Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel was assaulted on Saturday outside the Atatürk Cultural Centre (AKM) in Istanbul, shortly after delivering a statement at the funeral ceremony of late MP and former İmralı Delegation member Sırrı Süreyya Önder.
According to eyewitness accounts, the assailant approached Özel while shouting “We are Ottoman descendants” before punching him. The attacker was quickly detained by security forces and later taken away in an ambulance after the crowd reacted strongly to the incident.
Özel, visibly shaken but unharmed, had earlier addressed the press, praising Önder’s legacy: “We lost someone very important, at a time when we needed him the most. We served together in parliament for years. He never left us with any bitter memories—only smiles, warmth and kind recollections. May he rest in peace and in light. We will miss him dearly.”
He added, “From now on, we must honour his memory not only with words, but by continuing his genuine advocacy for peace in Turkey.”
The funeral ceremony at AKM was attended by Önder’s family, friends, political colleagues, and cultural figures. Önder, a long-time advocate for Kurdish rights and peace efforts, passed away on Saturday after suffering a heart attack last month. He was a sitting İstanbul MP for the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party and a prominent figure in previous peace talks between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
CHP MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu condemned the assault, calling the attacker “a shameless provocateur” and stating, “This is unacceptable. He shouted he was an ‘Ottoman child’ while attacking a democratic political leader.”
The DEM Party condemned the assault on Özel in a statement shared on social media, describing it as “a vile attack”. The party said the incident was not only an attack on Özel personally but a provocation targeting Sırrı Süreyya Önder’s legacy, the funeral ceremony itself, and DEM Party’s pursuit of peace and democratic society. “We call on all relevant authorities to urgently investigate and expose this provocation,” the statement read, extending solidarity and well wishes to the CHP leader.
