Pressure builds as Çanakkale mob tries to lynch Kurds

The tension spread to the entire district, causing other incidents.

The friction started when four individuals had a dispute with several other people at a bus terminal. When the dispute turned into a fight, the officers in the neighborhood wanted to take the four to the police station, but they resisted. After they were taken in, a group came to the front of the building and tried to take the four out to lynch them; however, the police intervened.

While the hostility continued in front of the police station, hundreds of Bayramiç residents gathered at the scene and started to march down Atatürk Street, chanting, “Bayramiç people here, Kurdish people out.” The group of about a thousand people then began to walk to the neighborhood of Harmanlık, inhabited by migrants from southeastern provinces. Bayramiç Governor Şahin Aslan, Bayramiç Police Chief Alaaddin Tekin, Gendarmerie Commander Sedat Atıcı and Deputy Mayor Ergun Tüzgen tried to calm the people down.

After additional forces arrived from the Ezine district and Çanakkale, the situation was brought under control.