Anti-terror police units interrogate ‘cemevi attacker’

Fevzi Kızılkoyun - ANKARA

An assaulter, who attacked three Alevi prayer houses, known as “cemevi,” in the capital Ankara has been interrogated by anti-terror police units in an attempt to find if he has any connection with a terrorist organization.

Ahmet Ozan K., an unemployed man earning a living with daily work at construction sites, was caught on July 31 while trying to leave the capital in a car after the attacks.

In his first testimony, K. said, “I did not get an order from anyone. A divine power asked me to. I attacked following an order from inside.”

The security units then handed the attacker to the anti-terror units.

His interrogation will enlighten the serial cemevi attacks.

The footage from surveillance cameras showed K. entering three cemevis in the districts of Çankaya and Mamak and he then started throwing chairs inside the Alevis.

According to Süleyman Soylu, the attacks are “provocations for sure.”

“The case is being investigated in all means,” he said.

“The attacks on cemevis are attacks on our nation. The legal procedure has started,” Bekir Bozdağ, the country’s justice minister, said after the attacks.

The security units have also monitored K.’s family residing in the western province of İzmir.

According to local media, the family recently appealed to the police, noting that their son has been missing.

“We are worried that something bad may have happened to him,” the family said in their missing application to the police.