03 October 2015•Update: 03 October 2015
ANKARA
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has strongly condemned Thursday's attack on a prominent Turkish journalist and television presenter outside his Istanbul home.
Davutoglu was speaking during a late night live interview on Friday on a private Turkish channel.
Amid a wide-ranging interview on terrorism and the Nov. 1 general election, Davutoglu spoke out on threats to Turkish journalists.
"Turkey is a lawful state. It does not matter who attacks who; any kind of assault against the press should be condemned," Davutoglu said.
On Oct. 1, Ahmet Hakan, a columnist for the Hurriyet daily newspaper and host of a TV show for the CNN Turk network, was assaulted by four attackers as he was about to enter his residence in the Nisantasi quarter of Sisli district.
Stating that four suspects had been apprehended, Davutoglu said:
"It does not also matter which newspaper defends what or who. We do not care if they do not defend us [the government]. But, I do not approve the accusations against the government without knowing the nature of the attack."
Davutoglu said the Turkish government cannot excuse any violence: "As a human being and an intellectual who cares more about freedom of thought, I will be against those who threaten this freedom and take sides with my opponent," he added.
CNN Turk is owned by the Dogan Media Group, which also runs many nationwide TV channels and newspapers, including Hurriyet, whose premises were the target of two attacks in early September.
On September 6 and 8, Hurriyet's premises came under attack by stone-throwing mobs.
The initial attack came after the newspaper was accused of posting a misleading tweet relating to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments on violence in Turkey and the general election.
The second attack two days later coincided with anti-PKK protests across the country following a heavy death toll among security forces personnel.
