Pro-Kurdish party official heavily injured in knife attack

A politician from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, or HDP, was stabbed seven times in the neck and leg by an unknown assailant, who slipped into the party’s headquarters in Ankara on Tuesday morning.

Ahmet Karakaş, a member of the party’s Executive Committee, was gravely injured in the attack. Karakaş was taken to a nearby hospital and still remains in the intensive care unit. He was reportedly in serious condition when he was hospitalized.

The assailant, who escaped from the scene immediately after the attack, was detained by the police around noon.

Ali Ürküt, another member in the Executive Committee, said that Karakaş was alone in the party’s head office when he suffered from the knife attack in the morning hours.

“He is under treatment in the hospital, but has lost a lot of blood. We found him lying on the ground covered in blood,” said Ürküt.

Karakaş still remains in a life-threatening condition.