News / Turkey

Turkish cop swears at, punches reporter on May Day: Video

Saturday, 02 May 2015 9:08 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 03 May 2015 7:31 AM ]

A screen grab taken from a video uploaded on Turkey's Today Zaman daily shows Ömer Parıltı, the deputy chief of the Aksaray Police Department, mistreating a journalist on May 1, 2015.

A new video shows the deputy chief of the police department in Turkey’s central Aksaray province mistreating a journalist during May Day demonstrations.

The video uploaded on Turkey’s Today Zaman daily on Friday showed Ömer Parıltı attacking a press member covering the event.

The policeman held the reporter’s camera, swore at him, punched him in the face and then left the scene.

The chief of the Aksaray Police Department was forced later to apologize to the journalist on behalf of his deputy.

The demonstration was held by members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) to mark May Day, which falls on the anniversary of a bloody violence in Turkey on May 1, 1977, during which unknown gunmen opened fire on a peaceful crowd, killing dozens of people in Istanbul’s Taksim Square.

A similar protest was also held in Istanbul, where Turkish police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowds.

The clashes erupted in the Besiktas district of the western port city. The protesters were reportedly heading for the Taksim Square when police blocked their way.