Gunshots fired at YRP campaign bus in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

Shots were fired at a campaign bus belonging to the New Welfare Party (YRP) in Istanbul's Arnavutköy district on March 9, but no one was injured in the attack.

The incident occurred in the Hadımköy neighborhood as the YRP bus awaited the opening of a local election coordination center.

Three shots were fired by unidentified individuals, one striking the driver's side window and shattering the glass. Levent Selçuk, the driver who was in the vehicle at the time, escaped unharmed.

Abdurrezzak İlbey, the YRP's candidate for Arnavutköy in the polls slated for March 31, arrived at the scene with police and "strongly condemned" the attack.

An investigation into the incident was launched.

Mehmet Altınöz, the YRP's Istanbul mayoral candidate, issued a statement calling on Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya and Istanbul Governor Davut Gül to swiftly apprehend the attackers. "We will remain on the ground regardless of the source of this attack," he said.

YRP leader Fatih Erbakan also denounced "the attackers who attempted to provoke the election environment."