29 December 2010 / AYŞE TOSUN, MELIK DUVAKLI, İSTANBUL
Leading figures from Turkey’s Alevi community have agreed that an attack by a group of outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) supporters on a cemevi (Alevi house of worship) in İstanbul’s Başakşehir district on Sunday night was an organized provocation to include Alevis in ethnic clashes.
Hubyar Sultan Alevi Cultural Association President Ali Kenanoğlu warned that the incident may be followed by other provocative incidents. Pointing out that security cameras installed at the cemevi were turned off during the attack, he said the attack is a suspicious one. “Nobody knows the assailants. This was an organized activity,” he said. A group of nearly 100 protestors chanted slogans in support of the PKK on Sunday. The group later arrived at the Velibaba Cemevi on Kılıç Street. The protestors threw stones at the cemevi because a Turkish flag was hung on one of its windows and urged those inside to take it down. When they refused and threw stones back at the protestors, the group threw more stones at the building.
