Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu visited a Senegalese family who was bullied by a Turkish citizen in the Istanbul metro.
The family of Senegalese citizen Daoud was verbally assaulted and harassed by a person while riding the Yeni Kapi-Haji Osman metro in Istanbul, according to a video clip that spread on social media.
Soylu expressed his deep sorrow at the mistreatment of this family, who has been living in Turkey for 11 years with a residence permit, saying, “We do not accept such behavior. Their anger is not against you, but against us.”
Soylu wrote on his Twitter account, “Daoud the Senegalese, a pure human being, his wife and daughters Ruqayya and Fatima were very upset by the racist attack they were subjected to in the subway. We Muslims cannot have xenophobia; We reject it. We did not and will not bend our necks because they will use them as an instrument of politics.”
The Istanbul police arrested the Turkish citizen, who appeared in the video clip, as he launched a racist attack on the family, in an incident that sparked widespread anger and condemnation on social networks.
The police launched an investigation with the accused after his arrest, Saturday, on charges of “inciting hatred, racism, discrimination and threatening civil peace.”
Cases of bullying and racism have increased dramatically in the last period with the increase in hate speech and incitement against foreigners, which are practiced by some figures in the Turkish opposition parties for political gain.
