Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel was on May 4 physically attacked in Istanbul after attending a funeral at the Ataturk Cultural Centre (AKM) in Taksim Square.

Political violence is not uncommon in Turkey. In 2019, Ozel’s predecessor Kemal Kilicdaroglu was also assaulted while attending a funeral.

Killed two of his children

The man who assaulted Ozel, Selcuk Tengioglu, in 2004 killed two of his children and wounded the other two, the interior ministry (@TC_icisleri) said.

Video: Tengioglu slaps Ozel hard in the face.

He received a life sentence but was released from prison in 2020. According to Turkish legislation, a life sentence now requires 24 years in jail. Before 2005, 16 years was specified.

Angry over Imamoglu street protests

In his statement to police, Tengioglu said that a CHP-controlled municipality had rejected his application for a food card. He also stated his anger at the CHP for calling on young people to take to the streets to protest against the jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in March.

Tengioglu has been unemployed for four months. He resides at a hotel in Taksim, paying Turkish lira (TRY) 4,000 ($104) per month.

After going to the funeral, he saw Ozel and slapped him hard in the face. He said that the attack was not planned.

Death threats to Ozel’s daughter

On the same day of the assault, an Instagram account @selcuktengioglu_ published the address of Ipek Ozel, the only child of Ozgur Ozel, and carried a death threat.

The account also threatened Ozgur Ozel and his wife with death. It advised the Ozel family to take care while walking around.

Deputy police chief accused

The CHP Istanbul headquarters has filed a complaint with the Istanbul governorate against provincial deputy police chief Murat Ozbek for not letting Ozel’s staff vehicle into the AKM’s indoor parking area.

Istanbul police headquarters and the Istanbul governorate separately said that it was Ozel’s choice to keep his vehicle outside of the parking area in order to avoid a traffic jam.

Ozgur Celik (@ozgurcelikchp), head of CHP Istanbul, denied the claims, saying that Ozel had to leave the venue by foot since his vehicle was not permitted to enter the area where the vehicles of other party leaders were parked.

If the attack was planned with the objective of securing graphic coverage, having Ozel leave the venue via the front door, outside of which all the media camera crews were gathered, would have been a necessity.