On Sunday, the Turkish president arrived in Hungary, however, he was not welcomed wholeheartedly by everyone. To express his strong disapproval, a Hungarian man made a rather rude gesture at the controversial politician. Shortly afterwards, he was attacked by whom appeared to be the Turkish president’s security guards. He was eventually rescued by TEK (the Hungarian counter-terrorism squad) and the local police.
Hungarian man flipped the bird at Erdogan
A Hungarian man reported to Magyar Narancs that he was subjected to a brutal atrocity in Budapest. According to him, he was out taking a stroll with his son and wife from Buda to the Pest side on Sunday afternoon, when the Turkish convoy passed by on the Erzsébet Bridge. Unbothered, the family continued its way to a nearby pastry shop, but they spotted the convoy again near the Matild Palace Hotel, where they were also heading. The local man said the hotel lobby was swarmed by masked commandos, armed with machine guns, alongside several civilian Erdogan sympathisers.
“Suddenly, the Turkish president showed up in the lobby. The crowd loudly cheered him, and Erdogan smiled and waved back. Meanwhile, I raised my hands above my head to give him my middle finger. He flashed a glance at me and the smile instantly faded from his face”, recalled the man.
Erdogan’s bodyguards did not keep calm
Alarmed by his rude antics, a police officer stepped over to the hot-headed man, warning him to stop immediately what he was doing. “This is my honest opinion, we have freedom of expression in Hungary,” the man replied.
Then suddenly, three or four civilians jumped to the scene and attacked him. The man believes they must have been Erdogan’s bodyguards. At this point, everything went blur. He only remembers being dragged outside of the building while he was trying to grab the gate to hold onto.
According to the man, more and more people arrived and threw themselves at him. They brought him to the ground, kneeled on his kidneys and back and twisted his hands. Luckily, he was spared of kicks, at least. Still, he was baffled over what was going on. Finally, the TEK squad rushed to his rescue and separated him from the Turks, but he still got a few more punches on the way.
TEK worried for the Hungarian daredevil’s life
Until the police made it to the scene, the TEK members formed a semi-circle around the man to shield him from his fuming attackers. He was then ushered outside by the authorities and placed in a police car, which headed towards Buda.
“My God, where should we go,” one of the policemen asked in confusion, according to the man. He was finally taken to a place where eight or ten police cars and minibuses were parked. The victim revealed that the police and the TEK squad were very helpful, they even asked if he needed medical assistance and offered to call an ambulance.