Erbil calls on Turkish consulate to respond to attack on Kurdish tourists
“One of the attackers tried to kill the Kurdish man by throwing him down from a height,” as the incident took place on a curvy hill road that connects Mersin to the resort province of Antalya.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – After a Kurdish family vacationing in the southern of Turkey was violently attacked by unknown men, the Erbil governor on Friday asked Turkish diplomats in the Kurdish capital to take a stance on the matter.
A Kurdish family from Erbil province was attacked in the southern coastal city of Mersin on Thursday, resulting in the serious injury of two members of the family. The violent assault was captured on footage circulating on social media.
Turkish security forces have arrested three of the assailants and the investigation is ongoing, according to a Kurdistan 24 correspondent.
Erbil governor Omed Khoshnaw on Friday “strongly condemned” the “unacceptable” attack on the capital’s residents in Turkey, calling on Turkish authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.
“We call on the Turkish General Consulate in Erbil to officially clarify the reason and motive behind attacking our residents in their country,” the capital’s administration statement said, adding that the attack, “regardless of justifications and excuses,” was unacceptable.
“The health condition of the Kurdish family is stable,” Erbil governor Khoshnaw told Kurdistan 24 on Friday, saying they are now receiving medical treatment at a public hospital of the coastal Turkish province.
Safeen Dizayee, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s foreign relations head, told Kurdistan 24 on Friday that the government has been in contact with Turkish authorities.
What Happened?
The Kurdish family’s account to Turkish police has been obtained by Kurdistan 24.
They said they were traveling from Mersin to Antalya when a vehicle carrying the attackers got too close to them on the road. Apparently, the assailants recognized they were Kurdish as EBL – Erbil – was written on their own vehicle’s number plate. The family said the attackers raided the car and severely beat the men, saying “they do not allow Kurds to pass through this way.”
“One of the attackers tried to kill the Kurdish man by throwing him down from a height,” as the incident took place on a curvy hill road that connects Mersin to the resort province of Antalya.
The footage shared on social media appears to show a man, whose face is covered in blood, fainted on the side of the road. One family member is seen crying and calling for help.
A Kurdish family from #Kurdistan Region were attacked by four racist Turks while on holiday in the Turkish city of Mersin, Turkey. Even 12-year-old were attacks.#noracism pic.twitter.com/umBTQUaVwq
— Baxtiyar Goran ☀️ (@BaxtiyarGoran) May 13, 2021
During the attack, a Kurd from Turkey who was traveling on the road stumbled into the incident and prevented the attackers from further beating the tourists, the family recalled. They were later brought to a nearby military post to be referred to a nearby hospital.
Thursday’s attack is not the first time Kurdish tourists in Turkey have been assaulted. Residents of the Kurdistan Region regularly travel to Turkey to spend their leisure time in the country’s attractive tourist sites, but in 2019, a group of tourists were attacked and beaten at a resort site in the northeastern city of Trabzon for raising a Kurdish flag, for which they were later arrested and released.
Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly
