Physical Address
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An assailant slapped Özgür Özel, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), on Sunday as he was leaving an event in Istanbul. The attack captured on camera showed Özel holding his head in pain while the suspect was quickly apprehended. Authorities identified the attacker as S.T. after his initials, while media reports said he was an unemployed man with a criminal record.
Özel was attending a commemoration ceremony in Istanbul’s Atatürk Culture Center for Sırrı Süreyya Önder, the deputy parliamentary speaker who passed away on Saturday.
Fellow politicians condemned the attack on Özel while President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally called Özel and denounced “the ugly attack,” according to the head of the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications, Fahrettin Altun. Altun said Erdoğan wished Özel well and assured him that all aspects of the incident would be investigated.
Ömer Çelik, spokesperson for Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party), said in a statement that they condemned the attack and any attack on “political institutions cannot be accepted.” “The assailant will respond to what he’s done before the judiciary,” Çelik stated.
