Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan saluting his ruling party members, July 1, 2014. Photo by AP
Text size

Turkish police detained an armed man who was trying to approach Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Black Sea province of Samsun, the Hurriyet Daily reported Sunday.

The unnamed person joined a group of lawmakers from Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, who were accompanying the prime minister on an official visit to Canikli district, according to the paper. Erdogan was apparently unaware of the entire incident.

A bodyguard noticed the man had a gun and immediately removed him. The police detained him and ascertained that he was neither a policeman nor an officer.

Last month, Turkish newspaper Aksam reported that police had arrested an armed man caught approaching Prime Minister Erdogan's car during a ceremony in Istanbul.