In the central Anatolian city of Kayseri, unrest erupted Sunday evening after news emerged that a child in the city had been sexually abused by a suspect of Syrian origin. While many politicians promised deportation, the local governor announced that the child and family had been placed under protection.
The incident reportedly took place in Kayseri’s Eskişehir Bağları district, an area heavily populated by Syrian refugees. Police clashed with demonstrators, some of whom targeted Syrian-owned homes and businesses. Videos and photos circulated on social media Sunday evening showing some buildings burning in the aftermath of the clashes.
In other scenes shared widely on social media, some protestors shouted slogans calling for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s resignation.
Erdoğan, a noted supporter of Syrian refugees’ right to remain in Turkey, has come under fire in recent years for what some describe as uncontrolled immigration.
Announcement from local governor
Kayseri’s governor released a statement Sunday evening saying the 7-year-old child and her family had been placed under protection, and the suspected perpetrator had been arrested:
“As a result of an incident on June 30th in the Danışmentgazi neighborhood involving the abuse of a young child by a Syrian national, the victim has been placed under police protection while the suspect has been taken into custody. We will continue to keep the public abreast of further developments in this case.”
In addition to the governor’s announcement, Turkey’s Family and Social Work Ministry announced that the child and her family were being cared for in an announcement:
“A psychosocial support process has been initiated for the child and her family. Our ministry will be involved in the lawsuit process to ensure the suspect receives the most serious possible punishment.”
Politicians issue reaction
The presence of an estimated 3.7 million Syrian refugees in Turkey has been a contentious political topic for years. Following Sunday’s events in Kayseri, numerous politicians issued statements condemning the suspect, with some calling for mass deportation of Syrian refugees.
The İYİ Party’s Kayseri representative Dursun Ateş released a statement saying: “We do not want Syrians in our country or in our city.”
Aşkın Genç, a member of parliament representing Kayseri from the main opposition Republican People’s Party, also released a statement condemning Syrian refugees:
Medyascope'u destekle. Medyascope'a abone ol.
Medyascope’u senin desteğin ayakta tutuyor. Hiçbir patronun, siyasi çıkarın güdümünde değiliz; hangi haberi yapacağımıza biz karar veriyoruz. Tıklanma uğruna değil, kamu yararına çalışıyoruz. Bağımsız gazeteciliğin sürmesi, sitenin açık kalması ve herkesin doğru bilgiye erişebilmesi senin desteğinle mümkün.
“The refugee issue must be solved immediately. It is not possible for a city or country to support this many refugees. We are talking about 15 million refugees in Turkey and 150,000 in Kayseri. This country and this city cannot host these types of numbers.”
According to numbers from Turkey’s immigration ministry, Kayseri is host to an estimated 83,000 undocumented Syrian refugees.
Ümit Özdağ, chairman of Turkey’s ultranationalist anti-immigrant Victory Party, issued a long statement describing the incident and alleging without evidence that Kayseri’s Syrian community had protected the perpetrator from law enforcement:
“The reason for events reaching this point is undeniably that spoiled Syrians resisted and refused to turn the perpetrator over to police.”
Announcement from Turkey’s Interior Minister
On Monday morning, Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya issued a statement saying that 67 individuals had been arrested as a result of Sunday evening’s unrest and that an investigation into the incident had been launched:
“On Sunday evening, in response to allegations that a young child residing in Kayseri’s Melikgazi Eskişehir Bağları district had been abused by an older male relative, security forces were deployed.”
Yerlikaya condemned the actions of some protestors, including attacking Syrian-owned buildings and vehicles, as “unbecoming of our human values”.
In summer 2021, similar anti-refugee riots took place in Ankara’s Altındağ district after two Turkish citizens were allegedly stabbed by a Syrian perpetrator.
Written/translated for Medyascope by Leo Kendrick
