Turkish police say no attack on Kurdish leader's car

Agencies, K24

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey -- Turkish police said on Monday that damage to the car of the co-chair of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas was not caused by gunfire after a party spokesman stated to press that Demirtas' car was hit by a bullet in an apparent assassination attempt.

The spokesman said the car's rear window was hit on Sunday as Demirtas drove through the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir (Amed).

But the city's police said analysis of damage to a rear window showed no evidence of gunfire.

"No remnants of gunfire were detected in the analysis. The assessment showed that the damage was caused by a blow from a hard object," the police statement said, adding: "There was no attack on him or his vehicle."

HDP supporters have been targeted in bomb attacks in recent months, including one in the Turkish capital, Ankara, believed to have been carried out by Islamic State sympathizers that killed more than 100 people.

Before the June 7 Turkish parliamentarian elections, a suicide bomber killed five and wounded more than 400 at a huge campaign gathering in Diyarbakir. The party's offices in the southern cities of Adana and Mersin were targeted last May in bomb attacks that wounded at least ten people.

With 59 seats it gained in the November 1 elections, HDP is the third largest party in the Turkish Parliament. It enjoys the support of large segments of Kurdish population and some leftist ethnic Turks.