Turkey’s interior minister vows ‘no concession regarding rule of law’ after attack on Hürriyet

ANKARA

Interior Minister Selami Altınok has vowed that “no concession will be given regarding principles of the rule of law and public order,” speaking about the violent attack on the headquarters of daily Hürriyet in Istanbul. 

“Whatever the issue is [about] is not important. We cannot give concessions regarding the principles of the rule of law. No one has the right to impose their own punishment,” Altınok told Hürriyet on Sept 7. 

Hürriyet’s Istanbul office was attacked by around 150 pro-government protesters early on Sept. 7, hours after a deadly terrorist attack in Turkey’s southeast. The group attacked security personnel at the outer gate of the building in Istanbul’s Bağcılar district before forcing their way to the door, which they pelted with stones.

Altınok said he instructed the Istanbul Governor’s Office to take all measures for the protection of Hürriyet’s HQ and offered his sympathies to the daily. 

“Our main job is to provide public security in the face of such incidents,” he said. “The rule of law should be more important than everything. They may not like your views, they may not love you, they may even protest you without using violence, but they should respect the rights given by the law.”