Turkey’s CHP leader attacked at Ankara funeral
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkey’s main opposition party was attacked in Ankara on Sunday when he attended funeral services for four soldiers recently killed in clashes with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“Kick out PKK parties!” chanted an angry crowd that mobbed Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), in video captured by DHA.
Security personnel got Kilicdaroglu out of the mob and police escorted him to a nearby home. Turkish media reported that people were seen throwing stones at the house. There are no reports that he was injured in the incident.
Political tensions in Turkey are high after March 31 municipal elections that saw the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lose the key cities of Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir. AKP has requested a rerun of the vote in Istanbul after electoral authorities handed the win to CHP’s Ekrem Imamoglu.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused CHP and another opposition party, IYI (Good Party), of “surrendering” to terror groups – namely PKK and FETO, the organization of Fetullah Gulen who Ankara accuses of masterminding a July 2016 coup attempt.
Turkey’s Defence Ministry announced on Saturday morning the deaths of four soldiers killed in operations in the Cukurca district of Turkey's eastern Hakkari province that sits in the triangle where Turkey, Iran, and Iraq meet. The PKK is active in the area.