Ahmet Doğan, a Bulgarian politician of Turkish ethnicity and the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (HÖH), survived an assassination attempt on Saturday when an armed man tried to shoot at him during a party congress.
An armed assailant approached Doğan as he was speaking during HÖH's 8th Ordinary Congress in Sofia. The man was luckily prevented from shooting at Doğan by the politicians' guards. Doğan was reported to be fine after the incident.

During his speech, Doğan was expected to announce that he was leaving his post and to lend support for HÖH Deputy Chairman Lütfi Mestan.

Mestan strongly condemned the incident and said “democracy is under threat in Bulgaria.” “No matter who staged this attack, the motive behind it is hateful statements against our party. Thank God, this attempt was unsuccessful, but we would like to once again underline that democracy is under threat in Bulgaria. Some circles are trying to demonize Doğan and our party,” Mestan said in initial comments.

Doğan and his party has been a constant target of almost all right wing parties, from center-right to racist ones in Bulgaria.

Founded to protect of Turkish minorities in Bulgaria, HÖH is a party whose members are mainly Turks.

Eyewitnesses said the assailant was about to put his gun on the head of Doğan when he was captured by the guards.

The attacker, identified as Oktay Hasanov Yenimehmedov (25) was arrested immediately after the assassination attempt. His motive for the attack is still unclear.

Lack of security measures were blamed for the unsuccessful attempt. Party members in the congress complained that the attacker not stopped before approaching Doğan.

Turkey's Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Tekirdağ deputy Bülent Belen, who also attended the congress to represent his party, said they witnessed a “security scandal.”

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu condemned the incident in a statement he released on Saturday. “We strongly condemn every kind of tyranny, violence and fascist pressure on democracy,” he said. He said “politicians cannot be stopped by guns” in democracies.

CHP Deputy Chairman Faik Öztrak and representatives from the European Parliament were also present at the congress, which was attended by some 1,500 party members.