Erdoğan, politicians call Kılıçdaroğlu after he survives PKK attack

ANKARA

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and wished him well, after his convoy was attacked by a group of outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in the northern province of Artvin on Aug. 25.

Receiving information from Kılıçdaroğlu about the attack, Erdoğan conveyed his sympathies to the opposition leader, who was heading to the province’s Ardanuç district as part of his program when the attack occurred.

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Parliamentary Speaker İsmail Kahraman and Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ also called the CHP leader after the incident, which claimed a soldier’s life after an exchange of fire broke out between security forces and PKK militants.

 “Those terrorists who lay an ambush against Turkey’s unity, solidarity and order and those vile people in the background who instigated this assassination will never damage Turkey’s unity, they will not reach their goals and will definitely be sentenced to the punishment that they deserve,” said Yıldırım in the aftermath of the attack.   

Opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli also called Kılıçdaroğlu to convey his good wishes after the attack.

“Our pain is large. Our only consolation is respectful Kılıçdaroğlu being well… Everybody should see the extent that terror has reached; everybody should accept its audacity and effrontery with alliance… I am saying it once again, terrorism will never get a result, nobody could manage to drag Turkey to a fight that is being planned by felons with alacrity,” said Bahçeli.   

Meanwhile the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) issued a statement saying they condemned the attack and wished Kılıçdaroğlu and his co-party members well.

“We have learned with concern the conflict that occurred during respectful CHP chair Kemal Kılıdaroğlu’s convoy’s trip in the Ardanuç district of Artvin. We are condemning this dire attack in a strong way, and convey to Kılıçdaroğlu and those party members who were with him our well wishes,” said the statement released by the HDP.