Assailant opens fire on HDP building in Turkey's Marmaris

An armed assailant on July 14 attacked a Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) building in Muğla's Marmaris district. The perpetrator was revealed to be a 28-year-old man who carried out a similar attack in the past.

Wednesday July 14 2021 10:39 am

Duvar English

An armed assailant on July 14 attacked a Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) building in the Marmaris district of the Aegean province of Muğla.

The 28-year-old assailant identified only as A.T.D. opened fire on the building at around 6 a.m. with a shotgun.

He was subsequently detained with the weapon he used.

Officials said that the assailant carried out a similar attack on the building in 2018 and was charged with damaging property after breaking the building's windows.

The assailant was also revealed to have a criminal record.

Güven Gökmen, the HDP's Marmaris district co-chair, told Duvar that the assailant entered the building and damaged property after opening fire.

"We know the powers behind this attack. We want the powers behind it to be revealed," Gökmen said.

"This attack is an attack against all powers of democracy," he added.

The attack comes nearly a month after a similar one in the Aegean province of İzmir. Onur Gencer on June 17 opened fire in the HDP İzmir provincial building and killed party member Deniz Poyraz.

The HDP is very frequently targeted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its far-right ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which claim that the party is linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). While the HDP denies such links, attempts to criminalize the HDP have been ongoing for months.

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli went as far as to call Poyraz a "terrorist" a week after the attack.