01:40Turkey: Witness recounts attack on Radiohead album release event
Several fans of British band Radiohead were attacked in Istanbul, Friday, during a presentation of the band's new album at a record store in the city.
The group of music fans gathered for the event in the store, when unknown people broke into the premises, damaging equipment and beating the fans. Victims reported that there were at least 20 men, armed with pipes and empty bottles, involved in the attack.
A Briton who witnessed the scene suspected residents of Istanbul's Tophane neighbourhood of attacking the record store, in comments he made during a statement to the press outside the store. "There are some guys round here in Tophane who are kind of thugs. And they like to go and beat up people and they smash things up. They've had a few art galleries that opened this year and last year, and these guys didn't like the idea of them drinking wine on the street, so they smashed the art galleries," the man stated.
It is still unclear, how many people were injured in the struggle. Radiohead issued an official statement, sending "love and support" to their fans. "We hope that someday we will be able to look back on such acts of violent intolerance as things of the ancient past," they added in their statement, in reference to allegations that the attack was carried out by persons offended by the consumption of alcohol during Ramadan.
01:40Several fans of British band Radiohead were attacked in Istanbul, Friday, during a presentation of the band's new album at a record store in the city.
The group of music fans gathered for the event in the store, when unknown people broke into the premises, damaging equipment and beating the fans. Victims reported that there were at least 20 men, armed with pipes and empty bottles, involved in the attack.
A Briton who witnessed the scene suspected residents of Istanbul's Tophane neighbourhood of attacking the record store, in comments he made during a statement to the press outside the store. "There are some guys round here in Tophane who are kind of thugs. And they like to go and beat up people and they smash things up. They've had a few art galleries that opened this year and last year, and these guys didn't like the idea of them drinking wine on the street, so they smashed the art galleries," the man stated.
It is still unclear, how many people were injured in the struggle. Radiohead issued an official statement, sending "love and support" to their fans. "We hope that someday we will be able to look back on such acts of violent intolerance as things of the ancient past," they added in their statement, in reference to allegations that the attack was carried out by persons offended by the consumption of alcohol during Ramadan.