Turkish authorities announced on Tuesday that they had detained 474 people following anti-Syrian riots in several cities. The unrest was sparked by accusations that a Syrian man had harassed a child.
“474 people were detained after the provocative actions against Syrians in Turkey,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X.
The tensions began on Sunday in a central Anatolian city, where violence erupted after a Syrian man was accused of harassing a child. A group of men targeted Syrian businesses and properties in Kayseri, with social media videos showing a grocery store set on fire. In one video, a Turkish man was heard shouting, “We don’t want any more Syrians! We don’t want any more foreigners.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the opposition of stoking tensions and condemned the violence against Syrians as “unacceptable.” Despite calls for calm, the violence spread to several other cities late on Monday, including Istanbul.
Turkish police increased security around the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, deploying an armored truck and patrolling the area, according to an AFP journalist.
