Turkish parents under fire over ‘brutal attack’ on snowman

KONYA

A Turkish couple has been criticized by thousands of social media users after they were filmed while “brutally attacking” a snowman in front of their daughter.

Demirören News Agency reported Jan. 12 that the footage was shot in the central province of Konya’s Selçuklu district in an area where local shopkeepers had recently built a snowman in the street.

The woman was seen in the footage punching the snowman’s head before the man demolished it with kicks before the couple fled the scene with their daughter, the reports said.

After the video went viral on social media with an avalanche of criticism against the couple, one Twitter user said, “Relax, it’s just a snowman.”

Another one even approved of the couple’s act, suggesting that the “snowman should not have been on a pavement after all.”

Still, thousands of critics were not convinced. One of the most popular entries on the Turkish online forum/dictionary Ekşi Sözlük on Jan. 12 described the incident in its title as “violence.”

Some users even saw deeper meanings in the couple’s behaviour, claiming that their act is a symptom of wider problems in society.

“Their target is not important. They act in a brutal way in front of their children and this is not healthy for her development. There are so many such parents in Turkey,” one Facebook user commented.

"I don't know whether this brutal attack has really deeper meanings but the family's fleeing of the scene like cartoon villains is so funny," another one replied.