Police force African restaurant in Ankara to change colors of signboard

Click to read the article in Turkish

Restaurants that serve immigrant cuisine in the capital Ankara have been subjected to police pressure for nearly a year. One of them is the "Saab" restaurant in the Çankaya district which serves Arabian and African dishes.

The restaurant owner has been facing various oppression since its opening in 2019. Last May, police asked the manager to take down its signboard. With the support of activists and democratic platforms, a new signboard was placed over the restaurant door.

However, this time police asked the owner to paint the signboard white or threatened to shut down the restaurant.

The colors in question are yellow, red, and green which are the colors of the Union of African States flag. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) also uses the same colors, which was apparently the reason why the police wanted the colors to be changed.

The signboard had to be painted white except for the name of the restaurant.

CLICK - Refugees from Somalia 'facing increasing pressure' in Ankara

"Is being black a crime?"

"Is it forbidden to hang a signboard? Is it a crime to work legally in Turkey? This is my identity. I cannot work here as a citizen. I have three children. God gave me my color, I can't wash it, I can't erase it," said the restaurant manager protesting the police oppression.

Afrika Yemekleri sunan Saab Restoranın zorla sökülen tabelasını yerine geri asmak için toplandık. Polisin müdahale etme çabaları sonrası restoranın ortağı ırkçı baskılara karşı derdini anlattı. pic.twitter.com/JF1BZgq8Ko

— Ankara Gençlik Komiteleri (@komiteankara) June 17, 2022

"Many shops went bankrupt due to police oppression"

Another restaurant manager Mohamed Abdullahi said all of the other restaurants and shops in Çankaya that belong to people from Somalia have been driven into bankruptcy by the police.

Bunu beğenmeyen amirlerimiz yine bugün bunu da beğenmedi ve tekrar eski haline (Beyaz) olmasını istiyor. Bunları isterken de HIÇ BİR HAKUK DAYANAĞI YOK. Biz bunu 9 aydır yaşıyoruz, bizim dışındaki diğer Somaliler VE Çankaya'da işyeri olanlar hepsi Polisin eliyle iflasa sürüklendi https://t.co/ZUf5WlIUpY pic.twitter.com/dO05tpGbiW

— Mohamed I. ABDULLAHI???????????????? (@xabxab32) June 17, 2022

A shopkeeper who has a business nearby said, "The police can't take down the signboard, it's the zabıta's (municipal police) job. They took down the signboard, and they didn't let anyone in. People's meat and milk remained inside.

"This is discrimination. We've been working together for years, we haven't seen them do any harm. The state collects taxes from these people and makes a profit from these people. What more do they want?"(TY/TB/VK)