Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is campaigning for presidential and parliamentary elections next month, said the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) has warned of an assassination plot against him.
"The reason I am here [now] is that I received this intelligence," Erdoğan told reporters on May 20 in Sarajevo, speaking alongside his Bosnian counterpart.
"Such threats and operations will not stop us from going forward. We will continue on our path," he added.
The information on the possible attack emerged on the threshold of Erdoğan’s visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina scheduled for Sunday. The data were obtained by Macedonian intelligence services from the Turks living in the country and transferred to the Turkish intelligence, Turkish media outlets reported.
Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister on Saturday had warned of "possible assassination threats" against Erdoğan during his Sunday visit to Bosnia.
"We know that there are some circles that are concerned over the fact that we have such a strong leader, that is why they want to kill him. There are permanent reports about planned attacks on him. Our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is not a person, who will be afraid of the threats and will change his policy. Those, who have not understood that yet, are fools," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag wrote on his Twitter page.
Erdoğan became Turkish president in 2014 after having served 11 years as the country’s prime minister. The next presidential election in Turkey is scheduled for June with Erdoğan running for the second term.
