At a campaign rally in Turkey’s eastern city of Erzurum on Sunday afternoon (May 7), Istanbul Mayor and vice presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu was targeted by a group throwing stones and rocks shortly after the start of the event. The attack smashed the windows of İmamoğlu’s campaign bus while local riot police looked on.
Prior to the İstanbul Mayor’s planned campaign rally, Erzurum’s local government had parked dozens of public transport buses in the city’s main square in an attempt to prevent the event from proceeding as planned. Mehmet Sekmen, the city’s mayor, belongs to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). This initial attempt to derail İmamoğlu’s campaign rally led to widespread condemnation from opposition leaders.
Then, shortly after the start of İmamoğlu’s speech, the gathering area and campaign bus being used by the Istanbul Mayor were attacked by a group with marble stones and building materials. Several injuries were reported, including to children. Interrupting his speech, İmamoğlu scolded the inaction of local police standing by as the attack was being carried out, saying: “You policemen who are just watching: we are watching you too. To this city’s local government and police department: we are watching you. You will have a criminal complaint filed against you.”
İmamoğlu also accused the inaction of the police officers of encouraging the violence, saying “You are provoking this attack against a crowd carrying Turkish flags. All of this in the name of a supposed patriotism. People holding Turkish flags are being insulted.” A video and photos posted by the Istanbul Municipality taken from the inside of the bus showed major damage to the vehicle’s windows as well as Erzurum’s local riot police standing by idly as the attacking group hurled pieces of marble at the campaign bus being used by the Istanbul mayor.
In a video on social media following the attack, Republican People’s Party (CHP) chairman and main opposition presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu encouraged everyone to stay calm: “Those who attacked Mayor Ekrem today are thugs whose goal is to scare our people and keep them away from the ballot box…Let’s focus on May 14 [Turkish election day]. My friend Ekrem has paid a price for trying to bring change to this country.“
İmamoğlu returned to Istanbul on a flight on Sunday evening. CHP Istanbul Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu invited supporters to Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport to greet the mayor upon his return, saying “Through common sense, we will render these provocative actions meaningless.”
Turkish voters head to the polls this Sunday (May 14) to vote for president and members of parliament. The highly anticipated elections are expected to pose the greatest challenge yet to President Erdoğan’s 20-plus year rule. Should no presidential candidate receive over 50% of the vote, the contest will proceed to a run-off round two weeks later. Main opposition presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has chosen Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş as his future vice presidents in the event that he wins the election, and both mayors have been actively campaigning leading up to the polls.
Written/translated for Medyascope by Leo Kendirck
