World Bulletin / News Desk

Presidential candidate Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu was rushed away from a mosque in Istanbul after police fired a warning shot following tension between a group of people waiting at mosque's courtyard.

The gunshot came as Ihsanoglu, the joint candidate of the Republican People’s Party and the Nationalist Movement Party, was due to make a statement at the Haci Husrev mosque in Istanbul’s Eyup district on Wednesday evening. After the speech he had been due to attend the mosque's iftar, the evening meal that breaks the daily fast during Ramadan.

In tense scenes, a police officer fired the warning shot to disperse the crowd. The nature of the tension was not clear.

Mehmet Bulent Karatas, Istanbul provincial chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party, was waiting to speak with Ihsanoglu as he was spirited away.

He claimed the police were stopping people meeting the presidential candidate. "The security forces were making efforts to prevent people getting close to Ihsanoglu," he said.

Ihsanoglu described the incident as "unpleasant" in a statement. He is currently touring Turkey ahead of next month’s presidential election.