The AKP/MHP regime is stirring up racism and hatred in society with its agitation and war policy. Critical journalists and their families are particularly affected by this. The family of Ruken Tuncel, editor of the news platform Bianet, was physically attacked by neighbours in front of her flat in the Beylikdüzü district of Istanbul on the evening of 10 August. The neighbours attacked her sister, insulted her and threatened the family with death.

"I am the state, I am the police"

Speaking to ANF, Tuncel said: "Our neighbour from downstairs incited the neighbours above us with false accusations against us, and this served as a pretext for the attack. The latest attack happened when my sister Sinem and my mother were returning from the market. As they were carrying their groceries home, the upstairs neighbour, M.Y., suddenly started swearing and insulting my sister. When Sinem said, 'Don't shout like that, auntie, you are 70 years old, I won't answer', M.Y.'s daughter A.Y. replied, 'Who are you to dare contradict my mother?' Then she went down the stairs and attacked my sister directly. She grabbed Sinem by the hair and hit her on the chin. She also attacked my aunt when she intervened. When the 70-year-old neighbour who had triggered the incident tried to hit my aunt on the head with a thick truncheon, my sister tried to prevent this and the truncheon hit her wrists. She was injured and the wound needed stitches. When the police were called, the neighbour said, 'The police will not come to you. I will call them, then you will see how they come. I am the state, I am the police. We are from Trabzon, we will burn you. You Alevis are full of tricks. I have a gun. You can look at my gun. I will unload the magazine on you.'"

Police did not take the death threat seriously

The police did not take the death threat seriously, Tuncel said and continued: "The police did not even bother to check whether there was actually a gun at the neighbours' house. Instead, they tried to dismiss the death threat by telling my relatives, 'She said she had a gun when she was angry.' We have no way of knowing whether that is a death threat or not. People say such things out of anger.' However, at the intervention of the family's lawyer, the statement was recorded in a limited manner. Thus, only some of the swear words and insults were recorded and an attempt was made to downplay the incident to a simple insult. In fact, only a warning was issued against the assailants not to approach us. How this will be done is unclear. After all they live above us."

"This is a racist hate crime"

Tuncel stressed that this attack cannot be treated as a neighbourhood dispute and emphasised that her family is not safe. She pointed out that people from the province of Dersim who live in the neighbourhood are worried because of this attack and said: "Nobody can present what happened as a simple incident. This is a racist hate crime. What does it mean to say 'these are terrorists' when the police come? If we lived in a country where politicians didn't target people on the basis of their identity, such phrases would not be uttered. This comes from the very top. Politicians who spread hate speech about people's identities create this climate."

Tuncel filed a criminal complaint and stressed that she would pursue the legal process to the end. She reiterated that there was danger for her family and concluded by saying, "I want justice. As I said before, I don't want this to be seen as a simple neighbour dispute and I demand that the legal process be expedited."