Assassination attempt on Erdogan foiled in Kutahya

An assassination attempt on PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's life was foiled in the city of Kutahya yesterday. PM Erdogan, who was visiting Kutahya in honor of the first day back to school ceremonies, had just finished speaking at the opening of the 2005-2006 school year for Kutahya's Linyit Primary School when a man approached his delegation screaming "What are you doing here? We have lost men in fighting for the past 25 years!" When police surrounded the man to quiet him, they discovered a home-made gun on him, hidden in a loaf of bread he had been carrying in a pink plastic bag. The man, 32 year old Mustafa Bagdat, apparently admitted on questioning that he had planned to "use all of the bullets in the gun." There were eight bullets found in the gun. Bagdat is thought to have traveled from Mersin to Kutahya, and it was also indicated that he maintained close ties with extreme nationalistic organizations. Said Bagdat, "I am a strong patriot. Our soldiers are dying every day while our government does nothing. I am very disturbed by this, which is why I had this reaction."  On his way to the US last night for meeting, PM Erdogan responded relaxedly to reporters' questions about whether he had been scared by the apparent attempt on his life: "Incidents like these are not foreign to my experience, they happen." Â