HDP says co-chair Demirta? escapes assassination attempt

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirta? was targeted by an assassination attempt while travelling in his official vehicle but escaped unharmed, the HDP said Nov. 23.
  
Demirta? was in an armored vehicle in the southeastern province of Diyarbak?r late on Nov. 22 when it was hit by a single bullet at head height, the party said in a statement.
  
However, the Diyarbak?r Governor's Office denied that he had been the target of an assassination attempt or that the car was hit by gunfire.
  
Demirta? "survived the assassination attempt unharmed thanks to the bullet-proof vehicle [in which] he was riding," the pro-Kurdish HDP said on its official Twitter feed.
  
Meanwhile, the F?rat News Agency (ANF) said neither Demirta? nor his guards had heard a shot being fired but noticed the bullet mark when getting out of the car at the end of the journey.
  
There was also no indication that any bullet or cartridge had been found at the scene.
  
In a statement, the governor's office said the car had been examined by authorities and that a mark three centimeters in width and height had been found on the left side of the rear window.
  
But it said no sign had been found that this was caused by "any kind of firearm" and it had in fact been produced by a "collision with a very hard object."
  
The statement said Demirta? had been given police protection throughout his stay in Diyarbak?r and during this time "no kind of attack against him or against his vehicle has been realized."

Speaking to daily Hürriyet, HDP Deputy S?rr? Süreyya Önder raised the possibility that the assailants might have attacked the car while it was parked in order to intimidate the leader of the party.