Two Kurdish shopkeepers were hospitalized after being beaten with sticks by a large group in Istanbul in what their family described as a racially motivated attack, the Bianet news website reported.
Nuh Yıldız said the assailants shouted anti-Kurdish insults as they beat and dragged him and his uncle, Abdurrahman Yıldız, for more than 30 minutes in the city’s Sarıyer district on July 21. He said police detained the injured men when they arrived rather than members of the attacking group.
The assault broke Nuh Yıldız’s arm in two places and injured his foot. His uncle, was also injured.
The violence followed a July 14 dispute involving another family member, Adem Yıldız, and local business owners. Police detained Adem Yıldız during that confrontation and released him six days later, according to the report.
Nuh Yıldız said members of the other group later invited the family to meet and settle the dispute, telling them they did not want the disagreement to escalate.
Three family members went to their shop for the meeting, prepared to apologize if necessary, Yıldız said. He said the other group attacked them as soon as the premises were opened, damaging the shop’s sign before beating them.
Yıldız said the men initially avoided fighting back because of his uncle’s previous facial surgery and instead tried to protect themselves.
He said the attackers repeatedly insulted their Kurdish identity and cursed the state for protecting Kurds.
Yıldız said he was unable to stand after the assault and only then realized the extent of his injuries. He spent four days at Baltalimanı Bone Disease Teaching and Research Hospital before being transferred to Prof. Dr. Cemil Taşcıoğlu City Hospital, where he said doctors told him he would require surgery on his arm.
He also accused members of the group of forcing him underneath a vehicle and stealing money from his pocket during the attack.
He said four people were subsequently detained but that the family had received no information about whether a court had ordered them to be arrested and jailed pending trial.
The family filed criminal complaints but has since received messages ordering it to close its Sarıyer shop and another business, stay away from the neighborhood and withdraw the complaints, Yıldız said.
According to Yıldız, intermediaries told the family that the alleged attackers would “forgive” them only if they withdrew their statements.
“We are still being threatened,” Yıldız said. “This happened to us, but we do not want it to happen to anyone else. What was done to us should not go unpunished.”
