Journalist and writer Mehmet Metiner was the target of an assassination plot. One person who allegedly prepared the plot was taken into custody. In his statement given to the police he said that he 'was thinking about killing Metiner but he called it off at the last moment because he felt regret'.

As reported by the Radikal newspaper, a person with the initials K.B. had been following Metiner for a while. The journalist, currently working as a columnist for the Star newspaper, is the Deputy Chair of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP) and also works for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a consultant.

K.B had been judicially followed for some time under allegations of "connections to the PKK", the outlawed armed Kurdistan Workers Party. Apparently, the police found out about his assassination plot against Metiner. The journalist was informed that the police was keeping guard in front of his home and increased protection measures.

The police put forward that they received information regarding a "gradual end of the ceasefire" announced by the PKK starting from 15 February. They got to know about the assassination plot because they wiretapped K.B.'s telephone, monitored his e-mails and kept track of the persons he met and the places he went.

K.B to appear before the prosecutor

It was initially planned to "catch K.B. red-handed" but the police eventually decided to raid his home in order to avoid any risk. K.B. was taken into custody on 11 February as the result of the search of his home. He is to be expected to appear before the prosecutor today (15 February).

K.B. told the police that he decided not to kill Metiner at the last moment. Asked for the reasons he replied, "Metiner's brother is a friend and Metiner is a religious person".

K.B. is alleged of having explored the area in front of Channel 24 two times, a channel Metiner is working for. He supposedly decided to shoot the journalist while driving by in a car. Moreover, he apparently attended a "bomb training of the organization", obtained an unlicensed weapon for the planned assassination and his family was disturbed by his affiliation to the illegal organization.

Metiner: This might stem from my support for the Kurdish Initiative

Metiner said that he had been warned about the assassination plot very recently.

"It is sad that an organization that demands democracy targets a person from their own people just because he does not think alike. I am not afraid. I am a writer and at the same time I am a politician", Metiner indicated.

"I approve of the policies of the Justice and Development Party and I support their Kurdish Initiative. With Prime Minister Erdoğan we have a legal system evolved from the past".

"This is probably why I was chosen as a target. I think the PKK has no place in the Kurdish issue. The ones who threaten me should be ashamed". (EÇ/EÖ/VK)