Turkey opposition chief unharmed after convoy fired on

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey’s main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said on Thursday, August 25, his convoy came under attack from gunfire in the northeastern region of Artvin but he was unharmed.

Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said he was safe and well after the incident whose origin was not immediately clear.

“There is no problem, we are fine, don’t worry,” Kilicdaroglu told CNN-Turk television by telephone.

Kilicdaroglu had been in the province to attend a rally where he planned to make a speech, private-run Dogan news agency reported.

It was not yet known if Kilicdaroglu was the target or if he was caught up in a separate incident.

Ozgur Ozel, head of CHP’s parliamentary group, told CNN-Turk that a soldier driving a military vehicle had been injured.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim were briefed by the provincial governor shortly after the incident, said a Turkish official, who did not wish to be named.

Erdogan and Yildirim as well as Interior Minister Efkan Ala personally called Kilicdaroglu to offer their best wishes, CNN-Turk reported.

There was no indication of who was responsible for the incident in the Black Sea region. Kurdish militants have on occasion staged attacks there although the area is outside their traditional region of operation.  – Rappler.com