Kurdish family in Istanbul brutally attacked by the police over Kurdish music

A Kurdish family was the target of a violent police attack in the Bayrampaşa district of Istanbul yesterday evening.

According to the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), ten members of the Kaya family were violently detained on Sunday evening on their way back from a picnic because they were listening to Kurdish music in their car. According to the lawyers’ association, they were “filmed by off-duty police officers.” When those affected protested against this recording, they were mistreated by the police and then detained using force.

ÖHD stated that seven family members spent the night in police custody and are currently at the Çağlayan courthouse awaiting appearance before a magistrate. Pre-trial detention has been requested for three of the men involved, and a decision is pending. A 14-year-old girl, a pregnant woman, and her mother have been provisionally released.

Pregnant woman underwent emergency surgery after being kicked by police

The condition of Zeynep Yaman, who was seven months pregnant, is particularly dramatic. According to her family, she was kicked in the stomach by a police officer despite repeatedly shouting that she was pregnant. As a result, the placenta detached and she had to undergo an emergency caesarean section. The mother and child are currently in intensive care at a hospital in Istanbul. According to relatives, both are in critical condition and the baby suffered a skull injury in the womb.

‘Our only ‘crime’ was listening to Kurdish music’

Another sister of one of the injured spoke to the media about racially motivated violence: “We were in two cars on our way back from a picnic. When the police signaled my brothers’ car to pull over, we stopped too. My brothers were apparently asked to get out, but I didn’t hear everything. The officers then tried to arrest them. When we asked why, we were racially abused and beaten. Our only ‘crime’ was that we were listening to Kurdish music. If we had been Turkish or listening to Turkish music, this would not have happened.”

The mother of the victims, who was also temporarily detained, described the violence: “My sons were hit in the face in front of me. When I threw myself on top of them to protect them, the police sprayed me with pepper spray. I have asthma and couldn’t breathe. My body is covered in bruises.”

13 people taken into custody

The Istanbul police presented a different account of the incident. They said it was a measure against “loud music and aggressive behavior.” The police claimed that the individuals involved had insulted the officers and resisted arrest. A total of 13 people were taken into custody, including other people who later gathered in front of the police station.

The ÖHD strongly condemned the incident. “At a time when calls for unity and cohesion are growing in Turkey, this incident shows that even Kurdish music is not tolerated, and that this intolerance is met with violence,” the organization said, calling for immediate disciplinary and criminal proceedings against the officers responsible. “Police officers who are guilty of such assaults must be suspended and held accountable,” ÖHD demanded.

The DEM party also criticized the violent police crackdown, calling it a “clearly racially motivated attack” and demanding a full investigation.

The Human Rights Association (IHD) pointed out that the attack in Istanbul was not an isolated incident. In Turkey, cultural expressions such as Kurdish music are repeatedly targeted by excessive police violence and criminalization as “terrorism,” the NGO emphasized, vowing to take legal action.

The Democratic Regions Party (DBP) said: “This attack is not a ‘criminal case’ or an ‘isolated incident’. It is a reflection of systematic hostility towards Kurdish identity, language and existence on the streets. The violence that erupted in Bayrampaşa is the result of years of fueling racist hatred, police brutality that goes unpunished, and intolerance toward the Kurdish people.”

DBP demanded that this crime be investigated immediately, all police officers involved in torture and assault be suspended, and those responsible be brought to justice.