Moment British family fear they will be attacked when Turkish parent screams at their boys aged nine and 12 over children's football row at hotel

By ELIANA SILVER, SENIOR FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 14:07, 13 June 2026 | Updated: 14:07, 13 June 2026 This is the moment a family holiday turned sour after a group of British children were shouted at by two adult men at a five-star resort in Turkey. Speaking to the Daily Mail, the father recounted how he and his extended family, including eight children, were on holiday from Liverpool when the altercation occurred. On the evening of June 5, several of the children went to the Kids' Club to play while the adults ate dinner. While the children sat in a circle chatting, the father says they were targeted by a group of Turkish guests, including two adult men. 'For some reason, the men started walking around the group of kids, trying to bump into them and antagonise them. Then they started telling their children to start kicking footballs at our kids,' the dad recounted. He said his 12-year-old stepson was hit in the face by a ball, which he then threw back at the Turkish family, angering them. The men reportedly began encouraging their own children to fight his, while shouting and jeering at the group. The dad said: 'This kid was trying to push my son, saying, "Let's fight, let's fight," and my son was like, "No, I don't want to fight. Just leave me alone."' The Turkish men reportedly began encouraging their own children to fight his, while shouting and jeering at the group 'The Turkish man went up to my son and pushed him three times, really violently, shouting: "You m***** f*****, Call your father! Where is the father?"' 'The Turkish man went up to my son and pushed him three times, shouting: "You m***** f*****, Call your father! Where is the father?"' The dad's sister, who was in the nearby arcade with the youngest child, heard the commotion and came over. Upon her arrival, the staff, who had not intervened until then, claimed the British children had been throwing rubbish and spitting, which had triggered the altercation. However, upon reviewing the CCTV footage and seeing this was untrue, the hotel apologised to the family, admitting the Turkish men had behaved aggressively. ‘The Turkish family made lots of accusations against our kids, but when the CCTV was checked, none of it was true.  'Our kids hadn't moved from the circle. They only moved when footballs were kicked at them and the men started approaching them,’ said the father. However, the hotel manager did not take any action when the incident was reported. ‘We went to reception and told them, "Listen, our son has been assaulted by a grown man. We want the police involved. We need the police to come down and sort this out,"’ the dad said. ‘They said, "If you want to call the police, you need to go to the police station and bring the police here, but it's basically a cultural difference."’ ‘We were like, "What do you mean, a cultural difference? If a man assaults a child under Turkish law, isn't that assault?"’ ‘They said, "Well, yeah, but it's Turkish culture. If there's a kickoff, the men basically get involved and fight it out."’ When the family demanded the Turkish guests be removed from the hotel, the father says staff told them they could offer compensation, but that they ‘only removed people from the hotel for sexual assault and rape.’ ‘For the last two days we were paranoid. The older kids had been free to walk around before, but afterwards we told them they couldn't go anywhere alone. Even going to the toilet, we'd take them,’ the dad said. ‘If these men could assault a child in front of staff members, what would stop them doing it elsewhere?’ Ultimately, no compensation was received by the family except for a slightly later checkout on the day of their departure. This was the family's second year at the resort, but after the incident and the hotel's inaction, the father says him and his family will not be returning. 'There were seven staff members there when these men were being aggressive towards the children and my sister. Not one of them stepped in and said, "Calm down,"' he said. 'All they had to do was step in and tell them to stop, otherwise they'd be removed. Nobody did anything.' The hotel was contacted for comment and in a statement said they 'do not disclose, confirm, deny, or comment on information relating to any individual, whether they are current, former, or potential guests of our hotel.' No comments have so far been submitted. 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