Journalist Sinan Aygül, who had been writing about the corruption and land sales of the municipality of Tatvan for a while, was targeted by a violent attack on Saturday.

Aygül wrote on his Twitter account: "I was attacked by the armed bodyguards of mayor Mehmet Emin Geylani in Tatvan a little while ago. They got out of the municipal vehicle, hit me on the head from behind, insulted and threatened me to death. I am being taken to Tatvan State Hospital."

The brutal attack by the bodyguards of the AKP mayor, Emin Geylani, was met with reactions, which eventually forced the authorities to take action.

A bodyguard of mayor Geylani, Yücel Baysal, and police officer Engin Kaplan were taken into custody on Sunday after the circulation of footage. Both were referred to court and remanded in custody for “willful injury with firearm”.