SOFIA
An ethnic Turkish politician in Bulgaria escaped an assassination attempt Saturday while he was delivering a speech during a congress of his party in capital Sofia.
The assailant, who was identified as a 25-year-old Oktay Hasanov Yenimehmedov from the Black Sea city of Bourgas, climbed to the podium as Ahmed Dogan, head of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), was addressing his party members and pointed his gun to MRF leader's face.
A close up video image shows the assailant pulling the trigger but the weapon did not fire, and just seconds later he was knocked down by party members to the ground.
They captured the assailant after a brief on-podium scuffle and handed him over to the security forces. Police later detained him.
MRF's Deputy Chairman Lutfi Mestan said Dogan was in good condition.
MRF represents Bulgaria's nearly 600,000 ethnic Turks who make up 8.8 percent of the population.
