Armed attack on NGO offices in Diyarbakır

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An unknown perpetrator carried out an armed attack on a building where the offices of several NGOs are located in the mostly Kurdish-populated southeastern city of Diyarbakır.

The masked assailant fired two shots at the building at around 1 a.m. today and then ran away, security camera footage showed.

The building includes the offices of Botan International, a Kurdish media education organization backed by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Women State of Solidarity Association (DAKAHDER), the Kurdish Studies Center (KSC), the Diyarbakır Institute for Political and Social Research (DISA), and the Sheikh Said Association, as well as several law and commercial offices.

RSF: The attack should be shed light on

The purpose and the target of the attack have not yet been revealed. Freedom of expression groups denounced the attack assessed to have targeted the NGOs.

Erol Önderoğlu, the RSF representative in Türkiye, said the necessary steps should be taken to find and punish those responsible for the attack.

"We want all aspects of the attack to be shed light on," he said.

The Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DGF) also said, "We condemn the attack in the strongest terms and we want those responsible for the attack to be found and punished as soon as possible." (HA/VK)