HDP headquarters attacked by unidentified assailants

Unidentified assailants have fired on the headquarters of Turkey's Kurdish problem-focused Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP) in Ankara.

Although no casualties were reported, two bullet holes were visible on the sign at the entrance of the party headquarters in the Çankaya district after the attack on early April 18, Do?an News Agency reported.

Police launched an investigation to detain the assailants who fired on the building at 4.00 a.m. from a moving car. Security personnel of the party headquarters returned fire and the assailants fled the scene, according to Cihan news agency.

Anti-terror police and forensic experts inspected the crime scene on April 18.

As the June 7 general elections approach, tensions run high between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the HDP, which have been engaging with each other throughout the past months in the scope of Turkey's ongoing Kurdish peace bid.

The April 11 clash between Turkish security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the eastern province of A?r? strained the ties between two parties further.

The Turkish government had claimed that PKK militants were promoting HDP's election propaganda to the locals in the area.

HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirta? warned on April 10 that the AKP would try to escalate tension out of its rising sense of panic ahead of the election. "We're going into an election, not a war. As they become increasingly panicked, the party in power will try to create tension by beating the war drums," he said.