House of Alevi family in Istanbul marked with cross, words 'you will die'

The apartment where three Alevi families live was marked with a cross and the words "you will die" in Istanbul's Gazi district. The assault comes two weeks after a similar crime in Izmir where the house of an Alevi family was marked with a cross and the words "get out Alevi."

Duvar English

The door of an Alevi family's apartment was marked with a cross and the word "you will die" in an Istanbul neighborhood.

Police took fingerprints at the scene of the apartment where 3 families live, as reported by daily Gazete Fersude. The word on the door read "geberceksin," which means "you will die" in Turkish, with an increased violent connotation.

The assault comes a few weeks after a similar assault in İzmir, where an Alevi family's house was also marked with a cross and the words "get out Alevi." The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) had submit a motion to establish a research commission to investigate the crime, but the motion was denied with majority of parliamentary votes.

Hate crimes targeting the religious minority is not uncommon in Turkey's history. The most recent assault took place in Gazi neighborhood, which was the site of a shooting targeting a mostly Alevi-occupied coffee house where 22 people lost their lives.