Activists in Barcelona protest the invitation of Turkish Consul to a Catalan public institution

A group of activists protested the invitation of a representative of the Turkish state to a Catalan public institution.

On Monday, 5th December, the consul of the Turkish State in Barcelona made a public appearance in a public institution. The Turkish General Consul, Selen Evcit, had been invited to the public school of languages of Barcelona (Escola Oficial d’Idiomes de Barcelona), for an event to celebrate World Turkish Coffee Day. The students of the Turkish language in the school gathered to meet up with the consul.

Around 15-20 activists from Barcelona showed up to protest the invitation of a representative of the Turkish state to a Catalan public institution. They showed a banner protesting the Turkish state and handed out some leaflets explaining the protests to bystanders.

On arrival, they were met with a closed room guarded by two members of the Turkish consulate personnel, who physically confronted the protesters. They did so aggressively and one of them flashed the symbol of the Grey Wolves with his hand several times. The protesters chanted slogans against Erdogan and in favor of the Rojava Revolution and Kurdistan for several minutes. A public servant of the Catalan administration working for the school attempted to kick out the protesters from the premises. 

Meanwhile, inside the room where the event was taking place, the consul went along to chat with the students and talked about TV and literature, ignoring any kind of political topic and what was going on just outside the door.

Throughout the day, the Turkish Consulate in Barcelona also offered Turkish coffee to passersby at the entrance of the Consulate in the commercial street of Passeig de Gràcia.