Feyzullah Keskin: ‘You cannot ensure peace in Kayseri by patting the heads of those who cause these incidents’

Republican People’s Party (CHP) Kayseri Provincial Chairman Feyzullah Keskin reacted to the attack yesterday, stating, ‘You cannot restore peace in Kayseri by patting the heads of those who cause these incidents.’

CHP Kayseri Provincial Chairman Feyzullah Keskin, together with MP Aşkın Genç, held a press conference at the party headquarters to react to the attack on Şerafettin Bahadır, a candidate for municipal council member in Pınarbaşı district. Keskin said, ‘If a message is intended to be given, I have received that message and kept it in my pocket. Yesterday evening, our brother Şerafettin Bahadır was first followed by a car, cornered in a village. He managed to escape, called 112 and reported being followed. The same car blocked his way in the next village and said, ‘I have my daughter inside, let me leave her and I will go wherever you want,’ but it is not honorable, it is not right to do this to someone in front of his daughter and family. Actually, it should not be done at all, but they brutally entered, beat him with sticks in front of his daughter, shot his feet, and fired shots in the air to send a message. We got the message, but we will not be tools in the dirty games being played. Similar incidents have occurred in our country in different ways. We will not allow this to happen in Kayseri.’

Stating that ‘For a long time, terrorism has been incited in Kayseri by taking the power of the state behind,’ Keskin said, ‘The mayor of Sarız is attacked by his own party members and beaten. What happened to those who did this? Following that, a TV channel is raided, a municipal council member is beaten almost to death. Although nearly 60 people are identified, it is treated as a minor incident. Problems occur and in the end, actions are taken to strengthen them, incidents are portrayed as simple, and courage is given to such acts. I want to address everyone. You cannot restore peace in Kayseri by patting the heads of those who cause these incidents. If there is immorality, terrorism being experienced, no matter where it leads to, there must be followers. We will follow this. Not punishing them leads to what happened yesterday, being beaten in front of his daughter. Trying to reduce this incident to a simple family quarrel is beyond anyone’s right. If they are doing this, they are harming Kayseri. Even if it breaks our hearts, we make a call for common sense. We are doing everything to prevent these incidents in Kayseri. We expect the same sensitivity from other parties and organizations.’

CHP Kayseri MP Aşkın Genç stated, ‘The holiday in Kayseri started with an attack on the Atatürk statue and yesterday, towards the end of the holiday, a member of the Republican People’s Party is fighting for his life in a coma. What if we win 100 Pınarbaşı, against one person’s life? Even if we win a thousand Pınarbaşı Municipal Mayorships, is it worth losing one Şerafettin Bahadır’s life? We definitely say it’s not worth it. Let that life be alive even if we have no municipality. People need to digest this. Kayseri does not deserve this. Kayseri is a very special city, but unfortunately, it is talked about with such incidents. All our prayers are for our wounded brother to recover. Let that precious life return, the rest is just words for us.’