Journalist Can Dundar escapes gun attack in Istanbul

By Murat Kaya Istanbul and Yunus Ege

ISTANBUL

Can Dundar, the editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, has escaped a gun attack Friday outside Istanbul's Caglayan courthouse, police said.

Dundar was on trial in Istanbul following the publication of images purporting to show arms being transported to Syria in trucks belonging to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT).

He was assaulted by a gunman outside the courthouse.

Dundar was not wounded in the attack, but a Turkish news channel - NTV - correspondent, Yagiz Senkal, was slightly injured.

Police arrested the attacker.

Earlier this week, an Istanbul prosecutor called for a prison sentence of up to 31 years for Dundar, and 10 years for Erdem Gul, the paper’s Ankara bureau chief, for revealing state secrets.

Both are charged with “revealing or gathering information belonging to state that should be classified as political or military espionage”.