An assassination attempt targeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was foiled on Saturday, the country’s official media reported.
According to Turkey’s official TRT news agency, police officers tasked with securing a rally attended by Erdogan in the city of Sirte discovered and defused an explosive device placed under a vehicle parked at the site of the rally.
The assassination attempt was apparently foiled at the last minute.
As Turkey plunges deeper into a severe economic crisis — its currency lost more than 45 percent of its value against the dollar since the start of the year — latest polls show Erdogan to be increasingly unpopular.
Ankara also appears increasingly isolated on the international scene, with its relations with the European Union and NATO particularly strained.
source: i24NEWS