Gunmen open fire at Alevi leaders in central Turkey
ANKARA – Cihan News Agency
No casualties were reported after unknown gunmen opened fire at the three members of the Alevi community in Turkey with long-barreled weapons from a roadside location 80 kilometers northwest of the capital while the three were in a car heading to the Ankara to attend a peace-themed meeting titled “Alevis Seek Peace.”
Baki Düzgün said the car the three were in was fired on while they were driving down Bolu Mountain along a road, part of which connects the Black Sea province of Bolu to the Turkish capital.
“We were driving from Istanbul to Ankara to attend a meeting [in the capital]. Our car was fired at. Thank God, we received no injuries,” Baki Düzgün said.
Demir said daily Akit, a pro-Justice and Development Party (AKP) newspaper, targeted Baki Düzgün less than a month ago over the deadly Suruç bombing, a suicide bomb attack which left dozens dead and more than 100 injured in the border town of Suruç on July 20.
“All of a sudden, we heard gunshots while on the road. We sped up because we figured that we were targeted intentionally in a deserted location. Thank God, none of us were injured,” Demir said.
The pro-AKP daily had pointed to the leading Alevi figure, accusing him of dispatching the group of volunteers and activists who died in the Suruç bombing, referring to Akit television, a private television channel with the same owner as the daily.
Düzgün noted they had made calls for peace since the deadly Suruç bombing, but they were targeted by a daily.
“They wanted to scare us, but we will always stand by peace,” he said.
The ABF, a major Alevi organization to study, preserve and introduce the Alevi-Bektashi culture, confirmed and condemned the incident in a written statement.
The move came less than a week after Zeynel Odaba from the Sultangazi Pirsultan Abdal Culture Association, an Alevi organization, was attacked in an armed assault in Istanbul’s Bakırköy district on Aug. 5.