CHP officials attacked by unknown assailants in Ankara

ANKARA

CHP Sincan district head Ömer Yılmaz was taken to a hospital following the attack. AA photo

Five local officials from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) were wounded in an attack by unknown people in the Sincan district of Ankara early on March 25, when party officials attempted to prevent municipal police from removing their posters and flags from a crossroad.

CHP Sincan district head Ömer Yılmaz and four other members were injured when the group attacked them with sticks and knives. The attackers also fired guns and damaged vehicles in the area, reports said.
Municipal police reportedly started to remove the CHP flags under the monitoring of security forces before officials from the party arrived at the scene. CHP officials talked to the municipal police and were told that the un-flagging operation would stop at the district’s Polatlı Avenue.

After the CHP members began to wait at the corner of 12th Street, the group attacked them at around 13.00 a.m., Yılmaz said, stressing that they could have been killed if the police had not been present on the scene.

Ankara Clean Politics Platform Head Mehmet Bayır said the incident was “not normal” because there were police vehicles escorting the municipal police, as well as another six minibuses carrying the masked people who attacked the CHP members. Bayır underlined that all parties should be treated in the same way and that election regulations should be fair.