Member of ruling party shot dead at cemetery in Turkey - photo

Head of the district branch of the Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP) Mehmet Direk, as well as his son and nephew, were killed in an attack at a cemetery in the southeastern province of Batman.

This was reported by the newspaper Cumhuriyet.

“I learned with deep sorrow that a member of the party leadership, our colleague Mehmet Direk, as well as his son Erkan Direk and his nephew Abu Bakr Direk, were killed as a result of an armed attack at the city cemetery,” said the chairman of the regional branch of the party, Hussein Shansi, on X.

According to the newspaper, the incident occurred in the regional district of Güneykent. An unknown militant or group of militants opened fire on Mehmet, Erkan, and Abu Bakr. All three were killed.

As Cumhuriyet reports, the police cordoned off the scene and launched a large-scale operation to detain the suspects.