Alevi residents in Istanbul receive death threat in yet another hate crime
A building housing Alevi families in suburban Istanbul was the scene of a hate crime, daily Cumhuriyet reported on Oct. 20. Police started an investigation into the incident, the most recent in Turkey's long record of hate crimes. "Everyone should hear our voice," resident Muhterem Aydoğdu said.
Duvar English
Residents of Istanbul's suburban Pendik district received death threats, daily Cumhuriyet reported on Oct. 20, adding to the long list of hate crimes against religious minorities in Turkey.
An apartment building housing five families from the Black Sea region was covered with hate messages in red paint that read "Death to Alevis."
"The entire building is like one home. Nobody has issues with each other. I was anxious and afraid to see the writings," resident Şehriban İşler said.
"Everyone should hear our voice," resident Muhterem Aydoğdu said.
While police removed the hate messages from the building, they started an investigation into the incident on the street, where most of the residents are Alevi.
Istanbul's suburban Sultangazi district and the Aegean province of İzmir witnessed hate crimes against Alevis last year.
Marking Alevi families' houses in a Turkey is part of a bloody tradition of attacks on Alevi families, as family homes were marked with red crosses before the Maraş Massacre of 1978, and the Çorum Massacre of 1980.