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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The death of a child hit by an armored vehicle belonging to security forces in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority area has angered many, with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) describing his death as a hate crime against the Kurds.
Mihrac Miroglu, 7, was hit Friday night while riding his bicycle in front of his house in the Kurdish town of Sirnak in Idil district, and died shortly after, Mezopotamya Agency reported.
The HDP described his death as part of a “massacre,” saying “deaths involving security forces and the vehicles they use in Kurdish provinces are not accidents,” in a tweet.
Miroglu’s death also drew ire on social media. Using his name in a hashtag, Twitter users have blamed the Turkish government for the child’s death, calling for an end to brutality against the country’s Kurdish population.
“This is not an accident. Dozens of children were cut off from life in this way,” HDP MP Meral Danis Bestas said in a tweet.
MP Murat Sarisac also said that Miroglu is among the dozens of children that “were killed by armored vehicles” in Kurdish cities, blaming authorities for allowing the vehicles in residential areas.
No statement from officials has been made yet.
Attacks on Kurds in the country are common. There is a long history of animosity and conflict over Kurdish issues and rights in Turkey. The state has at times denied the very existence of Kurds. The word “Kurdistan” is banned from parliament, Kurdish private media have repeatedly been shut down, and the HDP is under immense pressure with hundreds of its members thrown in jail.
In a string of attacks on Kurds and the pro-Kurdish HDP, a family of seven members was brutally killed in Konya province on July 30. A 43-year-old Kurd was also killed in the same district on July 21.
Deniz Poyraz, the daughter of an HDP official, was killed when the party’s office in Izmir came under attack in mid-June.
Kurdish tourists from the Kurdistan Region have also been attacked in Turkey. A family from Erbil assaulted in Mersin province in mid-May claimed that the perpetrators cursed at them for being Kurds.
Mihrac Miroglu, 7, was hit Friday night while riding his bicycle in front of his house in the Kurdish town of Sirnak in Idil district, and died shortly after, Mezopotamya Agency reported.
The HDP described his death as part of a “massacre,” saying “deaths involving security forces and the vehicles they use in Kurdish provinces are not accidents,” in a tweet.
Miroglu’s death also drew ire on social media. Using his name in a hashtag, Twitter users have blamed the Turkish government for the child’s death, calling for an end to brutality against the country’s Kurdish population.
“This is not an accident. Dozens of children were cut off from life in this way,” HDP MP Meral Danis Bestas said in a tweet.
MP Murat Sarisac also said that Miroglu is among the dozens of children that “were killed by armored vehicles” in Kurdish cities, blaming authorities for allowing the vehicles in residential areas.
No statement from officials has been made yet.
Attacks on Kurds in the country are common. There is a long history of animosity and conflict over Kurdish issues and rights in Turkey. The state has at times denied the very existence of Kurds. The word “Kurdistan” is banned from parliament, Kurdish private media have repeatedly been shut down, and the HDP is under immense pressure with hundreds of its members thrown in jail.
In a string of attacks on Kurds and the pro-Kurdish HDP, a family of seven members was brutally killed in Konya province on July 30. A 43-year-old Kurd was also killed in the same district on July 21.
Deniz Poyraz, the daughter of an HDP official, was killed when the party’s office in Izmir came under attack in mid-June.
Kurdish tourists from the Kurdistan Region have also been attacked in Turkey. A family from Erbil assaulted in Mersin province in mid-May claimed that the perpetrators cursed at them for being Kurds.
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