Two Turkish banks have been vandalised in what cops think are racially motivated attacks.

Small minded thugs broke windows and dubbed 'PKK' in red paint on the banks over the weekend - the PKK being a terrorist group fighting for Kurdish independence.

The windows of the Turkish Bank on the Kingsland Road in Dalston were smashed in with a metal bar and brick Sunday morning. Just three hours later in Green Lanes another branch was vandalised - the political graffiti appeared the day before.

Turkish plotter case

In Turkey 86 people have just gone on trial on charges of attempting to stage a coup against the Islamic government in the strictly secular state.

Speaking to the Hackney Gazette, Bob Long, the managing director of the Turkish Bank said the PKK or its sympathisers may not be involved, indicating it could be someone trying to stir up trouble adding:

"There are some tensions in the Turkish community, but whether this is anything to do with it I don't know."

Tensions in North London

These attacks are the latest in a long history of tension within the Turkish, Greek and Cypriot communities living in North London. In 2006, the Ziraat Bankasi bank in Stoke Newington was firebombed days after branches of the Turkish Bank were attacked.

Last year a group of people burned a Turkish flag outside an Islamic Centre in Green Lanes.

Officers from Hackney police's community safety unit are urging anyone who saw anything suspicious to contact them on 020 7275 4075, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.