Knife and baton-wielding masked group attacks shops run by Syrian refugees in Adana

ADANA – Doğan News Agency

Syrians in Adana's Seyhan district have become the latest victims of attacks against refugees. DHA Photo

A group of knife and baton-wielding have assailants attacked shops run by Syrian refugees in the southern Adana province on July 14, after tension peaked over the Syrians’ trade activities in the district of Seyhan.

Around 10 people attacked shops owned by Syrians, breaking windows and threatening the shopkeepers. The group escaped before police arrived at the scene.

According to witnesses, Syrians have rented many shops in the area and were threatened to immediately leave the district a day before the attack.

However, locals also accused the Syrians of trying to send them away from their neighborhoods, claiming that they are not safe and asking for protection. The incident prompted the police to launch an investigation.

Tension between refugees and locals has been on the rise in Turkey. In the nearby province of Kahramanmaraş a crowd of nearly 1,000 people marched against the presence of Syrians on June 13. Part of the crowd attacked cars with Syrian license plates, after which police increased security measures in neighborhoods where Syrians reside.

Similar attacks on refugees have also taken place in Ankara and Istanbul, where the number of Syrians has soared in recent months.

Ankara recently announced that the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey had exceeded the threshold of one million, although NGOs claim that the real number is well above the official figure.