The building of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Bolu province in the Black Sea region has now been attacked for the third time within three days. When the attackers failed to break the door, they shed a flammable liquid and tried to set the building on fire. Although the door was damaged, as nobody was in the building, human losses could be prevented.

Police: They are drunks who do not know what they are doing

Ibrahim Yolci, co-chair of the HDP in Bolu, said someone had tried to distribute flammable gel on the door after he left the building Wednesday evening. Thursday morning, Yolci was called to the police for testimony because two people were in custody following the attack. With regard to those arrested, the police said: "These were just drunks who did not know what they were doing. One never knows what to do with such people."

Speaking to the MA news agency, Yolci said, "There is no security for our lives here, but we will continue working despite all the repression."

Deputy Governor: Your members are being arrested for terror

The HDP politician also reports on a conversation with state authorities: "After the election campaign kicked off, there was a meeting with the governor, gendarmerie and the police, attended by representatives of all parties. We agreed on where the parties could put their flags, shook hands and left the meeting. After we, like all the other parties, hung our flags on our party building, the attacks began. At the same time our flags were burned".

Then Yolci went to the governor’s office and spoke with the deputy governor about the threats. "I went to the Deputy Governor together with our MP candidates. During the conversation, he told us, "The leaders of your party are imprisoned for terror. There are 290 people of you here who are detained for terror. Because you do not distance yourself from terror, there is a certain sensitivity here. We were also told that we should not hang our flags. We reminded him that we are a political party and left his office. Actually, we wanted to achieve something for our safety."

Another attack after the meeting with Deputy Governor

Twenty minutes after leaving the governor’s office, HDP candidate Gönül Baş was attacked while shopping in the city center, Yolci said, adding, "And lastly they tried to set our building on fire."

Yolci pointed out that the majority of the population In Bolu are angry at the attacks, "The people here are uneasy about the attacks, not about us. They want us, like all other parties, to run our election campaign."

Lawyer: We will file a lawsuit

Meanwhile, the HDP headquarters sent attorney Raziye Turgut to the city to file a lawsuit. Turgut explained that the attacks are organized. "I will file a lawsuit on behalf of all party members who have experienced attacks to date. We have the information that the candidate of the MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) was involved in the burning of HDP flags. We will report all attackers as well as the security forces for neglecting their duties and denying them punishment. We also demand protection for the party members threatened with their lives."