Massacre of Kurdish family: 10 detained, prosecutors say attack 'not racially motivated'

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The Konya Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has announced that 10 suspects have been detained and others are sought by the police in relation to yesterday's (July 30) massacre in Konya, central Turkey.

Raiding the house of a Kurdish family in Meram district, armed assailants killed seven members of the Dedeoğlu family and set the house on fire.

The prosecutor's office dismissed the reports that the attack was racially motivated.

In a written statement today, it said, "It has been found that the incident was caused by the dispute and animosity that has been going on between two families for 11 years. The claims that the action was committed with the motive of racial hatred do not reflect the truth."

Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu and Minister of Justice Abdülhamit Gül later repeated the prosecutors' statement and warned against "provocation."

The Dedeoğulları family was also attacked by about 60 people in May and said the attackers described themselves as the "Grey Wolves," an ultranationalist group in Turkey. The family has been living in Konya for 24 years.

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Chair Mithat Sancar blamed the government, saying that its "language of hate and provocation" was the main responsible for the recent attacks on Kurds. "In Meram, we have witnessed one of the most horrific examples of the racist attacks that have been going on for a while. The government's language of hate and provocation is the main responsible for this massacre," he said yesterday. (RT/VK)