A week before elections in Turkey, several people were injured by stones thrown during an appearance by an opposition politician in the east of the country. The Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu of the main opposition CHP party said late on Sunday that a group of people threw stones at him in the afternoon as he was speaking from the roof of his campaign bus. At least nine listeners were injured.
İmamoğlu said this in a video posted on Twitter. The CHP distributed images showing people with head injuries.
İmamoğlu accused the security forces of not doing anything on purpose. It’s a provocation. He emphasized that the incident had nothing to do with Erzurum residents.
Ministry of the Interior Suleyman Soylu wrote in a first reaction on Twitter: “Ekrem İmamoğlu, who calls the people provocateurs of Erzurum, is himself a provocateur.”
İmamoğlu returned to Istanbul at night. Numerous followers were waiting for him there.
İmamoğlu is a politician of the largest opposition party, CHP, and supports the presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu during the election campaign. If the opposition wins, Imamoglu will become vice president.
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Kılıçdaroğlu condemned the attack on Twitter and urged his followers to remain calm. He accused the government of collaborating with the mafia and militants, saying: “Their aim is to scare people and keep them out of the polls.”
In the May 14 parliamentary and presidential elections, a tight race is emerging between the current Erdogan and his opponent Kılıçdaroğlu.
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