Police whitewash Somali restaurant sign in Ankara, claiming colors ‘used by terrorists’ 

Police whitewash Somali restaurant sign in Ankara, claiming colors ‘used by terrorists’Turkish police on Friday whitewashed the sign of the Somali-owned Saab restaurant in the Kızılay district of Ankara for displaying colors used by Kurdish militants Ankara regards as terrorists, the Serbestiyet news website reported on Friday…

The development was seen by many as harassment of the Turkish capital’s growing Somali community, which has established restaurants, cafes and clothing stores there over the past few years, becoming the target of abuse in a country where anti-migrant sentiment is on the rise.

According to Serbestiyet, police on Friday interrupted the opening ceremony of the restaurant and had most of its sign, excluding the name “Saab,” whitewashed, saying its colors were used by terrorists and were “disturbing.”

The move caused a row between the Çankaya chief of police  and opposition lawmaker Mustafa Yeneroğlu from the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), who was attending the opening of the restaurant, Yeneroğlu told the officer, “You are acting like a racist in the middle of Kızılay. Don’t follow unlawful orders.”

“Can you just shut up? … You’re the one who’s immoral,” the officer replied, Serbestiyet said the police called the owner of the restaurant late on Friday and told him that the entire sign should be white by morning, otherwise he would be detained.

Following the call, the owner also painted over the part that said “Saab” late at night, Sharing a photo of the now-white restaurant sign, Yeneroğlu said in a tweet: “Tyranny won again. Those who say, ‘I’m strong, I can crush the weak with brute force, let the law follow me,’ won again. I hope these days will pass, this drunkenness of power will end, and such acts of bullying will end. … But don’t forget that you’ll be remembered for your evil! acts.”