Turkish opposition journalist beaten with baseball bats amid Istanbul election tensions

Journalist Yavuz Selim Demirag was beaten up by about five or six people with baseball bats after appearing on a TV show on Friday.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab & agencies

11 May, 2019

Demirag was beaten up by about five or six people with baseball bats [Twitter]

A journalist critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government and its nationalist allies has been hospitalised after being attacked outside his home.

The Yenicag newspaper said on Saturday that columnist Yavuz Selim Demirag was beaten up by about five or six people with baseball bats after appearing on a TV show on Friday.

The reason for the attack was not known but it comes amid tensions over the top electoral authority's decision to cancel the results of the March 31 mayoral race for Istanbul, which was won by the opposition.

The Turkish electoral authority ordered a revote to take place on June 23.

Erdogan's party says the Istanbul vote was marred by fraud but the opposition says the electoral board was pressured by the government, which desperately wants to hold on to power in Turkey's largest city.

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