Syrian man killed in Turkish town of Tarsus amid rising ethnic tensions

A Syrian refugee died on Monday after his throat was cut in the town of Tarsus near Mersin in southern Turkey.

Faisal al-Marati, 33, was accosted by three Turkish youths while he was shopping for bread for his children. One of the youths then cut his throat and he died immediately, his cousin Ahmed Alloush told Zaman Al-Wasl.

Alloush also said that for the past month, there had been tension between Syrian refugees in Tarsus and Turkish citizens of the town, with the latter taking part in protests against the presence of Syrian refugees in the town.

Some Syrian shops in the town had been targeted by arsonists. "The tensions which happened in the town made my cousin Faisal stop going to his work in a grocer's shop. He was waiting for things to calm down", Alloush added.

The Turkish newpaper Hurriyet said that the incident happened in the middle of a public street. The newspaper gave the killer's name as "Hikmet" without adding a surname.

Faisal Al-Marati came from Syria's Aleppo province. He was married with three children and lived for a while in Raqqa before seeking refuge in Turkey.

In another development in Mersin, people reacted with outrage to a video which showed a Syrian child being forced to give up his seat on a bus and sit on the floor. Local authorities are questioning the bus driver.