JINHA

NEWS CENTER – Racists set fire to the general headquarters of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Ankara while police watched, among dozens of other facist attacks on Kurds and the HDP in Turkey last night.

There have now been hundreds of fascist attacks on Kurds and the HDP in Turkey over the last few days. Racist groups burned, raided and attacked Kurds and HDP party members in dozens of towns and cities across the country in the third evening of racist terror.

Around 9 p.m. last night, a group of around 100 racists arrived at the HDP’s general headquarters in Turkey’s capital of Ankara. Police ignored requests for protection from Parliamentary representatives and employees trapped inside. Shortly thereafter, racists entered the building and set it on fire. The group destroyed the party’s computers, records and belongings.

Groups of racists set fire to the HDP district buildings in the town of Akçakale in Urfa province and Silifke in Mersin province. In both cases, police stood by while the racists looted and burned the buildings. In the Anatolian city of Kırşehir, racists chanted “Allahu Akbar” while setting fire to a bookstore owned by a HDP member.

In Yalova province, a group of around 2,000 racists raided the HDP building, trapping the provincial co-chairs and party members inside. Other provinces where racists attacked HDP buildings included Elazığ; Konya; Istanbul; Antakya; Rize; İzmir; Balıkesir; Denizli; Adana; Aydın; Kocaeli; Artvin; and Gemlik. Racists took down HDP signs, looted and destroyed property and hung Turkish flags over the buildings.

Racists also targeted Kurdish businesses and neighborhoods. In Antalya province, racists burned the HDP building and Kurdish-owned businesses in the town of Alanya. Elsewhere in the province, racists burned Kurdish businesses in several key tourist areas, such as Side, Çolaklı and Ilıca. Racists have also been stopping traffic for “ID checks” to identify Kurdish citizens, as on the Adana-Tarsus highway in southern Turkey.

In Istanbul, the Bağcılar HDP building remains under attack, with party members trapped inside. Police have entered the building and arrested not the racists attempting to attack the building, but the party members themselves.

Some Kurds have been taking defensive precautions. In the largely Kurdish neighborhood of Tuzluçayır, Ankara, neighborhood residents set up barricades against possible racist attacks.

(gc/fk/ekip/cm)