ISTANBUL - Racist attacks against Kurdish citizens are on the rise. Rights defenders and representatives of political parties pointed out that this approach towards the Kurds would have dangerous consequences and underlined that should not surrender to fascism.

 

Kurdish seasonal agricultural workers who went to Afyon from Mardin and Diyarbakır to work were subjected to racist attacks on July 19. On July 20, 60 people, including the mukhtar of the neighborhood, attacked the Kurdish family living in the Kavaklı Neighborhood of Ankara's Altındağ district. As a result of the attack, Hakim Dal from Diyarbakır lost his life.

 

While 15 bar associations did not remain silent against the racist attacks that took place recently, the mainstream media did not hesitate to target these 15 bar associations.

 

We talked with Human Rights Association (IHD) Co-Chair Eren Keskin, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Istanbul MP Oya Ersoy and Socialist Solidarity Platform (SODAP) Spokesperson Sevtap Aktağ about the increased racist attacks.

 

‘Racist attacks are treated as judicial incidents’

 

Eren Keskin pointed out that the racist attacks in Konya, Afyon and Ankara should not be evaluated independently of the murder of Deniz Poyraz and said: ‘’Violence is a political concept. The hardening and othering in the official language of the state has a great effect on such violence. As the İHD Commission Against Racism and Discrimination, we have tried to follow all racist attacks so far. And here, of course, there is a problem, these attacks are not investigated in a legal sense. The racist motive behind the attacks is not addressed by prosecutors and courts. They are treated as normal, forensic events. We find these intensifying racist attacks against Kurds extremely dangerous.’’

 

‘After AKP lost power, racist attacks increased’

 

HDP MP Oya Ersoy reminded the racist attack on Izmir HDP Provincial Organization and said: ‘’What would happen if this attack happened in any AKP provincial building? There would not be a single minister left.’’ Emphasizing that the AKP lost its power for the first time during the 7 June process, Oya pointed out that racist attacks increased after this process. Noting that the attacks against the Kurdish people are linked to the counter-guerrilla, Oya said: ‘’It is the duty of everyone who considers him/herself one of the forces of democracy, especially the CHP, who says I am the main opposition party, to put a stop to this. Fighting together against fascism is the duty of everyone who wants to live equally and freely in this country.’’

Oya called out to the government and said: ‘’I would like to remind the government of one thing, they write the history of fascism in this country, but this country is the land where the history of resistance against fascism is written. Our people will never surrender to fascism.’’

 

‘Racist attacks are caused by the political climate created by the government’

 

SODAP Spokesperson Sevtap Aktağ emphasized that racist attacks are the result of the political climate created by the government. Sevtap continued as follows: ‘’When such incidents occur, unfortunately, the intervention of law enforcement officers is not within the framework of preventing the incident. We are faced with the law enforcement officers who call Deniz Poyraz's murderer 'mate' but brutally attack the young people who are on the street in line with their democratic rights about the Suruç Massacre. Unfortunately, in a political atmosphere with the approach of impunity, the emerging political atmosphere and the power of collapse, these are not surprising.’’

 

Emphasizing that racist attacks should be considered as an attack on everyone's life, Sevtap said: ‘’Being aware of the poisoning of the atmosphere we live in and making it unlivable, we have to build an atmosphere that takes care of each other. Otherwise, there will be no living space for any of us.’’