Senior HDP deputy left with fractured back after traffic accident during election campaign

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Meral Danış-Beştaş, deputy chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) parliamentary group, was injured in a traffic accident late yesterday (April 13) in the Karayazı district of Erzurum, eastern Turkey.

Pulled out of the damaged car by firefighters, Danış-Beştaş was taken to the district hospital together with the driver of the car, Mehmet Vefa.

Shortly after the incident, HDP officials said Danış-Beştaş was not in a life-threatening condition but was under medical attention due to pain in her back, which was caused by a fracture.

At around 4 a.m., she was taken to the İbni Sina Research and Training Hospital in Ankara, the capital, by a medical helicopter.

A Green Left (Yeşil Sol) Party candidate from Erzurum, Danış-Beştaş visited the city for election campaigning ahead of the May 14 polls.

Facing a closure case, the HDP will run in the elections under the Green Left Party. (AEK/VK)