Footage emerges of deadly election clash in Turkey’s southeast

ŞANLIURFA

In this security camera footage of the shop, AKP İbrahim Yıldız is seen wearing a navy blue suit and his brother Mehmet Ali in a white shirt next to him.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency has aired a security camera footage showing the moments when a clash started during an election tour of a delegation from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa.

The delegation, led by AKP MP İbrahim Yıldız, was visiting local shopkeepers in the Suruç district on June 14, 10 days before the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.

A group of shopkeepers initially engaged in a heated argument with the AKP delegation, which eventually turned violent.

Guns and clubs were used in the ensuing clash in which four people were killed and eight were injured.

A total of 19 people were detained on June 16, including an MP candidate from the Kurdish issue-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and several district administrators of the HDP, as well as its local affiliate, the Democratic Regions Party (DBP).

In the security camera footage aired by Anadolu Agency on June 20, Yıldız, wearing a navy blue suit, is seen shaking hands with the owner of a local shop, accompanied by his entourage.

Soon afterward, Yıldız’s brother and bodyguard Mehmet Ali Yıldız, in a white shirt, engages in a heated argument with the owner, which then turns into a brawl, the video shows. 

Anadolu Agency did not air any footage showing the later moments, including the armed clash between the two groups.