Turkey Detains 2 More Suspects Over Attack on Opposition Daily Journalist

The Turkish authorities have detained two people in connection with the assassination attempt on the Cumhuriyet opposition newspaper's chief editor outside an Istanbul courthouse after a trial against him, local media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Friday, Cumhuriyet’s editor-in-chief Can Dundar escaped unharmed when a man fired two shots at his legs, calling him a "traitor." The incident took place during a break at the fourth hearing on an espionage case against Dundar and Cumhuriyet's Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul. A reporter for the NTV broadcaster was wounded in the leg.

Later on Friday, Turkish police detained a suspected gunman. Two new suspects were detained on Saturday, the Dogan news agency said.

Dundar and Gul were arrested and placed in pre-trial detention in November 2015 for publishing an incriminating article and footage in the Cumhuriyet on May 29. Their investigation concluded that Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) trucks had carried containers with artillery shells, machine gun rounds and mortar shells to Syrian rebels.

The court sentenced on Friday the two prominent journalists to over five years in jail each for revealing state secrets.