Seven wounded in brawl between Syrian families in Turkey’s Konya

KONYA

Seven people have been wounded in a brawl between two Syrian families in the Central Anatolian province of Konya, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

Tension rose between women in the two families in the Şükran neighborhood of Konya’s Meram district in the early evening of May 15. 

The cause of the quarrel remains unclear, but it quickly descended into a violent confrontation involving thrown stones, sticks and machetes.    

Seven people were wounded in the melee, including three heavily, as police officers and ambulances were dispatched to the scene. 

The injured people were taken to a local hospital, while police officers resorted to opening fire in the air in order to disperse the group. People dispersed into side streets after the police opened fire. 

Police have opened an investigation to detect the suspects, saying animosity between two families had previously been reported. Two suspects were detained by police.

A similar incident had occurred between locals and Syrian and Afghan-origin people in Istanbul’s Sultangazi district late on May 14, resulting in one person being killed.

Ramazan Şahin, a 24-year-old local man, was killed during a brawl between locals and migrants living in the district, with riot police intervening with water cannon and tear gas against a group protesting the killing. 

Tension rose again in the area on May 15, the second day after the murder, as riot police once again intervened against locals protesting the murder of Şahin. 

Police officers also blocked those who wanted to march to the provincial governorate in protest, though the same group instead gathered in front of the Şahins’ house to chant before being dispersed. 

Police have reportedly tightened security measures in the area against further possible clashes between locals and foreign-origin residents.