Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has filed a criminal complaint against Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu due to an attack on the party’s leader during a soldier’s funeral last Sunday on the grounds that Soylu failed to take the necessary measures to keep the CHP leader safe, Turkish media reported.
CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was physically attacked by a group of people at the funeral of a Turkish soldier who was killed by terrorists on the Turkish-Iraqi border.
After the attack the CHP leader took shelter in a house in the neighborhood with police officers providing security. The house was stoned by the mob and there were even calls to set it on fire.
The criminal complaint against Soylu was filed by CHP deputy group chairman Engin Özkoç at the Ankara Courthouse on Friday.
In the criminal complaint the CHP accuses Soylu of blatantly provoking the public to enmity and hatred and failing to fulfill his duties.
Speaking to reporters in front of the courthouse, Özkoç said the party also filed criminal complaints against the Ankara chief of police and other security officials who failed to take the necessary measures to protect Kılıçdaroğlu although they had been informed that Kılıçdaroğlu would attend the funeral.