Events in the Balkans

Ahmed Dogan Assassination Attempt: Gunman Aims Gun At Turkish Politician's Head

A gunman reportedly attempted to assassinate the leader of Bulgaria's ethnic Turkish party during a televised conference on Saturday.

Huffington Post,

19 January, 2013

The leader of Bulgaria’s Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) party, Ahmed Dogan, was assaulted by a gunman while on stage at the National Palace of Culture (NDK) in Sofia, according to the Sofia Globe. The assailant, 25-year-old Oktai Enimehmedov, climbed onstage and held a gun to Dogan's head, but the gun reportedly got stuck and was unable to shoot.

The Times also reports that the gun appeared to misfire, giving Dogan enough time to bat away the gunman's arm before he was assisted by security guards.


Dogan and the gunman wrestled on stage before security raced to apprehend the assailant, amid loud boos from the crowd, according to The Sun.

Enimehmedov was also reportedly beaten by delegates and other officials in the crowd, according to Noinite, a Sofia news agency. "He was not in a good shape, there was blood on his face," said Prosecutor Nikolay Kokinov. "He told us his version about what motivated him, but I will not discuss it at this point."

Along with the gas pistol, Enimehmedov was also armed with two knives. The Bourgas native has two prior convictions, including causing bodily harm in 2006 and drug possession in 2010, the Sofia Globe reports.

As for the 58-year-old Turkish official, he is doing fine. "Ahmed Dogan is in good health. Everything is under control," MRF official Ceyhan Ibryamov told Reuters on Saturday.

The liberal MRF party represents ethnic Turks and Muslims, who make up roughly 12 percent of Bulgaria's population, according to Reuters. Dogan is seen as one of the most influential political figures. The conference was scheduled to elect a new leader to succeed Dogan, according to the Associated Press, who is stepped down after nearly 25 years.

Lyutvi Mestan, the man expected to replace Dogan, told the AP "the true reason for the assault was the language of hatred and confrontation."

Turkey Rounds Up Human Rights Lawyers

Security forces in Turkey have detained more than a dozen lawyers as part of a nationwide sweep against illegal leftist groups. Among those detained include some of the country's most well-known human rights advocates.

VOA

18 January, 2013

In a crackdown on the activities of an illegal left wing group, 15 lawyers were among 85 people detained under anti-terror laws by Turkish security forces in a nationwide operation.

​​With many of the detained lawyers being well-known human rights defenders, several human rights groups around the world have voiced alarm.

Emma Sinclair Webb, who is with U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, said, "It's very concerning to find lawyers the targets of police operations at four o'clock in the morning, having their doors broken down. These lawyers are all known for their activities in defense of human rights, for pursuing police violence cases."

Security forces said they target members of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Front (DHKP-C), a group blamed for a number of attacks in Turkey since the 1970s. The Turkish government has accused the lawyers of transferring instructions from the group's imprisoned leaders to militants.

Seven of the detained lawyers belong to the Progressive Lawyers Association, which last year launched a telephone hot line for people to report police abuse.

In a statement, the lawyers' group condemned the detentions, calling them an attack against people and institutions that oppose the government and struggle for democracy and freedom.

The arrests also included five members of a popular left-wing folk music group.

Sinclair Webb of Human Rights Watch said the detentions part of a worrying trend. "This looks to be part of wider clampdown under anti-terror laws, which we have seen in Turkey over the last few years increasing,"he said. "This clampdown affects journalist's, human rights defenders and lawyers."

According to international human rights groups, Turkey imprisons more journalists than any other country in the world. The government claims none of them are in jail for their pursuits of journalist activities.

In a report this week, the watchdog group Freedom House categorized Turkey as only a partially free country in its "Freedom in the World Report," due to what it described as a serious decline in civil liberties and political rights.