16:19, 31 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS. The building of a Turkish opposition party in Istanbul was hit by two bullets overnight, its leader said on Friday, in what she described as an attempt to scare party members ahead of landmark presidential and parliamentary elections next month.

There were no reports of anybody being hurt in the shooting, which targeted the Istanbul office of the IYI Party, Reuters reported.

One bullet hit the ground floor and another the third floor, IYI party leader Meral Aksener told reporters.

"This is an attempt to scare members of a political party just one month and a half before the elections. This is unacceptable. You cannot scare us but this is an insult to voters," Aksener said.

The Istanbul governor's office said the police had launched an investigation into the incident.

The IYI Party is part of a six-party opposition alliance which has nominated Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) as their candidate to challenge President Tayyip Erdogan in the May 14 elections.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a CHP member, condemned the incident and Kilicdaroglu called on authorities to investigate.

The spokesperson for Erdogan's ruling AK Party, Omer Celik, also condemned the incident.