Photograph: DHA
CHP Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was kicked and punched in an assault while attending the funeral in Ankara’s Çubuk of professional private Yener Kırıkçı, who lost his life in the PKK attack in Hakkari. Kılıçdaroğlu was taken to a house in the quarter. The assailants assembled in front of the house and shouted the slogans, “PKK out” and threw stones, breaking the windows of Kılıçdaroğlu's car. Hulusi Akar provoked outrage by saying to the crowd that had assembled in front of the house, “Dear friends, you have given your message and displayed your reaction by now.” Ankara Provincial Governate stated that the incident was a “protest.” Osman Sarıgün, who punched the CHP leader, was arrested as part of the investigation launched into the affair. Making a statement in front of CHP Headquarters, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said, “I will not step back by a millimetre.” Following the attempted lynching of Kılıçdaroğlu, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu’s comments, “I have sent an instruction via our undersecretary for CHP provincial chairs to henceforth be excluded from the protocol at funerals of the fallen” created further waves on social media.
Attending the funeral along with Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş, Kılıçdaroğlu was first booed and then assaulted in the ensuing melee. A group chanting the slogans, “The fallen will not die, the motherland will not be divided, curse the PKK” punched and kicked Kılıçdaroğlu.
The gendarmerie, bodyguards and police tried to prevent the assault on Kılıçdaroğlu, Kılıçdaroğlu was taken to a house in the quarter in his car. The assailants congregated around the house.
Kılıçdaroğlu's car was brought to the front of the house he was in. Some of the assailants who had congregated here broke the windows of Kılıçdaroğlu's car with stones. The assailants stood their ground in front of the house chanting slogans and also wished to attack the house. Despite the taking of precautions in the vicinity of the house, the crowd that had gathered in front of the house did not disperse for a long time.
A woman was heard shouting in the crowd, “Burn the house. Burn it.”
Minister of National Defence Hulusi Akar came to the house Kılıçdaroğlu was in. Addressing those who had assembled around the house from a police car’s loud speaker, he addressed those congregated here as, “My friends” and commented, “You have given your message and displayed your reaction by now. Now we are going calmly to Yener’s house to express condolences to his mother and father.”
Akar spoke as follows:
“My friends. May Yener’s place be heaven. May God grant patience to his mother, father, you and the armed forces. You have given your message and displayed your reaction by now. Now we are going calmly to Yener’s house to express condolences to his mother and father. We are dispersing from here. My friends from Çubuklu, you have given your message and displayed your reaction. Now we are calmly dispersing from here. My friends, trust us and have faith in us, we are dispersing altogether from here and going to Yener’s house.”
In a statement he made, CHP Spokesperson Faik Öztrak addressed the question to Hulusi Akar, “What does it mean to say, ‘You have given your message’ to traitors who call for the burning of the house?” Öztrak also said, “Ankara Provincial Governor and Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu should immediately resign.”
Kılıçdaroğlu could only be extricated from the house in an armoured vehicle an hour later. Kılıçdaroğlu's Chief Advisor Deniz Demir posted on social media, “We are now exiting the village. Our General Chair is in good condition.” He indicated that Kılıçdaroğlu was in good condition.
An extraordinary meeting was convened at the CHP and CHP administrators and parliamentarians were summoned to Ankara.
As the deceased professional private Kırıkçı’s remains were buried, security precautions in the quarter continued. Special operations, the gendarmerie and rapid reaction teams remained stationed in the quarter.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu came to CHP Headquarters. Here Kılıçdaroğlu was greeted by the slogan, “Soylu (Interior Minister) resign.” Kılıçdaroğlu held a meeting with the CHP organization.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu made a statement following the meeting. Kılıçdaroğlu said the following:
“I am a general chair who embraces the 82 million. Also, let nobody forget, I am the general chair of the CHP, the party of the liberation. Let nobody forget. I will not step back by a millimetre. They think Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu will not attend funerals of the fallen. I will attend! Those fallen are the fallen of the 82 million. Those who defend rights, the law and justice have undergone attack in all periods of history. However much they are undermined, we will defend rights, the law and justice to the end. Those people in that village have no guilt. This was staged by people coming from outside the village.”
Commenting to a DHA reporter about the incident that had taken place, Quarter Headman Halil Kökmen said, “Those who staged the attack were the people here. The people of the quarter, feeling outrage at the terrorist organization, felt annoyed at seeing Kılıçdaroğlu. This was their natural reaction. Those involved in the attack and who displayed their reaction all live in Akkuzulu Quarter. O.S., who delivered the punch, is a vegetable grower here and works for a living.”
The CHP’s Çubuk sub-provincial administrator Can Kaderoğlu gave the following account of events according to a report carried by Cumhuriyet:
“Nobody from the village or area was involved in today’s attack. I have just spoken to the village headman. He says the incidents were organized by a team that came from outside. The attack lasted a long time. Alongside the physical assault, they threw stones and sticks and whatever came to hand. People stationed in various places started and organized the assault. There were no serious security precautions. We told the security people there to disperse them using tear gas but were told they couldn’t spray tear gas at a funeral. The attacks continued on Mr Kılıçdaroğlu’s car and the house we went to following the attack.” (EVRENSEL DAILY)
(Translated by Tim Drayton)
Bülent Falakaoğlu
Hakkı Özdal
