Attack on Alevi house of prayer in Istanbul

The door and windows of the Ali Baba Cemevi (Alevi place of worship) in the Pendik district of Istanbul were broken by unidentified assailants, said Tahir Aslandaş, an Alevi cleric known as Dede. According to the statement, the attack occurred last night. Worshippers who came to the prayer house early Saturday morning noticed the damage. The investigation is ongoing, Aslandaş said.

Istanbul HDP deputy Ali Kenanoğlu condemned the attack. The politician expected a statement from the governor immediately. The first clues come from the video recordings of the public surveillance cameras that exist in every street. “I just want to hope that the governor will not say ‘the perpetrators could not be found guilty. We know all too well that such acts are carried out with your knowledge once assailants cannot be identified,” Kenanoğlu said.

Non-Muslim houses of worship are often targeted in Turkey

In any case, it is a fact that Alevi and other non-Muslim houses of worship, such as Armenian churches, but also residential buildings, have repeatedly been the target of vandalism and racially motivated attacks, which Alevis and Christians observe with concern. Sometimes, decidedly anti-Alevi messages have been left behind, such as last October, when graffiti demanding “Death to the Alevis” was left on the garden wall of a house inhabited by Alevis, also in Pendik, Istanbul. According to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the rise in incidents like these is due to the impunity of the perpetrators. “Since there are no significant investigations as a result of past threats against Alevis, the attacks continue. The political rulings that place insults against Alevis under the protection of freedom of expression encourage the attackers,” Tülay Hatimoğulları, the HDP deputy responsible for the Peoples and Religious Communities Commission, had stated at the time.

Attacks on Armenian churches

Last July, a crowd gathered in Istanbul in front of an Armenian church in Kadiköy, and three people climbed onto the entrance gate to dance there to roaring applause. A video of the scene went viral on the internet. Last year, there was a whole series of attacks and assaults on Armenian church buildings in Istanbul. After the arson attack on the Armenian Patriarchate Church of Surp Asdvadzadzin

in May 2020, the perpetrator, who was caught shortly after, justified the attack by saying: “Armenians are responsible for the coronavirus.” The Turkish government downplayed the attack as the act of a “confused lone perpetrator.” In similar cases, too, the racist motives are systemically hidden.