More than 70 Kurdish seasonal farmworkers and their family members were targeted in Zonguldak over the course of two days, while another group was threatened in neighboring Düzce, prompting calls from rights groups and opposition politicians for investigations into whether the incidents were ethnically motivated, Turkish media reported.
The first incident took place on Friday and Saturday in Zonguldak’s Alaplı district, where seasonal workers from the southeastern province of Şırnak had traveled to harvest hazelnuts. A group of locals attacked the workers, prompting gendarmes to intervene. Later that evening, their vehicles were pelted with stones as they returned from the fields, with children among those inside.
Newroz Uysal Aslan, a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), called on authorities to ensure the workers’ safety and investigate the attack.
The Human Rights Association (İHD) called on authorities to investigate whether the attack was racially motivated, citing reports of derogatory remarks directed at the workers over their Kurdish identity.
The Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD) said the workers had been targeted because of their Kurdish identity and called on authorities to investigate the alleged racist motive and identify those responsible.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek described the incident as isolated and said a criminal investigation had been launched. The Zonguldak Governor’s Office also disputed claims that the workers had been targeted because of their identity. Four people were detained in connection with the incident. One was released after questioning, while three were released under judicial supervision.
In neighboring Düzce, Kurdish seasonal farmworkers from the southeastern province of Mardin said a group approached the house where they were staying and threatened them, with one of the men pulling a knife and telling them to leave the area.
Police detained the man who allegedly wielded the knife, and he was subsequently arrested. The Düzce Governor’s Office denied that the workers had been targeted because of their identity, describing the incident as an isolated public-order matter.
In a statement on the two incidents, the DEM Party called for effective investigations, saying the attacks reflected a racist and discriminatory mindset and should not be dismissed as isolated incidents.
Similar attacks on Kurdish seasonal workers have been reported in Turkey in previous years.
In 2023 three seasonal workers from the southeastern province of Siirt were attacked and injured by a group of locals in the southwestern resort town of Bodrum, allegedly for speaking Kurdish.
In 2020 a group of 16 Kurdish seasonal farmworkers from Mardin were attacked while harvesting hazelnuts in the northwestern province of Sakarya. The workers said they had been targeted because they were Kurdish, while local authorities denied that the incident was ethnically motivated. In a separate incident that year, 19-year-old Kurdish seasonal worker Şirin Tosun was shot dead in Sakarya in an attack reportedly triggered by his speaking Kurdish with friends.
Reports of attacks targeting Kurds in Turkey have continued, including incidents allegedly motivated by their ethnic identity and attacks on people for speaking Kurdish or listening to Kurdish music. Similar allegations have also involved members of the security forces.
