Alevi homes marked in Adana in 38th similar incident in a decade

"Kızılbaş," another word for Alevi, is written on the wall of a house with an X mark. (Photo: Evrensel)

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The homes of Alevi people have been marked with "X" in the Seyhan district of the southern Adana province.

Residents in Ova and Uçak neighborhoods notified the police after seeing the marks. Police reportedly erased them and are investigating the incident.

Pointing out that this was the 38th similar incident in a decade, opposition MPs filed parliamentary questions about the issue.

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) İstanbul deputy Ali Kenanoğlu said such incidents happen because of the lack of effective investigations.

"It is a known fact that those who commit this hate crime are not clamped down on seriously, perpetrators of those are not found and the public is not sufficiently informed about this," he said. "This encourages those who are hostile to Alevis."

In the motion he submitted, the deputy listed the 37 similar incidents that took place across the country between 2012 and 2021.

He asked Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu how many of the perpetrators of these crimes were found and why previous parliamentary questions about the issue remained unanswered.

"If a strong will is not demonstrated as soon as possible, the Alevi community, which has not been able to shake off the pain and anger of the Alevi massacres such as Sivas, Maraş and Çorum, faces the risk of experiencing similar tragedies again," said Kenanoğlu.

About two hundred people had been killed in the massacres and pogroms targeting Alevis in Maraş (1978), Çorum (1980) and Sivas (1992).

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Main opposition Republican People's Democratic Party (CHP) deputy deemed the marking of the homes as "provocation" and said, "We won't allow dirty and dark hands to cause trouble in Adana."

Submitting a parliamentary question, he demanded the interior minister to disclose the number of similar incidents and what action had been taken by the authorities.

Alevism is an Anatolian religious tradition based on the teachings of the "12 imams" of Islam. It is outside the sects of Sunnism and Shia.

As the state does not officially recognize Alevism, there are no official figures on the Alevi population in the country but it is estimated to be about 15 percent of the population, according to reports released by the Republican People's Party (CHP) in 2012 and 2014.