Girl with Down syndrome prevented from wearing Amedspor jersey to Newroz celebration

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A young girl with Down syndrome was forced by security to remove a jersey she was wearing of Kurdish football club Amedspor to an event celebrating the coming of Newroz, the Kurdish New Year, in northwestern Turkey’s Kocaeli province on Sunday.

A video published by Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, an MP of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), shows the lawmaker holding the arm of young Berfin, who was crying moments after her jersey was taken away by the security forces on the grounds of having “terrorism words” on it.

"You are far from humanity. Take pictures so that our people know who you are,” a young woman can be seen yelling at the security forces.

Berfin can be seen having a breakdown on the floor moments later, with people around trying to cheer her up with another Amedspor jersey and the young girl saying “I don’t want another jersey.” Berfin had emotional attachment to the jersey as she had received it as a gift from her brother, who is currently in prison, according to Gergerlioglu.

She was later hospitalized after experiencing what appears to be a seizure.

“What kind of officers do you have? I ask you, Mr. Ali Yerlikaya Minister of Internal Affairs, what kind of officers you have who take an ordinary piece of clothing from a disabled child with Down syndrome,” wrote Gergerlioglu, also calling out the Kocaeli governor’s office.

There have been no official statements from Kocaeli governor’s office or the police regarding the incident as of the time of this writing.

Amedspor has been the subject of several controversies in Turkey for the past few years after it changed its name to reflect the Kurdish name of the city of Diyarbakir, Amed. The team often faces nationalist and anti-Kurdish chants during their away games, leading to violence.

The Turkish government often associates the act of displaying Kurdish symbols, especially the Kurdish flag, to a show of support for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), arresting those waving it for terror charges. Nevertheless, some Turkish officials have welcomed the Kurdistan Region’s officials with the same flag during official visits.

A total of 75 people were detained by security forces during a Newroz rally in Istanbul on Sunday.