VIDEO | Syrian families victims of persecution: 474 arrests in Türkiye
Refugees from Kayseri and other cities in the country were victims of violent attacks between Sunday and Monday with cars vandalised, shop windows smashed and shops looted
ROME – As many as 474 people were arrested throughout Turkey for the attacks and acts of vandalism that targeted the Syrian refugees of Kayseri and other city of the countryon the night between Sunday and Monday 1 July.
This was announced by Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, who, according to local media, spoke of “provocative acts against Syrians in various cities”, including includingAdalia, Istanbul, Bursa, Gaziantep.
Of the 474 arrested, the minister clarified that “285 have criminal records for crimes including human trafficking, trafficking and/or possession of drugs, assault, robbery, theft, damage to property private, sexual abuse, fraud, counterfeiting, deprivation of liberty”.
People beaten up, cars set on fire, apartments vandalized, shop windows destroyed and shops looted: these are the acts of violence that an unknown number of Syrians suffered after the confirmed news began to circulate also by Minister Yerlikaya, according to which a Syrian from Kayseri – in the center of the country – had been caught molesting a little girl, who was apparently a relative of his, and arrested for this. Hence, the wave of attacks on Syrian families.
“The issue has many dimensions, but the government’s failed policies make it even more dangerous” comments Mehmet Emin Kurnaz, journalist from the Turkish newspaper BirGun.net<, to the Dire agency. /strong>. The judiciary will shed light on the accusation of sexual abuse, however, as the journalist recalls, “the events of Kayseri are not new in Turkey”, since in 2011, a war broke out in Syria which continues to this day , and the refugees have also flocked to Turkey: “There are 4.5 million according to official data, but it is thought to be many more” warns the reporter, who adds: “it is a number that exceeds the capacity of reception of any country” and the forced – and poorly supported – coexistence between residents and refugees means that “episodes like the one in Kayseri are not an exception: we have recorded many”.