The state of Kocaeli, northwestern Turkey, witnessed great tension between the Syrians and the Turks on Sunday as a result of which the Turkish citizens staged an angry demonstration, calling for the expulsion of the refugees, due to the poisoning of a dog owned by a Turkish family.
Allegedly, Syrian immigrants poisoned a citizen's dog and then raided the house, after which many Turks took to the streets of Dilovasi, chanting slogans against the Syrians, including: "We do not want refugees in our country."
The security forces in Kocaeli were able to maintain security and curb the demonstration, announcing that they had deported 10 Syrians involved in riots and dog poisoning.
According to Turkish media, the story began between a Syrian and Turkish family living in one building in the Dilovasi area of Kocaeli state, where the Turkish family said that the Syrian family had killed a dog they owned by poisoning it.
With videos of tension circulating on social media platforms, the security forces intervened before any escalation occurred.
Local authorities and the media warned against exploiting these incidents to inflame hatred and incite violence.
According to the Turkish bundle website, the Kocaeli Governor's Office made a statement on this matter, in which it said: "Our security units responded quickly to the discussion with a group of our citizens and the events that occurred after the dog poisoning incident in the Dilovasi neighborhood on Sunday, July 2, 2023.
After the judicial procedures related to the suspects involved in the incident, 10 foreigners were handed over to the Kocaeli Provincial Immigration Management Directorate for deportation.
Court case
Kocaeli Party deputy, Lutfo Turkan, claimed via Twitter that "the events started after the Syrians stormed a house in my town of Kocaeli Dilovasi.
Turkan said that three months ago he submitted a parliamentary inquiry to the then Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu: "On March 10, I asked the then Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu what you are doing to solve the problem of the Syrian population increase in Dilovasi, and the problems it brings. Three months later, these events exploded."
The deputy of the Green Left Party in Kocaeli, Omer Farouk Gergerlioglu, told the source that this issue must be dealt with calmly, as the incident has no ethnic aspect, and it is a purely judicial incident and has been referred to the judiciary. It is not correct for someone to say: Let's expel the Syrians, we don't want them here, just because there is a legal case.
Tensions decreased in the Dilovası district of Kocaeli, but the debate continued. It is not clear whether Syrians or Turks were attacked in connection with the incident, but it was announced that the deportation process had begun for 10 foreigners.
The activist concerned with the affairs of Syrian refugees, Taha al-Ghazi, reported that the Turkish the Presidency of Migration Management (PMM) had deported about 130 Syrian refugees from the Elbeyli temporary shelter center to the northern regions of Syria, through the Öncüpınar Bab al-Salama border crossing.
The decision of the Immigration Presidency to deport the group of refugees came after some of the detainees in the center tried to escape from it, as a result of poor conditions and treatment, and because of the failure to settle their legal status, especially with the expiry of their detention period months ago.
Syrians come first among foreigners, and while some see Turkey as a transit point for immigration to another country, the vast majority of them have resided in Turkey for years.
According to the PMM, refugee numbers totalled in June that 3,344,092 Syrians live in Turkey under the temporary protection status (Kimlik).
By Faris Rifai
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