Turkey’s main opposition leader, Özgür Özel, was physically assaulted on Sunday after attending the funeral of a pro-Kurdish politician who died in İstanbul on Saturday, the Anka news agency reported.
Footage aired by Turkish television networks showed a man approaching the Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader as he exited the Atatürk Cultural Center in central İstanbul and slapping him in the face.
Özel, who became the CHP’s chairman in November 2023, appeared uninjured but was seen clutching his head as security personnel shielded him from further harm.
A 66-year-old man slapped Turkey’s main opposition leader Özgür Özel in the face on Sunday as he exited a funeral ceremony held for prominent politician Sırrı Süreyya Önder who died in İstanbul on Saturday. Özel was unharmed. The attacker, identified as S.T., has been detained. pic.twitter.com/K2lyQDIYU3
— Turkish Minute (@TurkishMinuteTM) May 4, 2025
Özel was among the attendees at the funeral of Sırrı Süreyya Önder, a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) who served as parliament’s deputy speaker. Önder died two-and-a-half weeks after undergoing heart surgery following cardiac arrest on April 15.
The İstanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office said the attacker had been taken into custody.
The Interior Ministry announced later in a post on X that the attacker was 66-year-old S.T., who was sentenced to life in prison and released on parole in 2020. The ministry said S.T. killed two of his children and injured two others in 2004 and that he also has a criminal record of theft and issuing threats.
The incident has sparked renewed concern over the safety of opposition politicians in Turkey. In 2019 then-CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was attacked during a soldier’s funeral in Ankara province.
The assault on Özel drew condemnation from across the political spectrum. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wished Özel a speedy recovery on X and vowed that “all acts of violence threatening the peace of our society will be punished in accordance with the law.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has ordered an investigation into the incident, his spokesperson said.
İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has been in pretrial detention since March 23, condemned the “heinous attack” and called for the immediate identification of the perpetrator and any potential accomplices.