A female candidate from Turkey's main opposition party running in next month's parliamentary election was wounded in a gun attack Tuesday, as concerns grow over the levels of violence ahead of the poll.
Elif Dogan Turkmen, standing for the Republican People's Party (CHP) in the southern province of Adana, was on her way to a breakfast gathering with businessmen in Cukurova district when she was shot three times, provincial governor Mustafa Buyuk said.
"She was shot in the knees, but her injuries are not life threatening," Buyuk told the official Anatolia news agency.
Buyuk said the attack does not appear to be political, but said the authorities were investigating "all possible motives".
He said the assailants had fled with a rental car used in the attack but that the vehicle had later been found abandoned and that the suspects were at large.
CCTV images published by Dogan news agency showed a man pointing a gun at Turkmen, 53, at the entrance of what appears to be a restaurant.
It was the latest in a string of attacks against party members in the run-up to an increasingly tense June 7 election, with many incidents in Adana.
On Saturday, a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate, Ramazan Demir, was stabbed in the stomach by two drunken assailants while campaigning in Adana.
Earlier this month twin bomb attacks hit the regional headquarters of Turkey's pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) in Adana and neighbouring Mersin, injuring more than half a dozen people.
Political tensions are running high in Turkey ahead of the election, with the AKP seeking to hold on to the dominance it has maintained since it first swept to power in 2002.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants the party to win a two-thirds parliamentary majority to change the constitution and create a presidential system.
But some opinion polls have indicated it may struggle to find a simple majority.
A female candidate from Turkey’s main opposition party running in next month’s parliamentary election was wounded in a gun attack Tuesday, as concerns grow over the levels of violence ahead of the poll.
Elif Dogan Turkmen, standing for the Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the southern province of Adana, was on her way to a breakfast gathering with businessmen in Cukurova district when she was shot three times, provincial governor Mustafa Buyuk said.
“She was shot in the knees, but her injuries are not life threatening,” Buyuk told the official Anatolia news agency.
Buyuk said the attack does not appear to be political, but said the authorities were investigating “all possible motives”.
He said the assailants had fled with a rental car used in the attack but that the vehicle had later been found abandoned and that the suspects were at large.
CCTV images published by Dogan news agency showed a man pointing a gun at Turkmen, 53, at the entrance of what appears to be a restaurant.
It was the latest in a string of attacks against party members in the run-up to an increasingly tense June 7 election, with many incidents in Adana.
On Saturday, a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate, Ramazan Demir, was stabbed in the stomach by two drunken assailants while campaigning in Adana.
Earlier this month twin bomb attacks hit the regional headquarters of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in Adana and neighbouring Mersin, injuring more than half a dozen people.
Political tensions are running high in Turkey ahead of the election, with the AKP seeking to hold on to the dominance it has maintained since it first swept to power in 2002.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants the party to win a two-thirds parliamentary majority to change the constitution and create a presidential system.
But some opinion polls have indicated it may struggle to find a simple majority.
