MHP Chair on Attack Against Kılıçdaroğlu: What Did You Do to Make Them Punch You?

* Photograph: Süleyman Elçin/AA

Click to read the article in Turkish

Devlet Bahçeli, the Chair of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has made a statement regarding main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was attacked yesterday (April 21) during the funeral ceremony of a soldier who lost his life in Hakkari.

Stating that "the chair of a political party should inquire about where he will go and how and should consult his advisers and other party executives," Bahçeli has said, "Then, if he still finds it appropriate to go there, he should do it by considering every possibility and taking every precaution."

Underlining that the Ministry of Interior has to investigate the incident in multiple aspects, Bahçeli has said, "What they did to the leader of a political party is improper and cannot be accepted."

'You should consider every possibility'

Referring to one of the attackers as "an old man" and to the people of Akkuzulu Neighborhood, where the incident took place, as "tough men with their beliefs and political behavior", MHP Chair Bahçeli has made the following remarks about the attack on Kılıçdaroğlu:

"You think of going to a place, where you have received only 9 percent of votes, to attend the funeral prayer of a soldier. But, how will you describe an incident that you encountered there?

"The leader of a political party should inquire about where he would go and how, he should both inquire himself and consult his advisers and other party executives about it. Then, if he still finds it appropriate to go there, he should do it by considering every possibility and taking every precaution.

"The people of Akkuzulu are tough men with their beliefs and political behavior. If they were told 'What is this man doing here? Do not let him into this village...' There is an old man on the television, throwing a punch. You, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, what did you do to make this man punch you in the face? Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu should take a vacation."

What happened?

Attending the funeral of a soldier who lost his life in Hakkari, CHP Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was attacked by a group of people who also attended the funeral in Akkuzulu Neighborhood in Çubuk, Ankara.

Being hit by kicks and punches in the face, Kılıçdaroğlu was taken to a safe house in the vicinity to protect him from the crowd. Kılıçdaroğlu was taken out of the house in an armored vehicle one and a half hour later.

While he was leaving the house, a woman was heard to be shouting, "Burn the house, burn it." (AÖ/SD)