Journalist attacking Deputy PM released from detention

NEVŞEHİR - Anadolu Agency

Local journalist Hüseyin Satı has attacked Bekir Bozdağ in Nevşehir. DHA photo

A man who attacked Turkey Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ on Aug. 16 has been released from detention on the condition of judiciary control.

Hüseyin Satı, who was detained after hitting Bozdağ in the chest during a ceremony to commemorate Alevi-Bektaşi figure Hacı Bektaş Veli in Nevşehir, was released after testifying to court early on Aug. 18. According to his release conditions, Satı will not be permitted to leave the country and he will have to appear at a police department in person six days a week.

After his release, a reporter asked Satı if he regreted the attack. Satı, who was identified as a local journalist working in Kahramanmaraş, said: “I have no regrets.”

On Aug. 16, Satı shouted “How dare you to come here,” before trying to punch Bozdağ.

Before the incident, Bozdağ delivered a speech about Alevi culture and Hacı Bektaş Veli, but was continually protested by many of the attendees, some of whom carried Turkish flags and posters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Bozdağ completed his speech amid boos.

A three-day festival to honor Hacı Bektaş Veli, a 13th-century mystic who is revered by the country’s Alevi community. is hosted in the town that bears his name, Hacıbektaş, every year in mid-August.