Five people were slightly injured in a racially motivated attack on a Green Left Party van in the southern Turkish coastal province of Mersin. One party worker suffered bleeding and was taken to hospital for treatment.

The attack took place on Sunday afternoon in the district of Tarsus. The Green Left Party vehicle had stopped at a red light on Atatürk Street in the Yeni Mahalle neighborhood when a mob of about 20 people stormed out of an election office of the ultranationalist MHP and started chanting hate speech. The attackers, armed with clubs and knives, then beat the speaker's van and five of its occupants through open windows. They also slashed several tires.  

The vehicle was carrying a total of seven Green Left Party workers, including a woman. The party's local branch said the attack was witnessed by numerous police officers patrolling the area near the centre, but that they did not intervene. "This is not a small scuffle based on different political views, but an attempted lynching. It was only due to the quick reaction of the driver that the loudspeaker van was maneuvered into a safe area and our team escaped this lynching attempt," the statement said.

According to the statement, the riot police not only remained idle during the assault, but also refused to file a report. “It was only at the Tarsus police station that the reports were received, but only very reluctantly. The police let the mob do what it wanted and stood by and did nothing.”

The HDP, which is contesting the parliamentary and presidential elections on 14 May under the banner of the Green Left Party, said that the attacks and acts of violence against the opposition were planned and coordinated. “The political responsibility lies with the rulers and their spokespersons who switch from hate speech to hate speech. Provocation, escalation and stoking fear of the invented enemy are meant to polarize society and stigmatize individual groups. The incumbent government's fear of defeat endangers the security of voters," stressed the HDP, which also condemned the attack on Ekrem Imamoğlu.

Several people were injured by stones thrown during an appearance by Ekrem Imamoğlu, the mayor of the metropolis of Istanbul, on Sunday in the province of Erzurum. The CHP politician said in a video posted on Twitter on Sunday evening that a group of people had thrown stones at him while he was giving a speech from the roof of his campaign bus. Several members of the audience were injured. The CHP circulated pictures showing people with injuries to their heads, including at least one child.

Imamoğlu accused the police of deliberately doing nothing. He said it was a provocation that the people of Erzurum had nothing to do with. Videos showed that the rally site was blocked by dozens of buses and other municipal vehicles belonging to the AKP-ruled municipality. Earlier, the CHP had complained that authorities had tried to deliberately prevent the Erzurum rally from taking place.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, known for his verbal attacks, wrote in the first reaction on Twitter: "Ekrem Imamoğlu, who calls the people in Erzurum provocateurs, is himself a provocateur." In the evening, he repeated his remarks on the pro-government channel Ülke TV and instructed the Turkish Election Committee (YSK) to take action against Imamoğlu. Numerous supporters welcomed him at Sabiha Gökçen Airport.

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu condemned the attack on Twitter and called on party members to remain calm. He accused the government of working with the mafia and militants, saying: "Their aim is to scare people and keep them away from the polls." Kılıçdaroğlu is running in the presidential election as the joint candidate of the "Table of Six", an alliance of six opposition parties from different political camps, and is supported by the HDP and Green Left Party. In the event of a victory over Erdoğan, Imamoğlu is to become vice-president.