ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish police on Sunday arrested 12 people in connection with an attack on an election rally of one of the candidates of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Istanbul.
Several gunmen in a white vehicle on Saturday attacked an election rally for Aziz Yeniay, the AKP’s mayoral candidate for Istanbul’s Kucukcekmece district. One person was injured.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc announced on X that 12 suspects were arrested in connection with the attack and police are looking for seven others.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday condemned the attack, adding that they will not allow attempts to “poison” the election.
“Any attack against our democracy, unity and solidarity will not achieve its purpose,” Erdogan said.
Turkey will hold municipal elections on March 31.
Saturday’s attack was the third armed assault in Istanbul in less than a month.
Two masked assailants carried out an armed attack during Sunday mass in Santa Maria (St. Mary Draperis) church in Istanbul’s Sariyer district, in late January, killing one person. The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility.
Tunc announced earlier this month that 25 suspects were arrested in connection with the shooting.
Last week, two armed assailants attacked a courthouse in Istanbul. One person was killed and three others were injured in an exchange of gunfire between the assailants and the courthouse’s security forces. The two assailants were also killed.
Turkish authorities later revealed the identity of the two assailants as a man and a woman who were members of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C), a communist party considered to be terrorists by Ankara.
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