Amid escalating racial tensions in Turkey, Syrian refugees are facing increased hardships. A Syrian family in Kayseri was attacked by their neighbors, leading to their detention at a deportation center and facing the risk of being sent back to Syria.
According to “Qarar” newspaper, the family of six, including two young children, faced these events following allegations of a 15-year-old boy threatening the neighbors, which led to his overnight arrest.
After his release, the police returned, detained the entire family, confiscated their phones, and conducted a body search.
Tensions escalated after rumors spread about a foreign individual sexually assaulting a Turkish girl in Kayseri, inciting angry mobs chanting racist slogans and attacking Syrian homes and businesses.
However, local authorities denied these claims, stating that both the victim and the perpetrator were Syrian, and the perpetrator had been arrested, but attacks on refugee properties continued with recorded instances of physical assaults and violence against refugees in various cities.
The violence spread to other cities, resulting in the stabbing death of Syrian youth Ahmad Hamdan Al Naif in Antalya by a group of Turks.
On the night of July 1, several stores and homes were pelted with stones in the Nazip area of Gaziantep province, prompting Syrians to avoid public places and close their shops.
Adam, 23, shared his experience of his car and his neighbors’ stores being attacked with stones, forcing him to stay home for fear of his life.
Adam said, “We no longer feel anything towards what happens because whenever something happens in the country, we are the first targets. We will stay at home for a few more days, but eventually, we have to go out and work.”
Fasih, a father of five, also suffered from these events as he closed his home fearing for his children and refrained from going to work.
Fasih said, “I haven’t gone to work for two days. I’m a day laborer. If I don’t go tomorrow, we won’t even have bread at home. Our reality is that we can be killed at any moment.”
Hassan, a Turkmen shop owner, whose shop was looted and attacked, said, “I worked in every imaginable job, including carrying heavy goods, to be able to open this shop. I decided to open the shop today, but a man came and shouted, ‘How dare you open your shop?’ The neighbors intervened, and he left.”
Aisha, a mother of three from Aleppo, lives in constant fear for her children, initially planning to send her son to work but reconsidered after another Syrian boy was stabbed.
Aisha said, “We are scared, and we don’t know what our crime is. Are we guilty because we didn’t die in the war?”
The crisis is exacerbated as landlords demand higher rents from Syrian refugees, adding further burdens to their already difficult lives.
Despite some attempting to return to normal life, the threats and escalating violence make it nearly impossible.
