‘It is not groundless’: Attack on Kurdish workers hits front page of humor magazine
Click to read the article in Turkish
The racist attack on a group of Kurdish workers from Turkey's southeastern province of Mardin has made the front page of Leman humor magazine.
In the related incident, 16 Kurdish seasonal agricultural workers, who went to Turkey's western province of Sakarya to harvest hazelnuts, were attacked by the villagers and employers on September 4.
Shortly after the attack sparked an outrage especially on social media, the Governor's Office of Sakarya denied the incident in a written statement while ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Vice Chair and Sakarya MP Ali İhsan Yavuz said that "no such incident happened today or before."
Against this background, Leman humor magazine has problematized these statements on its front page, saying, "The incident is not groundless."
The following note has also been attached: "The governor's office denied the attack on hazelnut workers in Sakarya, stating that it was groundless. As for AKP MP and Vice Chair Ali İhsan Yavuz, he said that it did not happen."
In the video of the incident, a man is seen to be hitting a woman carrying a baby in her arms. The comic on the front page has been inspired by this.
CLICK - 'The moment when they attacked us still haunts me'
Speaking to Evrim Kepenek from bianet about the incident, 14-year-old child worker Tuğba Demir previously said, "People should not forget this ever. They laid a hand on a woman there, she was my cousin. She is fine now, but it could have been worse. I want people to defend our rights."
What happened?A racist attack was carried out on Kurdish agricultural workers in Sakarya on September 4, 2020. The workers went there from the southeastern province of Mardin. After the Mezopotamya Agency reported on the incident, the attack sparked a public outrage. In a statement about the incident, the Governor's Office of Sakarya denied the attack and alleged that the footage in question was from a former attack in Kocaeli. Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Prof. Mithat Sancar called the attacked workers and said that they were closely monitoring the issue. The HDP also said that it would bring the issue into the Parliamentary agenda. While the workers left Sakarya for their hometown in Mazıdağı, Mardin, the village was quarantined after they arrived there. The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of Kocaeli issued a detention warrant for two people over this racist attack. Security forces started working to catch the suspects. The two suspects were released on September 7. |
(EMK/SD)
