Turan Bilen, the owner of a haberdashery, whose store was attacked and car set on fire, opened fire on the crowd.Two demonstrators were hit and killed by bullets from Bilen’s automatic rifle, while seven others were wounded. Those injured were hospitalized immediately. Bilen was detained after the incident. Muş Deputy Governor Ali Edip Budan said the group was demonstrating to protest the closure of the Democratic Society Party (DTP). He said a storekeeper who refused to shut his shop during the demonstration got into an argument with the demonstrators.
“The altercation took place between a store owner who would not close his shop and the demonstrators. Two residents were killed in the incident,” he said. Budan also stated that more police officers from Bitlis were coming to the city as reinforcements. The names of those killed were announced as Nejmi Oral and Kemal Aycan.
Illegal demonstrations continued in Bulanık throughout the day, with protestors setting vehicles parked on the city’s streets on fire and throwing Molotov cocktails.
Tuesday’s incidents in Muş were a continuation of reactions to the Constitutional Court’s Friday ruling to shut down the DTP over links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
