Turkish man released after three attacks on health officials
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Hürriyet archival photo.
A Turkish man has been released from custody after attacking health officials in İzmir, daily Hürriyet reported today, a week after medical personnel staged strikes around the country following the murder of a Gaziantep doctor by a patient’s relative.An ambulance team in the Aegean province lodged a complaint with police about a group of people who were drinking alcohol and disturbing other people around 20 days ago. A man from the group, E.K., was enraged by the paramedics, who reported him to the police. E.K. allegedly went to the ambulance station a day later and attacked 15 personnel with a big knife but was restrained by three staff members who called police.
Police captured and questioned the attacker, but he was subsequently released by prosecutors.
Following his release, the man allegedly made a fake call to emergency services from a café, but paramedics realized upon arrival that the individual calling for help was their previous attacker. They immediately left the premises and lodged another complaint with police about the individual, saying he had been trying to lure them with fake emergency calls and that they were worried for their safety. Police subsequently launched an operation to locate the man.
While still being sought by police, the attacker was taken to a hospital by friends who said he was suffering from a mental breakdown.
The man, however, allegedly attacked a doctor and another medical official after being injected with anodyne. Two staff members consequently lodged a complaint about the individual to police.
E.K. was taken to the police station and questioned again, but prosecutors chose to release him.
Health officials will make a press statement in front of their hospital on the matter, Hürriyet reported.
Gaziantep physician Ersin Arslan, 26, was stabbed to death April 17 by the 17-year-old grandson of a deceased patient that had reportedly been treated by the doctor.
