Main opposition party building in Istanbul attacked

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

The CHP building was attacked by a group of around 35 to 40 people carrying sticks. DHA photo

A group of people attacked the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) provincial branch's building in Şişhane, breaking the windows, while two CHP deputies, Binnaz Toprak and Melda Onur, were inside.

“We were told that the building was being attacked by a group of around 35 to 40 people who had sticks. The young people who were sheltered inside the CHP building rushed to the entrance. They later told me that the group attacked the building with stones and chanted ‘Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.’ But I did not witness this as I was on the upper floors. I heard that this group dispersed after they saw the young people inside our building,” Toprak told the Hürriyet Daily News immediately after the incident.

She said nobody was hurt in the attack, but that the windows of the building were broken, adding that there was still an unpleasant atmosphere outside.   

While all routes linked to Taksim Square are being kept closed by the police, some protesters tried to escape from the tear gas and took shelter in the CHP provincial branch's building in Şişhane. Toprak said that some of these people exposed to tear gas were in a bad situation. “Our nurse was treating them. Then we heard the attack,” she added.

After the attack, Toprak said she called the CHP deputy leader Haluk Koç, who contacted Interior Minister Muammer Güler. “Haluk Koç told me that the interior minister told him that he was sending a team here immediately. We haven’t seen any security outside yet, but CHP deputies Sezgin Tanrıkulu and Bülent Tezcan have come here,” she added.

Toprak stressed that the attack on the CHP building came after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan repeatedly targeted the CHP during his speech at the Kazlıçeşme rally today, adding that the prime minister could have used a “calmer tone” in his address.