Racist group attacks Kurdish man in Turkey's Antalya
A racist group has attacked a Kurdish man in the Mediterranean province of Antalya. "You filthy Kurds. Go away or we will burn you," the group said.
Duvar English
A racist group has attacked and threatened a Kurdish man in the Mediterranean province of Antalya.
Erhan Sevim was in his car when a group carrying out road controls stopped him in the Kepez district on Aug. 15 and started insulting Kurds.
"You filthy Kurds. Go away or we will burn you," the group said, before battering the 45-year-old man.
The incident is the latest in a series of racist attacks around fire-hit zones.
Social media was filled with arson rumors when the devastating fires started. Many accounts claimed that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was behind the attacks.
The accounts, seemingly nationalists, spread unsubstantiated rumors about militants being seen with Molotov cocktails around fire-hit areas, which have repeatedly been denied by authorities.
The reports are seen to be fueling the racist sentiments against the Kurds in the areas affected by the fires, with armed individuals seen to be out on the streets chasing anyone they deem "suspicious" after checking their IDs.
Sevim told Mesopotamia Agency that he asked the men whether they are police officers, who insisted on checking his ID.
"I was taken out of my car by force after I told them that I'm from Adıyaman. They started to beat me. I couldn't understand what was happening. The assailants left when passersby stopped to help me," he said.