CHP leader vows to stand firm after AKM attack

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel said he “will not back down” after being attacked during a memorial service for late lawmaker Sırrı Süreyya Önder at the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) in Istanbul on May 4.

In a speech delivered atop a bus outside the CHP headquarters in Ankara, Özel described the incident as a “provocation.”

“We will not bow down one inch, we will not take one step back,” he told supporters. “If we bow down, they will make this nation kneel. We will never give up. We will win. Türkiye will win.”

Özel was slapped by an assailant while attending the ceremony, briefly clutching his head before being escorted to safety by his bodyguards. The attacker, identified by authorities as 66-year-old S.T., was subdued and booed by the crowd.

Shortly after the attack, Özel told reporters that his party had received threats prior to the attack.

“The departure of Sırrı Süreyya, a dove of peace, should not be overshadowed by what this attacker did,” he said. “If the attacks discouraged us, we would not risk our lives and seek the leadership of the party that founded the republic.”

The Interior Ministry confirmed that the attacker had a violent criminal record, including a 2004 conviction for killing his two children and injuring two others.

He had been sentenced to life in prison and was released on parole in 2020. The ministry said S.T. also had prior records for theft and making threats.

In his initial statement to police, the suspect claimed the attack was unplanned. “I had not planned this action until then. It came to my mind at that moment and I did it,” he reportedly said.

Condemnations poured in from across the political spectrum.

Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called Özel to wish him well.

The ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) spokesperson, Ömer Çelik, wrote on X that “any attack on a political institution is unacceptable,” while the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) called the incident a “vile attack” in a written statement.

Meanwhile, prosecutors extended the suspect’s detention on May 5.