ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish authorities announced the arrests of 67 people involved in a riot in the central province of Kayseri on Monday, after a Syrian national was accused of harassing a child.
Riots and violence erupted on Sunday evening in Kayseri (160 kilometers southeast of Ankara) as dozens of people attacked Syrian-owned businesses and homes.
Footage on social media showed Turkish citizens setting several places on fire.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X that “a Syrian national named I.A. was caught by local residents while harassing a young Syrian girl, his relative, and was handed over to security forces.”
He added the Turks acted “unlawfully” and “in a manner unbecoming of our humanitarian values, damaging homes, workplaces and vehicles of Syrians.”
“During the intervention by our security forces in these actions, 67 individuals were taken into custody. The crowd dispersed after 2:00 am,” he said.
Local authorities and police forces used water cannons to disperse the angry crowd.
In the videos, people can be heard shouting “we do not want any more Syrians.” Additionally, a hashtag has been trending on X in Turkish on Monday that translates to “I don’t want refugees in my country.”
During a party meeting in Ankara, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday’s incident was a result of the anti-immigrant policies of the opposition parties.
“One of the causes of the unfortunate events caused by a small group in Kayseri yesterday is the opposition's toxic rhetoric. Regardless of who they are, it is unacceptable to burn people's homes, commit vandalism, and set the streets on fire,” Erdogan said.
Opposition leaders on the other hand, responded to Erdogan blaming the chaos on the ruling party’s “uncontrolled” refugee policies.
“The events in Kayseri, which started with the harassment of a 6-year-old Syrian girl by another Syrian, have revealed the immense anger caused by the AKP's [Justice and Development Party] uncontrolled refugee/illegal immigration policy,” said ultranationalist Umit Ozdag, leader anti-immigrant Zafer Party, in a post on X.
Ozdag added that such chaos in a city where AKP is dominant “is not a good sign,” adding “the political, economic, and demographic pressure caused by 13 million refugees/illegals is now beyond manageable.”
Roughly 3.2 million Syrian refugees who fled war and conflicts are currently living in Turkey under temporary protection status, according to the Turkish presidency of migration management.
Syrian nationals occasionally are subjected to racist and xenophobic attacks by nationalist Turks.
The situation of Syrian refugees is a hot topic used to garner votes in Turkish elections. Erdogan’s opponent in last year’s presidential elections vowed to send refugees back to Syria.
Last week, Erdogan hinted that Ankara is considering normalizing relations with Damascus and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Counter protests in Syria
In response to the incident in Kayseri, citizens in Turkish-controlled Aleppo province in northwest Syria protested and clashed with the police.
UK-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that in the Kurdish city of Afrin, the protestors attacked the office of the Turkish-appointed governor, while chanting derogatory slogans against Erdogan and the Turkish-backed militia forces controlling the city.
Some of the protestors took down the Turkish flag in the Bab al-Salama border crossing, northern Aleppo.
