Watch the video: Turkish opposition politicians attacked with stones in Erdogan’s stronghold.
Dramatic scenes on Sunday evening in Erzurum in eastern Turkey. Ekrem Imamoglu, Mayor of Istanbul and politician from the largest opposition party CHP, has traveled to an election campaign appearance. Suddenly stones fly out of the crowd. Security guards get Imamoglu off the throw line. His team’s campaign bus is also attacked. The police used water cannons against the angry people. Imamoglu said on social media that nine people were injured in the incident, including a child. He accused the emergency services of not having intervened beforehand. “When we arrived, we immediately realized that stones were raining down on us from all sides. Footage undoubtedly shows that the police did not intervene in the situation. It was obviously an order. Someone gave the order to the police forces not to intervene .” Erzurum is considered the stronghold of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AKP, here at a performance in Istanbul on Sunday. The Turkish president is currently under pressure in the fight for re-election. After around 20 years in power, it is not certain that he will be able to win the elections next Sunday. Polls point to a close race with CHP frontrunner Kemal Kilicdaroglu.