Armed attack on İstiklal Newspaper in İstanbul

* Photo: Google Maps

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In an attempted armed attack on the central office of the İstiklal Newspaper in İstanbul's Zeytinburnu district, the assaulter T.T. went to the newspaper yesterday (May 11), entered the room of Editor-in-Chief Hüseyin Arif Çakmak and demanded 2 million lira from him.

The assaulter could be stopped thanks to the efforts of the people around and the police officers who came to the scene of the incident.

When the police teams searched the assaulter, they found a rifle, a gun, bullets and a magazine on him.

Assaulter released for the second time

Having previous criminal record for theft, plunder and drug dealing, the assaulter seized a vehicle in a factory of Editor-in-Chief Çakmak in Gebze, Kocaeli a few days before the attempted armed attack in İstanbul. It was understood that the gendarmerie had intervened in that incident and detained the assaulter. But he was released afterwards.

Following the raid in İstanbul, the assaulter was referred to the court to be arrested. However, he has been released. Çakmak has protested the decision, asking, "Should somebody die so that he will be arrested?"

Attacks on journalists in Turkey

In the first five months of 2021, 8 journalists were attacked in Turkey. While this number was 18 in 2020, 139 journalists were attacked in the last five years. The following journalists were attacked in 2021:

Hazım Özsu: He was a radio presenter in a local station. He was attacked by Halil N. from his audience who had been following his program for a year. Özsu died at the scene of the incident. March 15 | Bursa

Levent Gültekin: He was attacked on his way to the "İki Yorum" (Two Comments) program that he presented. March 8, 2021 | İstanbul

Ferruh Varanoğlu: Columnist. He was shot in his foot in an armed attack carried out by an unidentified person. February 16, 2021 | Bursa

İzzet Tınmaz: The grant holder of İlk Havadis (First News) and news coordinator of Anadolu'nun Sesi (Voice of Anatolia). Two people stopped his car on his way to work and beat him with sticks. January 9, 2021 | Aksaray

Kıymet Sarıyıldız and Murat Uçkaç: Hedef (Target) newspaper and İhlas News Agency (İHA) reporters. They were battered by the relatives of a suspect arrested for drug dealing while he was taken from the courthouse. January 13, 2021 | Aydın

Afşin Hatipoğlu: KRT TV program presenter. He was attacked by a group of unidentified persons wearing masks in front of his house. | January 14, 2021

Orhan Uğuroğlu: Ankara representative of Yeniçağ newspaper. While he was about to get in his car in the morning, four people attacked him with sticks. He was wounded in his arm. January 15, 2021 | Ankara (HA/SD)