Turkish family attacked for feeding stray dogs in residential complex

Duvar English

A Turkish family has been attacked by their neighbors for feeding stray dogs in the residential complex where they reside.

The incident happened in the southern province of Antalya's Konyaaltı district on Sept. 15 evening.

The attack targeted Future Party Konyaaltı Women's Organization chair Hilal Oktay Başaslan, her husband and her 12-year-old daughter.

Hilal Oktay Başaslan shared the footage of the attack on her social media account, with the suspects seeing kicking Başaslan's husband on the floor and one holding a machete in hand.

Başaslan said that the attack left her husband with broken bones, while she and her daughter had cuts on their bodies.

“Two of them [suspects] are attacking my husband, while one of them is cornering my 12-year-old daughter! As I run towards my daughter, one of them [suspects] puts the machete on my throat and tells me, 'I would cut you right here.' All these have been recorded,” Başaslan wrote in a series of posts.

She said that the suspects had tortured the dogs with an electroshock weapon last week and had also thrown a glass vase at her from the sixth floor of their apartment flat.

On Sept. 15, the suspects went further and fired bullets from their balcony at an area close to where Başaslan and her daughter were standing.

When the Başaslan family reacted to this, the suspects went downstairs and this time physically attacked them.

Following the incident, five of the suspects have been detained, according to Demirören news agency.

Başaslan said that she now fears for her family members' lives, since if the suspects get released, they might stage a more cruel attack.

“Our only crime was to feed animals, but these people will walk out free. Maybe they will hurt my child more, maybe they will hit her with the machete this time. I am in fear for my life now.”

Başaslan's husband Mehmet Ali also spoke with regards to the attack, saying: “They have hit my head with blades and sticks, I have also seen it in the footage. I have broken bones in my nose and head and received a 30-day medical report. I cannot understand how an incident concerning feeding animals turns into such insanity, cruelty and remorselessness. How can an animal hurt you?”

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