Abdullah Bozkurt*, Sweden-based a Turkish journalist living in exile, was attacked yesterday near his home in Stockholm. Bozkurt is an Executive Director of the Nordic Research Monitoring Network**. Nordic Research Monitoring Network is a non-profit organization that aims to raise awareness of radical and violent extremists.
“Within minutes of getting out of my home, one of the three men approached me behind and unexpectedly knocked me down. As I fell to the asphalt pavement, they started punching me in the face and on the head” Bozkurt said, adding that the perpetrators then ran away.
After the attack Bozkurt said; “I know this attack was meant to send me a message due to my journalistic work revealing the injustices and wrongdoings committed in Turkey … I reject this message.”
*Bozkurt is a journalist and author with over 20 years of experience in journalism. He has served in various capacities in the Turkish media as bureau chief in New York, Washington, D.C., and Ankara. His specialty is covering radical jihadist groups operating in Turkey and its neighborhood.
**Nordic Research Monitoring Network is a non-profit organization that aims to raise awareness on radical and violent extremist trends in Europe and beyond, with a specific focus on patterns that may very well disturb and disrupt social peace, harmony, and community integration. It hopes to contribute to the debate on how nations should prevent and combat radicalization with close cooperation and collaboration between all relevant stakeholders at all levels of governance including the NGO community and civil society.
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