Semra Sevi, an incoming MA student, writes about police violence in Turkey

July 16, 2013

““Now do you understand what we have gone through?” That’s what Kurds and Alevis say to the protesters who have convulsed Turkey since May 31. Kurds are Turkey’s largest minority, and Turkey has long had a policy of assimilating them. Alevis are a nominally Shiite religious minority whose distinct identity and largely non-religious culture has placed them at odds with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s devout Sunnis. Both groups have been persecuted throughout Turkish history, and in modern times Turkey has all but denied their existence, outlawing the Kurdish language and Alevi organizations and pursuing, until very recently, a policy of forced assimilation.”

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Istanbul’s police violence is no surprise to Turkey’s minority groups

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