Deadly attack on Kurdish family | ‘They were threatened with death unless they left’

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Armed assailants raided the house of the Dedeoğulları family in the Hasanköy Neighborhood in Konya's Meram in the evening hours on July 30, shot seven people to death, set the house on fire and fled.

The attack claimed the lives of Yaşar Dedeoğulları, his spouse İpek Dedeoğulları and their children Barış Dedeoğulları, Serpil Dedeoğulları, Serap Dedeoğulları, Metin Dedeoğulları and Sibel Dedeoğulları.

While the family was also targeted in a racist attack on May 12, 2021, the Ministry of Interior and the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of Konya made statements after the latest deadly attack and said that "the incident was not racially motivated and caused by a feud between the families."

Erol Şen, the son of the deceased 70-year-old Yaşar Dedeoğulları's paternal uncle, has referrd to the attack on May 12 and said, "The attack that happened on that day was because they were Kurds."

CLICK - Seven people from Kurdish family killed in a racist assault

'They were constantly threatening him'

Şen has indicated that Yaşar Dedeoğulları had long been subjected to the threats of the Keleş Family, who were their neighbors:

"Before the Ramadan feast, on the eve of the feast, a member of the Keleş Family tried to steal brother Yaşar's motorcycle. Brother Yaşar saw it and threw a stone; the head of the person who stole it was cracked. Then, this person left and gathered 60 people. They beat brother Yaşar and his family. They broke their arms, legs and heads.

"Metin had been held in the intensive care unit for 14 days and Sibel for 7 days. Their wounds had not yet healed. Seven people from the Keleş Family were arrested due to that incident. 40 days later, 5 of the 7 people were released from prison. Lawyer Abdurrahman Karabulut appealed against their release. He was going to take it to the upper court.

"In the meantime, the Keleş Family was constantly threatening brother Yaşar. They told him, 'If you do not leave this place, we will kill you'."

'They cursed Kurds before'

Şen has noted that they also had a row with the Keleş family 10 years ago, underlining that this incident was also motivated by "hatred of Kurds":

"10 years ago, brother Yaşar was working with this family in the agricultural field. At that time, soldiers fell martyr in Diyarbakır. Back then, one member of this family cursed the Kurds. Brother Yaşar protested these curses against the Kurds and said, 'I am a Kurd, too. Why are you cursing Kurds?' There had been resentment between the two since then."

NOTE: 13 soldiers lost their lives and seven soldiers were wounded in a conflict that erupted in Silvan in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır on July 14, 2011. Meeting in Zeytinburnu district center in İstanbul following this incident, a group attacked the houses and workplaces of Kurds and the incident continued for days.

'They installed a camera due to threats'

Şen has said that after the attack on May 12 and amid ongoing threats, the family had a camera installed at their house: "Brother Yaşar had a camera installed due to the incident that happened before and threats. A person came last evening. He shook hands with brother Yaşar, he drank tea; then, he approached his car, took a weapon and put it under his shirt.

"As soon as he got closer, he fired five shots at brother Yaşar. His two daughters were drinking coffee there. He shot at them, too. He shot them in the head. He entered the house afterwards. Metin and Barış were inside; he killed them there. He opened fire first on his younger daughter and then on my aunt-in-law coming from the pergola. He then went out and left."

'They told him to "give them his house and leave"'

Şen has noted that the Dedeoğulları were the only Kurdish family living in the neighbourhood. Concluding his words, he has said:

"We do not know if the incident that happened last evening was committed by the people who had attacked them before.

"But the previous attack was carried out because they were Kurds. Brother Yaşar has no feud with anyone else. They were not in a neighborly relationship. They told brother Yaşar, 'Give us your house and go, we will not let you reside here'. The family of brother Yaşar was the only Kurdish family in that neighbourhood." (RT/SD)