He was the one detained after the attack. No one else was detained.”
Another racist attack took place in the Meram district of Konya only a couple of weeks ago. A Kurdish family on 12th July was attacked by racist neighbours, who chanted as they attacked, ‘We are the Grey Wolves. We will not let you live here”.
As a result of the attack, seven members of the same Kurdish family were wounded, three men and four women.
