2024-02-11 12:47:47
Gunmen opened fire at a campaign event for the upcoming municipal elections in Istanbul, critically wounding one person, the Associated Press reported, citing the Anadolu Agency.
The attack on Saturday took place when Aziz Yeniai, a mayoral candidate in Istanbul’s Kucukcemece district of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), was visiting an association, the agency said, quoted by BTA.
A 32-year-old woman was seriously injured, and the attackers fled in a car.
Police said they were reviewing security camera footage and found 17 spent shell casings at the scene.
Turkey will hold local elections on March 31. The ruling AKP hopes to regain many key cities and districts it lost to the opposition People’s Republican Party (PPP) five years ago, including the country’s largest city Istanbul and the capital Ankara.
“We know that terrorism feeds on fear and panic,” Yeniai told reporters. “We will not give in to it, we will not be afraid,” he said.