The International Press Institute (IPI) strongly condemns the armed attack against reporter Ebru Uzun Oruç and her partner and cameraman Barış Oruç after receiving threats from ultra-nationalist groups in response to her street interviews series on Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli. We call on Turkish authorities to fully investigate this attack and hold those responsible to account.

On August 15, Oruç and her husband, who conduct street interviews on politics, the economy, and other developments in the country on the YouTube news channel “Sokak Kedisi TV” were attacked by two armed assailants on the street in Istanbul while conducting street interviews. Oruç posted on social media the same day condemning the attack and reporting that they were uninjured.

Oruç told IPI she initially believed two assailants were involved in the attack. However, a police investigation using street cameras showed that there were four people involved, including an observer and a getaway car driver. The two direct assailants identified by the police were briefly detained and released after the initial interrogation.

Speaking to IPI, Oruç said they had been receiving thousands of threats through social media after publishing the sixth episode of their interview series titled “Seni Sorduk (We asked about you)” which focused on MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli. Oruç added that they were openly targeted by a number of MHP officials and MPs on social media and that a majority of the threats they received appeared to be connected to accounts linked to the ultra-nationalist “Grey Wolves” group.