İSTANBUL –  The racist attack against seasonal Kurdish workers yesterday in Sakarya reminded the killing of 43 year old Kadir Sakçı and 19 year old Şirin Tosun who lost their lives in the racist attacks because they spoke Kurdish.

 

Kurdish families who came from the Mazıdağı district of Mardin were attacked by employers and villagers yesterday while working as seasonal workers, picking hazelnuts in Sakarya. The public heard about the news from our agency when one of the workers, Barış Demir spoke to Mesopotamia Agency (MA), telling that the employers told they were a pack of dogs and Turkey was not their country. 

 

The footage of the incident stirred public outcry. Making a statement on the incident, Sakarya Governorship claimed that the attack did not happen today, but it happened on August 22. The workers refuted the governor and said they were attacked that day.

 

SAKÇI AND TOSUN MURDERS IN THE SAME CITY

 

This is not the first racist attack in Sakarya. 43 year old Kadir Sakçı and 19 year old Şirin Tosun also lost their lives in the racist attacks in Sakarya, because they spoke Kurdish.

 

Father Kadir Sakçı, speaking to his son Burhan Sakçı in Kurdish in the Hendek district of Sakarya on December 16, was attacked and beaten by an angry mob and lost his lives as a result. His son who surived the attack had to be treated in the hospital for a while. 

 

The lawsuit filed against Hikmet Usta, one of the attackers related to the incident, and Recep Eş, who helped him escape after the incident, at Sakarya 1st High Criminal Court was concluded on December 6, 2019.

 

One of the defendants, Usta was sentenced to life for "murder", 15 years for serious injury, and 1 year and 6 months for possession of weapons. Recep Eş, who helped him escape, was sentenced to 5 months in prison.

 

Şirin Tosun (19), on the other hand, went to Paralı village in Karasu district of Sakarya in the summer of 2019 to work as seasonal workers with her brothers from Diyarbakır. Şirin and her friend who greeted the people in a local car in Kurdish were subjected to the armed attack of 6 people who saw them. 

 

The people who attacked Tosun and her friend M.Z started firing, asking why they spoke Kurdish. Tosun fought for her life for 51 days in the hospital and then lost her life on October 13. 

 

2 of the attackers were arrested after the investigation launched by Sakarya Chief Public Prosecutor's Office while 4 were released. The trial hasn't been finalized yet.