Protesters gather in southeastern Turkey over attacks on Alawites in Syria

Protesters in Turkey's southeastern Adana and Hatay provinces have condemned attacks on the Alawites in Syria’s Latakia by groups led by HTS. Speakers criticized Turkey's silence and support of the armed groups in Syria, calling the violence a crime against humanity.

Sunday March 09 2025 12:51 am

The Adana Alawite Platform's banner reads, "Secular democratic order shall bring peace in Syria."

Duvar English

Alevi organizations on March 8 held protests in Turkey's southeastern Adana and Hatay provinces in response to attacks on Alevis in northwestern Syria’s Latakia by groups led by the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

In a statement made in front of the Salman-ı Pak Cultural Center in Adana, Hamit Karaoğullarından, president of the Arab People’s Alevi Solidarity Association, said, “Damn those who try to exterminate us.”

Speaking afterward, Hüseyin İncesu, spokesperson for the Adana Alevi Platform, said the policies pursued in Syria and the powers providing military support to the region were committing crimes against humanity. He asked, “Has the systematic Alevi massacre reached the point you wanted? Is your conscience clear?”

Yakup Ataş, an official of the Adana Labor and Democracy Forces and president of the Adana branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD), said that the international and Turkish public remained silent about the ongoing Alevi massacre in Syria.

He continued, "We call on Turkey: It must respond to this massacre in the strongest terms," and criticized the Foreign Ministry for its support to the Syrian administration.

"You cannot stand with both the Syrian people and the administration. Today, the Syrian administration is massacring Alevis. You cannot side with this mentality of massacre," he added.

"We believe in the necessity of all identities and beliefs in Syria living together in peace. Stop this massacre immediately and help the Syrian people build a future of peace," concluded Ataş.

Helin Kaya, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party’s Adana branch, said the events in Syria were inhumane and unacceptable, calling for resistance against the brutality.

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Adana lawmaker Ayhan Barut also urged the government to stop the Alevi massacre in Syria. Lawmaker Orhan Sümer called on the government to take responsibility for ending the killings.

Speaking in a statement made at Abdullah Cömert Square in Hatay's Samandağ district, lawmaker Nermin Kara criticized the government, saying, “We have repeatedly warned the government due to the support it provided to groups in Syria and because of the war it took sides in. It is a great misfortune that Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan describes these massacres as ‘tensions.’”

Samandağ Mayor Emrah Karaçay from the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) emphasized that Syria's Alevi population were the first to "rejoice" at the regime change.

“But unfortunately, it was the beginning of worse days. The massacres in Syria are moving toward genocide. Civilians are being slaughtered before the eyes of the entire world, without concern for anyone. Yet the whole world remains silent in the face of the Alevi massacre. We do not accept these massacres,” he stated.