Turkish minister punched in the face

Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz has been attacked in the central province of Kayseri.

According to a report published by the newspaper Today's Zaman, on Tuesday Yildiz was punched in the face by an assailant during a funeral of a Turkish soldier killed in a military operation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the eastern province of Sirnak.

Yildiz suffered a broken nose and deep cuts in his forehead and was hospitalized after the assault.

“This is the fist of the Turkish nation; here comes the initiative,” the attacker reportedly said while punching Yildiz's face.

The government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched what it calls a comprehensive approach to settle Turkey's long-standing Kurdish issue.

However, some nationalist circles describe the initiative as a project to divide the country.

The attacker was detained by the police and later identified as Sahin Simsek. Media reports said that four other people suspected of involvement in the assault were also arrested.

A similar incident took place in the Black Sea province of Samsun last week as the former leader of the banned Democratic Society Party, Ahmet Turk, was punched in the face and had his nose broken after reading a press statement in front of a courthouse. The police chief of the province was temporarily removed from his post over the attack.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123904§ionid=351020204.