Fear of Daesh attacks in Alevi villages
FERHAT ÇELİK
ADIYAMAN (DİHA) - In Turkey's province of Adıyaman, villagers say they fear Daesh is planning massacres of villages of the Alevi Shiite minority.
It has emerged that the perpetrators of two recent bombings in Turkey were both residents of the province of Adıyaman. In Adıyaman, located in Northern Kurdistan (the part of Kurdistan in Turkey), the revelation has left residents in a state of unease. While the province's central city has come under suspicion as a major center of Daesh operations and recruiting in Turkey, the residents say they fear that Daesh is planning attacks on Alevis, members of a Shiite denomination widespread in the province.
Women in the village of Çakal say they know all the traveling salesmen who come through their village. However, yesterday, a group identifying themselves as "carpet salesman" came to the village, men the villagers had never seen. Unlike every traveling salesman in the province, the group had no speaker announcing their wares. They arrived in an unmarked van.
According to village resident Z.C., a man in his 20s exited the unmarked van with a few rugs on his back and asked if she was interested in buying. She began bargaining with him, but found that the man was asking the high price of 850 lira ($310) for each rug. The rugs were noticeably old.
"It was really obvious that he didn't actually want to sell the rugs," Z.C. said. "You could tell from the way he talked that he wasn't from here. Then he asked us, 'how many Alevi villages are there in Adıyaman?'" The village women responded angrily, replying that they didn't see any reason to make any distinction between Sunnis and Alevis. "Then he counted all the Alevi villages one by one on his hand," said Z.C.
Memories of the massacres of Alevis in the Anatolian provinces of Maraş and Sivas are still fresh in the villagers' minds. Kamber Mama, a resident of the village, says they have formed a vigil since the suspicious incident and are prepared to defend themselves against any Daesh activity.
"The village residents are nervous; it's gotten to the point where no one can sleep," said Mama.
(nt)
