A Turkish general has refused to shake hands with a newly elected mayor from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Turkish news site İnternet Haber reported on Tuesday.
Footage showed Brigadier General Özgür Nuhut shaking hands with passing dignitaries before refusing to clasp the hand of HDP Mayor of Kars Ayhan Bilgen during a celebration of the April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day.
Bilgen won the east Turkish city from the far-right Nationalist Movement Party in the local elections on March 31.
HDP’s online social media account sent a tweet said,
“The hand that you refused to shake is the will of the people of Kars. This disrespectful behaviour done to Bilgen but also people of Kars.”