4 held for questioning in Duhok about Turkish flag balloons

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least four people are being held for questioning in Duhok on Friday in connection with balloons bearing a Turkish flag that were distributed to children at a mosque, a security source said. 

An unidentified man, accompanied by three others, handed out the balloons to children leaving Hajj Saeed mosque in Duhok city following Friday prayers. 

“He was a stranger from outside the city,” an eyewitness told Rudaw on the condition of anonymity, adding that the man was aged between 40 and 50 years old and spoke in Turkish, saying “Hediye [gift in Turkish], hediye.”

The balloons were not inflated and most people did not notice that they were decorated with the Turkish flag.

“His bags were full of balloons which he distributed to the children. Even the adults did not notice [the flag],” the eyewitness noted.

When a group of young men did notice the flag, they stopped the man from distributing the balloons and asked him to leave the area, eyewitnesses told Rudaw. 

Fikri Doski, the imam of the mosque, said that he spoke with the stranger and the three others who were with him.

“After the Friday prayer, these people came to us, expressing their joy and gratitude for [visiting the mosque] although they did not understand it [the sermon]. I asked who they were, and they replied that they were tourists,” he told Rudaw, adding that he communicated with them in English. 

“They asked me to offer them tea. After they entered my house, I received phone calls that some people had distributed balloons with Turkish slogans,” recounted the imam.

He said his guests confirmed that they had been handing out the balloons “as a favor” and that they did not see anything wrong in their actions. 

Local security forces (Asayish) came to the imam’s house and took his four guests, Doski said.

The four are being held for questioning, a security source told Rudaw on condition of anonymity.

Tensions are high in Duhok province because of Turkey’s ongoing military offensive against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Turkish forces have established numerous bases on Kurdistan Region territory and are carrying out air and ground operations against alleged PKK positions and forces. Civilians are frequently caught in the crossfire. Scores of villages have been emptied and farmers have watched their livelihoods go up in flames sparked by the conflict.

Hayder Doski contributed to this article.