NEWS CENTER - Condemning the increasing racist attacks against Kurdish citizens with a joint statement, 15 regional bar associations stated that violence and polarizing language paved the way for racist attacks and said: ‘’An immediate and effective investigation should be carried out regarding the attacks.’’

 

Recently, 15 regional bar associations made a joint statement regarding the racist attacks against Kurdish citizens in different cities.

 

In the statement stating that the racist attacks in Konya and Afyon were condemned, it was emphasized that the attacks should not be seen as a discrete and judicial event. The statement included the following statements: ‘’In cases of physical violence and insults, investigations are carried out for crimes such as killing people, attempting to kill people, intentionally injuring people, insulting, threatening, damaging property within the scope of hate crimes. It is seen that the attacks in question took place on the grounds of the Kurdish identity and the use of the Kurdish language in the news contents in the media. In the last period, it is seen that this and similar lynching attempts, hate speech and attacks are frequently encountered due to the Kurdish identity and the use of the Kurdish language. These attacks should not be seen a discrete and judicial events. The discriminatory practices added to the language and policies of violence, attacks on the Kurdish identity and language, the weakness of the law enforcement officers in security measures in the face of attacks and the lack of effective judicial action can be seen among the main reasons for these results.’’

 

‘We condemn racist attacks’

 

In the continuation of the statement, which emphasized that the use of violence and polarizing language led to the formation of such racist attacks, continued: ‘’The discriminatory language used by politicians in recent years provides a basis for events that cannot be socially compensated. As the undersigned bar associations; We condemn these racist attacks that lead to serious human rights violations, especially the right to life, and demand that statements that set the ground for all kinds of racist attacks on Kurdish identity and Kurdish language and that harm social peace be abandoned, and that all aspects of the attacks be investigated promptly and effectively.’’

 

The bar associations that signed the statement are as follows:

 

Adıyaman, Ağrı, Bingöl, Bitlis, Batman, Dersim, Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Kars, Mardin, Muş, Siirt, Urfa, Şırnak and Van Bar Association.

 

What happened?

 

On May 12, 2021, an attack on a Kurdish family took place in Konya's Meram district, and on July 19, 2021, workers who went to Afyon from Diyarbakır and Mardin to Afyon as seasonal agricultural workers were exposed to an armed attack because they spoke Kurdish, and four people, two of them seriously, were injured. On July 21, a group of 80 people carried out a racist attack on the Diyarbakır family, who has been residing in Çarıklıköy in the Meram district of Konya for 20 years, and a citizen named Hakim Dal was lost his life in the attack.