Turkish security guards assault workers for talking in Kurdish 

Fatih Saygın / Gazete Duvar

Security personnel at an airport in Turkey's Black Sea province of Trabzon on Dec. 16 attacked four construction workers because they were talking among themselves in Kurdish. The workers incurred light injuries and said that they filed a criminal complaint. 

The workers were working at the expansion project of the Trabzon Airport when the private security guards attacked them.

One worker said that one security officer told them they could not speak Kurdish there and attacked them as they were talking to each other. Around 20 personnel joined him, according to the worker. Police arrived at the scene and stopped the attack. 

“These people attempted to lynch us for speaking in our mother tongue,” he added. The workers’ faces were bruised and scarred. 

One worker said that three assailants were brought to the police station although some 25 attacked them. “This country belongs to us all. A citizen of the Turkish Republic should be able to speak its mother tongue just as freely as someone from Britain can speak English in Turkey, or someone from France can speak in French,” he added.  

The workers also added that the airport officials requested the contractor to fire them instead of firing their security guards but the contractor refused. 

Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) members from the province made a press statement about the incident and called for the end of all “fascist attacks against Kurdish workers.” The party members invited the Trabzon Governor's Office, the Justice Ministry, and all relevant institutions to take action about the incident. 

(English version by Ayşenaz Toptaş)