Ahmed Dogan, leader of a liberal party which represents the Turkish minority in Bulgaria, survived the astonishing assassination attempt while giving a speech at a conference in the capital Sofia.
The VIII National Conference of the Bulgarian centrist party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) was broken off after a man with a gun got on the stage while MRF leader Ahmed Dogan was delivering a speech.
The conference was given a 30 minute break. Some of the delegates left the hall, while others remained inside. Journalists are trying to obtain more information about the incident but so far there are no details about the identity of the attacker and how he managed to enter into the hall and get over the security guards.
At around 12:20-12:21 p.m., while Ahmed Dogan was delivering his speech before the MRF members and supporters, an armed man get on the stage and pointed a gun at Dogan. The man did not succeed in making a shot thanks to the timely reaction of the security guards, who pulled the attacker down to the floor. Then the scene was seized in some confusion and turmoil. The attacker was beaten and kicked at. Stains of blood remained on the stage after the man was taken out of the hall. MRF leader Ahmed Dogan was taken out of the hall, too, accompanied by his bodyguards.