Turkish opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu was pelted with stones at a rally, prompting him to abandon a campaign speech one week before President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeks another term in a general election.
(Bloomberg) — Turkish opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu was pelted with stones at a rally, prompting him to abandon a campaign speech one week before President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeks another term in a general election.
Imamoglu, who is the mayor of Istanbul, blamed the attack in the eastern city of Erzurum on the municipality, run by the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, and local police. About a dozen people, including children, were wounded, according to Imamoglu’s CHP party.
The municipality brought public buses to the square where Imamoglu had scheduled Sunday’s rally. “When we arrived, stones rained down from everywhere,” he said afterward. “None of the police moved a muscle.”
Erdogan has led Turkey for 20 years and is facing the broadest grouping of opposition parties yet in presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14. Imamoglu has been campaigning as vice presidential candidate on behalf of opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
Imamoglu vowed to file legal complaints against the police chief and the governor of the city, who he said didn’t intervene to stop the mob.
Other opposition leaders also raised security concerns before the election.
“Bringing change to the country has a price. We are all ready to pay it,” Kilicdaroglu said on Twitter. Temel Karamollaoglu, leader of the Felicity Party, condemned the attack as a provocation.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.