Turkey’s Alevi Citizens Concerned with Marks on their Doors

The doors of a number of houses belonging to members of the Alevi community in the eastern Turkish province of Adıyaman were marked with crosses by unknown people, Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Hüseyin Aygün announced on his Facebook page yesterday, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Ramazan Sodan, the governor of Adıyaman, also confirmed the claims and said the doors of the home of some Alevi citizens in the province had also been marked with numbers and letters. Sodan said police are searching for those responsible for drawing the crosses.

“This district is a center for Alevis, and such incidents have never happened here before. Security forces are investigating it carefully,” Sodan said.

Residents of Adıyaman’s Karapınar district noticed the signs on the doors of Alevi community members, and informed the police, according to the reports. Mahmut Gürsu, the headman of the district, also confirmed that the signs appeared only on the doors of the homes of Alevis, not Sunni community members.

The same method was used to mark the houses of Alevis prior to the Maraş Massacre of 1978, in which 105 people were killed.