17-year-old Syrian refugee stabbed to death in Turkey's southern Hatay

A 17-year-old Syrian refugee has been killed in a knife attack by a racist group in Turkey's southern province of Hatay.

Monday September 05 2022 05:10 pm

Burcu Özkaya Günaydın / DUVAR

A group of five on Sept. 4 stabbed 17-year-old Syrian child worker Faris Muhammed Al-Ali to death in the southern province of Hatay’s Narlıca district.

Bu yıl Tıp Fakültesini kazanan, babası Suriye’de şehit düşen, 17 yaşındaki Suriyeli Fares Elali, Hatay’da bir grub tarafından bıçaklanarak öldürüldü pic.twitter.com/U4E0leGZdu
— ▶️ Mülteci Medyası (@multecimedyasi) September 4, 2022

Explaining the incident, Deysem Siti from the Refugee Media (Mülteci Medyası) told Gazete Duvar that Al-Ali’s father died in the Syrian civil war and that he was living with his mother and sibling in Hatay’s Narlıca district.

Siti said that Al-Ali was accepted to the Faculty of Medicine in the western province of Balıkesir, and he was working at a factory to cover his school expenses.

According to Al-Ali’s family, he bumped into the forewoman in the factory one week ago, and he immediately apologized.

“While Faris and his friend Abdurrahman were walking after work on late Sept. 4, they were cut off by five people. Among them was the son of the woman he bumped into. He asked Faris, 'Did you bump into my mother?' Faris answered, "It happened by mistake, I apologized, the issue has been closed". But they hit Abdurrahman on the head and stabbed Faris in the waist and fled,” Siti said, describing the incident that caused Al-Ali's death.

“We think that calls should be made to Turks, not refugees. They have lived in this country for years. It is necessary to accept (Syrians' existence) and solve problems. Politicians need to address 85 million people, not 81 million,” Siti added.

On the other hand, Hatay Governorship on Sept. 5 announced that the perpetrators were caught and transferred to judicial authorities.

(English version by Alperen Şen)