Opposition politician’s attacker affiliated with Turkish gov’t ally

The man arrested for the attack on centre-right opposition Good Party (İYİP) Istanbul provincial chairman Buğra Kavuncu is affiliated with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), BirGün reported on Saturday.

The attacker, Sinan Oral, is seen in photos posted by local branches of the MHP, which is part of the People’s Alliance along with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Oral was detained on Friday and arrested after facing a judge later on Saturday.

In social media posts from August last year, MHP Silivri district administrator Zafer Yalçın and chairman for MHP’s youth organisation in Istanbul, Erhan Özkök, are seen congratulating Oral for launching a new business.

AKP'li yöneticiler İYİ Partili Buğra Kavuncu'ya saldıran Sinan Oral için İYİ Parti üyesi diyerek tweet atıp sildiler, troller her yere saldırgan İYİP'li diye yazdı. Sonuç olarak saldırgan MHP Silivri üyesi çıktı, tabii ki troller yine de yazdıklarını silmedi pic.twitter.com/OD87Dy7bar

— S.YY.H ❂ (@4yuzkirk4) August 21, 2021

Oral said in his testimony that he was not encouraged by anybody, and that he acted out of his own volition “as an ationalist person”.

“I didn’t like him because of his social media posts. I swung my arm at him and then took a taxi to flee the scene. I wasn’t told to do this. This was not planned, it developed spontaneously,” Oral said.

Meanwhile, one of the two lawyers Oral hired for his defence was Utku Güler, a member of MHP’s Bakırköy district branch, Cumhuriyet newspaper reported.

Oral’s other lawyer, Atilla Recephan Diler, had also defended some of the 20 men who attacked journalist Levent Gültekin in March, Cumhuriyet said. Diler has also posed for photos with MHP’s leader Devlet Bahçeli.

Levent Gültekin ve İYİ Parti İstanbul İl Başkanı Buğra Kavuncu'ya saldıranların avukatının aynı olduğu ortaya çıktı. O avukatın adı Atilla Recephan Diler. Diler'in MHP Lideri Devlet Bahçeli ile de fotoğrafları bulunuyor. pic.twitter.com/DwCe15Ejl3

— Zagreb Radyosu (@zagrebradyonet) August 21, 2021