Man Shoots Politician In Legs With Assault Rifle

Story BySibel AbdiuSub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyAsia Wire Report

WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT

Video Credit: AsiaWire

This is the moment a politician is ambushed in the street and shot in both legs by a man armed with an assault rifle.

Suleyman Sarikaya, 55, was returning with shopping from a local bakery when he was attacked in the town of Menderes in western Turkey’s Izmir Province.

CCTV security cameras captured the moment a man armed with what appears to be a large, M16-like assault rifle jumps out of a white car and runs up to him. 

Pictures Credit: AsiaWire

The gunman shoots Mr Sariyaka in both legs at point blank range and then jumps back into his car and drives off.

Mr Sariyaka is seen lying on the ground unable to get up before passersby eventually come to his aid.

The injured man is a member of Turkey’s ruling party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), who is standing for a seat on the local council in elections on March 31st.

A local man, named only by police as Mehmet O., later handed himself into to a police station in the town and reportedly admitted responsibility for the attack.

Mr Sariyaka, who works in the local tourism industry, had previous dealings with the man, according to his lawyer, Ciler Nazife Kosar.

His lawyer said she had previously made a complaint to police on behalf of her client over alleged harassment by Mehmet O.

She added: “Unfortunately, the case did not go to court and now my client has been shot. Is it necessary for him to die before anything happens?” 

Paramedics treated Mr Sariyaka at the scene before taking him by ambulance to the Katip Celebi Research and Training Hospital in the city of Izmir.

He is in the hospital’s intensive care unit and is due to undergo surgery.