Protesters occupy Istanbul ferry to denounce ISIL’s Kobane assault, face passengers’ anger

ISTANBUL

A group of protesters briefly occupied a public ferry in Istanbul on Oct. 14 to express their support for the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane. DHA Photo

A group of protesters briefly occupied a public ferry in Istanbul on Oct. 14 to express their support for the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane against the assault of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The small group, mostly composed of members of the Kurdish leftist bloc Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), boarded a ferry at the Kadıköy docks before opening a banner that read “Kobane is also resisting for us,” chanting slogans in solidarity with the Kurdish forces fighting ISIL.

However, before the police were even dispatched to the site, the protesters were manhandled by fellow passengers after ferry workers opened the doors of the docks to allow them aboard the ferry.

The delay in the ferry’s departure, which serves the busy line between Kadıköy and the European neighborhood of Beşiktaş on the opposite side of the Bosphorus, angered many other passengers, who rattled the windows and gestured toward the protesters.

All of the protesters were detained by the police after being removed from the ferry.

ISIL’s assault on Kobane has triggered demonstrations across Turkey, with protesters denouncing the attitude of the government regarding radical Islamist groups in Syria. Some 37 people died in the unrest that erupted last week, mostly in the southeastern provinces.