Konya massacre: 'Turkey must confront racist hatred'

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The perpetrator of the massacre of a Kurdish family in Konya, Mehmet Altun (33), is still sought by the police.

The fact that he couldn't be found in four days indicates that the massacre was not committed by a single person, according to the lawyer of the Dedeoğlu family, seven members of which were shot dead at home by Altun on Friday (July 30).

While the assailant is still at large, 14 members of his family have been in detention.

The footage from the house's security camera shows that Altun, while he was sitting together with the members of the family in the yard, pulls out his weapon from a plastic bag and starts shooting the people. He then gets into his car and drives away.

"The murderer or the people cooperating with the murderer organized this. They planned how they will run, how they will get rid of HTS recordings and phone signals," attorney Karabulut told Mesopotamia Agency (MA). In spontaneous cases, perpetrators are usually nabbed in much shorter times, added the attorney.

He said that he was also threatened by people who called his office on the day of the family's funeral. "We'll never take a step back. We'll take measures in the legal framework."

CLICK - Lawyer Karabulut: The attack was carried out very professionally

Threats and attacks

The two families reportedly had a longstanding dispute and the Dedeoğulları family was attacked by a group of 60 people and severely injured in May. Seven of the attackers were remanded in custody but five of them were released in the following two months.

A day after the attack, members of the Dedeoğulları family told the police that the assailants described themselves as members of the "Grey Wolves," an ultranationalist group and threatened them.

Barış Dedeoğuları filed a complaint with the Konya Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on May 28, alleging that Lütfi Keleş, one of the assailants, was recording video footage of their house and stalking them.

"If they weren't Kurds..."

Representatives of several rights groups, including the Human Rights Association (İHD), the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV/HRFT), Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÇHD) and the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) visited the condolence tent in Meram, Konya.

İHD Co-Chair Öztürk Türkdoğan said, "Since we came for condolences, we have heard that 'If this family wasn't Kurdish, such a thing won't happen to them.'

"There had been a conflict, disputes had occurred but the fact that it ended with such a massacre indicates that it had a racist hatred behind it.

"Turkey must definitely confront the disease of racism and hate speech. This does not happen with the authorities' statements to cover up the truth."

The authorities previously stated that the massacre was not racially motivated, citing the longstanding dispute between the families. The dedeoğulları family had been living in Meram for 24 years. (DŞ/VK)