Turkish daily Yeniçağ attacked by masked group, no casualties
ISTANBUL
A group of assailants staged an attack on the Istanbul building of Turkish daily Yeniçağ on Dec. 8, breaking its windows and damaging vehicles in front of it. A group of more than 20 people who were wearing masks attacked the building with sticks and stones.
Vandalizing some of the offices and the information desk of the daily, the attackers tried to advance toward the section where the employees were. After inflicting damage inside the building, the attackers fled the scene.
During their attack, the perpetrators reportedly chanted “the movement’s leader is Devlet Bahçeli,” referring to the leader of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
Meanwhile, politicians and others took to Twitter to condemn the attack. A former MHP member who was ran for the party’s leadership before being expelled by the party, Meral Akşener said she condemned the attack, while another former contestant for the party leadership, Koray Aydın, also reacted to the assault and passed along well-wishes to the daily’s personnel.
Another member who was expelled from the party and who was a former columnist for Yeniçağ, Ümit Özdağ, called on people to buy a copy of the daily to protest the attack.
Meanwhile, the daily’s executive president, Ahmet Yabuloğlu, released a statement saying no personnel from the daily were injured in the attack and that police were conducting an investigation into the incident.
“According to information from our friends, a group of 15 to 25 people come together and broke inside by breaking the outside windows of the building with sticks and stones. At that moment, the personnel locked themselves in to the executive department. The assailants tried to the break the doors with fire extinguishers and when they could not succeed in three to five minutes, they returned. They also damaged the surveillance cameras inside. But the images obtained from the cameras were able to spot their appearance,” said Yabuloğlu, adding that they had not received any recent threats.
He also said the personnel did not see any other weapons during the attack.
Vandalizing some of the offices and the information desk of the daily, the attackers tried to advance toward the section where the employees were. After inflicting damage inside the building, the attackers fled the scene.
During their attack, the perpetrators reportedly chanted “the movement’s leader is Devlet Bahçeli,” referring to the leader of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
Meanwhile, politicians and others took to Twitter to condemn the attack. A former MHP member who was ran for the party’s leadership before being expelled by the party, Meral Akşener said she condemned the attack, while another former contestant for the party leadership, Koray Aydın, also reacted to the assault and passed along well-wishes to the daily’s personnel.
Another member who was expelled from the party and who was a former columnist for Yeniçağ, Ümit Özdağ, called on people to buy a copy of the daily to protest the attack.
Meanwhile, the daily’s executive president, Ahmet Yabuloğlu, released a statement saying no personnel from the daily were injured in the attack and that police were conducting an investigation into the incident.
“According to information from our friends, a group of 15 to 25 people come together and broke inside by breaking the outside windows of the building with sticks and stones. At that moment, the personnel locked themselves in to the executive department. The assailants tried to the break the doors with fire extinguishers and when they could not succeed in three to five minutes, they returned. They also damaged the surveillance cameras inside. But the images obtained from the cameras were able to spot their appearance,” said Yabuloğlu, adding that they had not received any recent threats.
He also said the personnel did not see any other weapons during the attack.
