Court arrests three over armed assault attempt targeting Eskişehir mayor

A court in the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir has ordered the arrest of three suspects for the armed assault attempt targeting Eskişehir Mayor Yılmaz Büyükerşen on July 29.

Earlier, five suspects had been referred to court over the attempted attack.

The court ordered the arrest of retired police officer Mahfuz Banlı, his nephew Yunus Mehmetoğlu and Yunus Emre Aksoy, while the two other suspects Mustafa Çetiner and Aydın Tekin were released on probation.

Büyükerşen escaped an attempted armed assault on July 29 after he had a quarrel with the owner of a coffee shop in the Eski Bağlar neighborhood. The person next to the manager drew his gun and attempted to physically beat the mayor, who was immediately moved away from the scene by locals.

Büyükerşen stated that the incident was carried out by a "would-be mafia" motivated by rent-seeking ambitions. 

"I have just recently found out that these people [attackers] have undertaken various acts, including extorting money from people. There is no importance in their attack against me. What matters is that - whichever party we are from - we see the big picture and avert such gangs and mafias. We need to see where these come from," he said, vowing that he would "never be discouraged" by such attempts.