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SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgarian police detained a man after he pointed a gas pistol at an ethnic Turkish party leader as he was delivering
a speech at a party caucus in the capital Saturday. No shots were fired.
The video from the Saturday event in Sofia shows the man climbing the podium where Ahmed Dogan, the leader of the Movement for Rights
and Freedoms, was speaking, and pointing the gun to his face.
Dogan struck the man before he could pull the trigger, while other delegates wrestled the assailant to the ground. TV footage showed
several people punching, kicking and stomping on the man when he was on the ground.
Police arrested him and took him to a hospital. It wasn't immediately clear if he sustained serious injuries, or how he got past
security to enter the hall with nearly 3,000 people attending.
Eventually, the attacker was identified by police as 25-year-old Oktai Enimehmedov, a Bulgarian national and ethnic Turk, from the
coastal city of Burgas. He was carrying the gas pistol and two knives. A gas pistol is a non-lethal weapon used for self-defense, but
experts say when fired from close range it can cause life-threatening injuries.
Interior Minister Tsvevtan Tsvetanov told journalists that the assailant had a criminal record for drugs possession, robberies and
hooliganism.
The liberal MRF party mainly represents ethnic Turks and other Muslims in Bulgaria, who make up 12 percent of its 7.3-million
population.
The conference had to elect a new leader to succeed Dogan, who is one of the Balkan country's most influential political figures. The
58-year-old has been at the helm of the party since founding it in 1990.
Lyutvi Mestan, who was expected to become the new party leader, said "the true reason for the assault was the language of hatred and
confrontation."
Saturday's assault was the gravest attack on a politician in post-communist Bulgaria after the 1996 killing of ex-prime Minister
Andrei Lukanov.
