Saudi, Syrian men killed during anti-ISIL protests in Turkey

MARDİN

The bodies of the two men were discovered during the curfew in Mardin's Kızıltepe district. AA Photo

Two men who were killed during the recent wave of violent protests in Turkey have been identified as Saudi Arabian and Syrian citizens, Anadolu Agency reported on Oct. 9.

The bodies of Fehad İbrahim al-Duwarij, a 45-year-old Saudi, and Abdullah Muhammed Latif, a 43-year-old Syrian, were found in the Kızıltepe district of the southeastern province of Mardin on Oct. 8, as a curfew was ongoing.

Over 20 people were killed during the protests against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) throughout Turkey on Oct. 7. Deadly clashes were reported between members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkey’s Hizbullah, a radical Islamist movement whose most members are Kurds who reportedly sympathize with ISIL and its advance on the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane, which is close to Mardin across the border.

Al-Duwarij was visiting his brother-in-law, who is a worker in Mardin, and Latif is a resident in the city, according to Anadolu Agency.

Muhammed İbrahim, al-Duwarij’s brother-in-law, told Doğan News Agency that the two men were killed after a mob suspected that they were ISIL members. “A group stopped their car and checked their identities before killing them,” İbrahim said.

“Are bearded people who don’t speak Kurdish all ISIL members? What kind of situation is this? We fled the war in Syria and they are killing us here,” he added.