Assailants set fire to car of AKP district head in southeastern Turkey

HAKKARİ – Anadolu Agency

Assailants first hurled Molotov Cocktails before setting the entire car on fire, in Hakkari's Çukurca, Jan. 27. AA photo

Unidentified assailants set fire to the car of a local official of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in southeastern Hakkari’s Çukurca district Jan. 27, in a dramatic escalation of violent acts targeting political parties ahead of the upcoming local elections.

Zeki Ertunç, head of the AKP’s district branch, said that the attack took place during the afternoon hours as his car was parked in front of his house.

Assailants first hurled Molotov Cocktails before setting the entire car on fire, he said. 

“We were sitting at home. My child suddenly shouted ‘Daddy, your car is burning.’ They broke the front window of the car and threw Molotov Cocktails inside. This is an act against humanity,” Ertunç said after the incident.

Ertunç said that Interior Minister Efkan Ala called him after hearing about the attack. “Whatever they do, we will continue to serve our people,” he said, adding that security forces had launched an investigation into the incident.

The attack came a few hours before a gun assault targeting the municipal building of Istanbul’s Şişli district. The mayor of the centric Istanbul neighborhood, Mustafa Sarıgül, has been named by the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) as the candidate for the mayor post of the bigger metropolis in the March 30 elections.

On Jan. 26, an adviser of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) was killed after another attack targeting the party’s election office in Istanbul’s Esenyurt district.

The security issue was also brought up by Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Melih Gökçek, who claimed there could be political assassinations on the eve of the elections.