The problem is thought to have started after some of the Kurdish men began chanting slogans in support of the PKK, the Kurdish independence party, which is in conflict with the Turkish state. Earlier in the week, unknown assailants threw a firebomb at the premises of a Turkish community organisation in the area (pictured).

The Seefhoek quarter was in the news earlier this year after violence erupted between local shopkeepers and drug dealers. Police and city authorities at that time agreed to the formation of a neighbourhood committee. At the weekend, police were on the scene within minutes of the outbreak of fighting.