[WorldCase] Bulgarian opposition leader attempted gas gun attack
On January 19, 2013, the "Attempted Gas Gun Terror Attack on the Bulgarian Opposition Leader" occurred in Sofia, Bulgaria, targeting Ahmed Dogan, the leader of the opposition party Movement for Rights and Freedoms at the time. The incident began when a young man stormed the stage while Dogan was giving a speech in Sofia, aiming a self-defense gas gun at Dogan’s head. However, the gun misfired, and Dogan quickly reacted, turning the situation around. The two exchanged a brief glance, but in the end, the attacker was subdued and dragged out of the venue. This moment became a viral meme on YouTube for a while.
The attacker, Oktay Enimehmedov, was a 25-year-old young man of Turkish descent from Burgas, a city near the Black Sea in Bulgaria. He was a member of an anti-party group called "I Hate Dogan," and had a criminal history involving drug possession, theft, and assault. The gas gun he used was a self-defense weapon with no ammunition, and despite pulling the trigger twice, it misfired. Experts analyzed that even if the gun had fired, it was unlikely to pose a lethal threat to Dogan. Enimehmedov was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison in February 2014, and his sentence was reduced to 2 years of house arrest after an appeal.
This incident was not just an assassination attempt, but it left many suspicions. Many Bulgarians believe that Dogan orchestrated the event as a staged act to gain sympathy. The first reason is that in Bulgarian politics, politicians sometimes stage terror or assassination attempts to gain public sympathy. The second reason is that despite being sentenced to prison, Enimehmedov's punishment was seen as unusually light. The third reason is that Enimehmedov, who was once a youth member of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, entered the venue without obstruction by presenting his party membership card. This raised suspicions that Dogan himself might have been behind the incident.
After the event, Dogan resigned from his position as party leader, but continued to exert political influence. Even more than 10 years later, he has been fiercely blocking the adoption of renewable energy in Bulgaria through members of parliament from his party. This action has benefited the oil and coal companies in which Dogan is a major shareholder, further intensifying suspicions about the true nature of the incident.
