Another armed attack on HDP office, this time in Ankara

Unidentified assailants have staged an armed attack on the office of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in Ankara’s Altındağ district.

Wednesday July 19 2023 05:07 pm

Duvar English

Unidentified person(s) on July 18 midnight attacked the district office of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Ankara’s Altındağ.

A bullet hit a meeting room of the office which is located in the Dışkapı neighborhood. No one was in the HDP office when the attack occured, according to reporting by Mezopotmaya news agency.

The police did not allow anyone to come near the building and prevented journalists from recording the scene.

The HDP is very frequently targeted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its far-right ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which claim that the party is linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). While the HDP denies such links, attempts to criminalize the party have been ongoing for years. Several politicians of the party have been imprisoned, facing several years of prison sentences.

In 2021, a top prosecutor filed a case with the Constitutional Court demanding the closure of the HDP, in the culmination of a years-long clampdown on the party. The top court is currently analyzing the case.

Due to this risk of closure, the HDP entered the May elections under the umbrella of the Green Left Party.