Syrian teen killed by mob in Antakya, Turkey buried in Idlib hometown

A Syrian teenager beaten and stabbed to death by a group of men in Antakya, Turkey was buried in his hometown in northwest Syria on Monday.

The body of 18-year-old Faris Muhammad al-Ali was driven to the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing, where it was met by the slain teenager's relatives, The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.

Faris was buried in his hometown of Maarblit in Idlib province, next to his father, who was killed by Syrian regime forces in 2013, Faris's cousin Hassoun al-Ali told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Faris and his family left Maarblit after his father's death, settling in Antakya close to the Syrian border, the cousin said.

A 17-year-old Syrian boy named Faris Muhammed Ali reportedly killed in a knife attack by a racist group in Hatay province of Turkey.

Racist discourses have increased recently in #Turkey pic.twitter.com/dmlGeiihTY

— Mustafa Bağ (@mustafa__bag) September 4, 2022

Faris had managed to obtain a high school diploma and enrolled to study medicine at a local university. He also worked to support his five younger siblings.

He was murdered after he accidentally injured the owner of the factory he was working in, Hasoun al-Ali said.

Ali apologised to the factory owner for what happened, but was told by the proprietor's sons that he would need to apologise again, this time at their house, his cousin told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Ali obliged, but they took him to a secluded area where they beat him until he passed out, then stabbed him.

He died at the scene before paramedics arrived, the cousin said.

Ali is just one of several young Syrian refugees to have been killed in Turkey this year, amid a worrying rise in racist and xenophobic attacks.

Turkey hosts around four million Syrian refugees who have fled war and brutal oppression at the hands of the regime and other forces in their home country since 2011.

Rising anti-Syrian sentiment in Turkey is being capitalised on by political parties ahead of next year's elections, some of which have promised the speedy deportation of refugees.

The office of Hatay province governor Rahmi Dogan said Sunday that a number of men had been arrested in connection with Ali's killing.

Interior minister Suleyman Soylu spoke to Ali's family on the phone, telling them that the suspected killer and two suspected accomplices had been arrested and would be given hefty sentences if found guilty.