page_title: Controversies during the November 2015 Turkish general election
section_title: Attack on Hürriyet headquarters
hierarchical_section_title: Controversies during the November 2015 Turkish general election / Political violence / Attack on Hürriyet headquarters
caption_attribution_description: English: Fire damage caused by nationalist protestors at the HDP headquarters archives department.
context_page_description: Controversies during the Turkish general election of November 2015 mainly centred on the escalating violence in the south-east and the rise in domestic terrorist attacks linked to both the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. International concerns also grew over an increase in media censorship, with the government being accused of specifically targeting news outlets known to be close to the Gülen Movement such as Kanaltürk and Bugün TV. Safety concerns due to the escalating conflict resulted in the government proposing to merge ballot boxes in affected areas and to transport them to safer locations, though the opposition criticised the move as an attempt to decrease the votes of the Peoples' Democratic Party, which polled strongly in the June 2015 general election.
context_section_description: On 6 September, a group of 200 AKP supporters attacked the headquarters of Doğan Media Centre, which houses the offices of the newspaper Hürriyet. The newspaper had published a news story about an interview with Erdoğan by another TV channel shortly after 16 soldiers were killed by roadside bombs in Dağlıca. Erdoğan's comments, which included a claim that the attacks would have never had happened had the AKP won 400 seats in the June 2015, caused uproar and the newspaper was accused by AKP supporters of misquoting the President. AKP MP and Youth Wing leader Abdurrahim Boynukalın led the mob against Hürriyet, drawing heavy criticism and subsequently being sent to court for inciting hatred and vandalism. Another attack by a group of 100 protestors on Hürriyet occurred on 8 September in both their İstanbul and Ankara headquarters, this time opening fire on the building. 6 people were arrested for the role in the attacks.
caption: The archives department of the HDP headquarters after being subject to an arson attack by Turkish nationalists in September 2015
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