Offices in İstanbul belonging to several opposition parties have seen a rash of attacks in recent weeks, as Turkey prepares for one of the most consequential elections in its modern history.
The string of attacks started on March 31, when the İYİ Party office in İstanbul’s Zeytinburnu district was shot with bullets in the early hours of the morning. Two bullets hit the building itself, while another hit a nearby building. Following the incident, a suspect was taken into custody. İYİ Party Chairwoman Meral Akşener and other opposition leaders including İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu held a press conference at the targeted building in which they discussed the incident later that day. Akşener’s statement at the press conference and later tweets on the issue took aim at President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, accusing inflammatory rhetoric by the president and his party of inspiring the attack in Zeytinburnu.
İstanbul’s municipal police department also released a statement on the issue, characterizing the incident as not an attack, but rather the result of a construction security officer chasing and shooting at a suspected criminal. According to the statement, the shots that hit the İYİ Party building had happened accidentally.
Following the attack on the İYİ Party building, a similar attack took place a week later on April 6, this time targeting the main İstanbul headquarters of main opposition and İYİ Party coalition partner Republican People’s Party (CHP). According to CHP İstanbul district chairwoman Canan Kaftancıoğlu, the attack that targeted the party’s city headquarters in the Seyrantepe district resulted in 6-7 shots to the building. 4 suspects who were taken into custody following the incident on April 7 were later released on April 11.
A third incident, this time targeting an office belonging to the Green Left Party (Yeşil Sol Parti), also took place on April 6. Although no shots were fired, the party’s district office in İstanbul’s Bahçelievler district was left vandalized with symbols belonging to Turkey’s ultranationalist National Action Party (MHP), as well as racist slogans written alongside. The Green Left Party, normally a minor party in Turkish politics, recently merged with the left-leaning pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in preparation for the upcoming parliamentary elections. The HDP, which regularly commands 10-12% of the Turkish vote, currently faces a closure suit in the Turkish Supreme Court, which led to the party’s decision to run their parliamentary candidates under the Green Left Party for this election cycle. The MHP has traditionally been a sworn enemy of the HDP, and has been one of the most vocal advocates for the party’s closure based on alleged terrorism charges. The Turkish Supreme Court has yet to issue a decision on the case.
Written for Medyascope by Leo Kendirck
