Turkish-owned pizza restaurant in Quebec burned down after arson attacks

Pizza Mozza, a Turkish-owned restaurant in Quebec, was destroyed after being targeted in two separate arson attacks on the nights of Aug. 31 and Sept. 2.

The first fire caused minimal damage, but the second left the restaurant in ruins.

Owner Berat Saymadi expressed his frustration and sadness in a statement to the local press, saying: “The first arson didn’t cause much damage, but the second one left our restaurant completely destroyed.”

Probe underway

Local police have launched an investigation, but no suspects have been identified yet. Saymadi shared his disappointment on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), saying, “Ten days have passed since the attack, and we are still waiting for any result.”

Herkes yurtdışına gidip, yeni bir hayat kurmak istiyor. Ama hiçbir şey o kadar kolay değil. Yalnızlık, işsizlik, haksızlık her yerde hüküm sürüyor. Kardeşlerimle beraber Kanada’da çok zor şartlar altında açtığımız, 2 yıl boyunca tüm enerjimizi harcadığımız restoranımızı yaktılar. pic.twitter.com/LeUAgA0dQy

— M. Berat Saymadi (@beratsaymadii) September 14, 2024

In another post on Instagram, Saymadi reflected on the emotional toll the incident has taken: “We are going through very difficult days. Everything is now just a memory. We worked so hard for two years, and now it’s all gone.”

He emphasized that their business had built strong relationships with their customers, noting, “Ninety percent of our business came from people dining in, and we had such a good rapport with them that we often knew what they would order as soon as they walked in. They loved our food.”

No suspects identified yet

In his social media post the owner said the police investigation is ongoing. He also said, “We want the perpetrators of this vile attack to be found as soon as possible and receive the harshest punishment. We know how hard it is to build something from scratch, so we will do everything we can to prevent this from happening to anyone else.”

Everyone wants to go abroad and start a new life. But nothing is that easy. Loneliness, unemployment, injustice reign everywhere. They burned down the restaurant that my brothers and I opened in Canada under very difficult conditions and spent all our energy on for 2 years.

It has been a nightmare for 10 days since the attack. We still haven’t received any results. We are waiting. The consulate called, the Oka Municipality was very interested, thank you. I would like to thank our friends from Turkey and our immigrant friends in other countries who learned about the incident for their messages of solidarity.

Mursel Berat Saymadi, the owner of the restaurant

Restaurant owners start fundraiser to rebuild business

The Turkish Consulate and Oka Municipality have shown support for the family during this difficult time.

Despite the devastating loss, the Saymadi family remains hopeful and has launched a fundraiser to cover the costs of rebuilding the restaurant.

“We’re heartbroken, but we’re not giving up. We’ll follow this investigation to the end,” said Saymadi.