Workers attacked in Yozgat: ‘We narrowly escaped lynch’

* Photos: Mezopotamya Agency (MA)

Click to read the article in Turkish

Attacked by a group of people in Çekerek in Turkey's central Anatolian province of Yozgat on July 18, Kurdish workers have returned to their hometown Derik in Turkey's southeastern province of Mardin.

After 13 Kurdish families were attacked by villagers organized by village heads trying to charge them a "head tax" for staying in tents on a public estate, the Sub-Governor's Office requested them to leave Yozgat, where they came to work in a forest, as "it could not ensure their safety of life."

CLICK - Kurdish workers attacked in Yozgat province for 'head tax'

The workers who have returned to Derik, Mardin have spoken to Ahmet Kanbal from the Mezopotamya Agency (MA). "We narrowly escaped being lynched," they have said and added, "We had to leave our labor and elbow grease there and come back to our hometown."

'We are mistreated and deprived of our jobs'

İrfan Çağur, a forest worker in Çekerek, has noted that even though they set up their tents on a public land, the heads of neighboring villages wanted them to pay a so-called "head tax," which is not stipulated in the law. According to Çağur, the attacks started after they they refused to pay.

'Our loss is around 300 thousand lira'

"We wanted the gendarmerie to disperse the crowd, but they somehow did not do it," Çağur has noted and added:

"There was definitely something that the state could have done. But it did not. We, 13 families, have become victims. Our loss is around 300 thousand lira. If that incident had happened in the East, it would have been different. They acted like taking their side. If it had been in Derik, they would have dispersed with pepper gas and pressurized water. But they did not do it.

"Their goal was to force us out of there anyway. One feels left out. We would want to work in Mardin, but we went there as there were no job opportunities here. But we went through such things there."

'We narrowly escaped being lynched'

Mehmet Can Durgut is another attacked worker. He has noted that the attack was organized and added, "We do not know why we were attacked: Because they wanted to have our jobs or because we were Kurdish?"

Underlining that they did not do anything illegal and they were there within the knowledge of the authorities, Durgut has said:

"The village heads provoked 42 villages and made them attack us. We narrowly escaped being lynched. We had to leave our labor and elbow grease there and get back to our hometown."

Stating that it was not safe for them to stay in Çekerek, Durgut has reminded that they were made to left the district in company of gendarmerie:

"The security forces there told us that 42 villages were up in arms and they were going to attack us. When we asked them what they could do about it, we were told, 'We cannot ensure your security. You take your precautions.' The sub-governor, gendarmerie commander, mayor and AKP district chair came after that and said, 'You have to leave.' And we left before it got dark."

'You are attacked because you are from Mardin'

According to Durgut, after a gendarmerie officer asked them where they were from and they answered that they were from Mardin, the officer said,

'It is understood why they attack you. Your being from Mardin is enough. They will not let you work because of that.'

Concluding his remarks, Durgut has said:

"We cannot understand with what mentality or mindset 42 villages were up in arms against us. We are laborers.

"Just as they come here in harvest season and reap the wheat with their combine harvester, I have the right to work there as well. This should come as no surprise. What we tell you know is a summary of what we went through there. It was like Texas out there because of those people. What was done there was an atrocity. The fear felt be children, our worries... It is beyond description." (SO/SD)