DHA photo
Turkish nationalists in the southwestern city of Manisa have forced a Kurdish man to kiss a statue of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as a “punishment” for a social media message he posted, Doğan News Agency reported on Sept. 8.
According to the report, the man, identified only as İbrahim Ç., shared a photo on Facebook of himself wearing the uniform of the peshmerga military force of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), alongside the message “It is an honor to wear this uniform.”
Many outraged Facebook users then shared the photo, claiming that he was a supporter of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has staged attacks and killed dozens of Turkish security forces since July 20.
After his post spread online, İbrahim Ç. was tracked down and attacked in the Kumluova district of Muğla province. A group of locals beat him and tore his clothes before forcing him to kiss a statue of Atatürk in the city.
The man, who was born in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, was injured and reportedly taken to hospital by gendarmie forces who arrived at the scene.