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National attacked in Turkish countryside

RAS AL KHAIMAH — The sojourn planned by Mohammed Ali Al Hamer, a UAE national and his family, turned into a nightmare as the father and his son sustained serious injuries in an alleged assault in a remote Turkish village.

Recalling how a group of Turks allegedly attacked his 16-year-old son and some of his friends while they were having dinner at a restaurant. Mohammed Al Hamer told Khaleej Times that the family’s dream of spending a peaceful summer vacation ended with the incident.

“The restaurant owner hit my son with a serving dish causing serious bruises to his head after a verbal dispute ensued between them,” Al Hamer alleged. “Later, some other people joined him and started hitting my son and his friends. All this happened in the presence of some other Emirati people who happened to be in the restaurant. The attackers made no attempt to understand what the teenagers — my son and his friends — were saying,” he lamented.

To make the matters worse, Al Hamer himself was subjected to a barbaric attack when he arrived on the scene later to discuss the issue with the restaurant owner. “The man used his fist to hit me directly on the face and I fell unconscious for several hours and was treated in a nearby hospital,” he said.

Al Hamer regretted “apathetic” attitude of the UAE Consulate officials in Turkey. “When I informed them about my plea they did not bother to come to our help and just sent a Turkish translator to follow up the legal procedures,” he added, pointing out that the consulate officials refused to pay the lawyer’s expenses.

“They claimed that they have no budget for such purposes,” he said.

Al Hamer, who has a medical report to support his claims, has authorised a lawyer to follow the case in Turkey.