AKP Adana candidate stabbed in the stomach

Demir, the AKP’s candidate from Adana, was stabbed three times in the stomach on May 23 by two unidentified men while campaigning in Aladağ.

Demir was first brought to the Aladağ Health Center for initial treatment and then taken by ambulance to the Adana Numune Education and Research Hospital later. He was reported to be in good condition.

The police detained two suspects over the incident. The suspects were intoxicated, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on May 24.

Culture and Tourism Minister Ömer Çelik was among the first to announce the attack on Twitter. “Our [AKP’s] Adana candidate has been stabbed. I condemn this attack. I hope he immediately gets better. He is now being transferred to central Adana in an ambulance... I have contacted people in the ambulance to hear about him. He had been stabbed three times,” he said.

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yıldız, Food, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Mehdi Eker, AKP Adana candidate Mehmet Şükrü Erdinç, AKP Osmaniye deputy Durdu Mehmet Kastal, AKP Osmaniye candidate Talip Küçükcan, AKP provincial head in Adana Fikret Yeni and several party members visited the victim in the hospital after the attack.

“Although it remains unclear how the attack happened, we know the victim was stabbed in a clamor after a vehicle got ahead of his convoy and that the security forces captured the two assailants who were believed to be behind the attack,” said Yeni, when asked how the stabbing had happened.