Two Turkish Multiple Martial Artists (MMA) have been awarded in Austria for their heroism during the recent terror attack in Austria. Mikail Ozen and Recep Gultekin saved the lives of two people, a woman and a police officer, by dragging them to safety as the gunman shot at people sitting in cafes and walking down the street.
Recep Gultekin himself was shot through the calf as he made the brave move to help others. He is expected to make a full recovery. The two men had been going out for a coffee just hours before Austria was due to lockdown again due to an ever-increasing number of CoVid-19 cases.
They were awarded a certificate for bravery which was delivered by the Turkish Ambassador to Austria.
Ozen, speaking to German newspaper, Bild, said of his experience:
"We ducked, ran in a zigzag, from the subway exit to the next telephone booth. We didn't think about the dangers. We just had to do something. We had to help. Everyone wants to know if I'm okay."
Five people died and twenty-two others were injured when Kujtim Fejzulai, 22, opened fire as part of an ISIS attack. He was armed with a rifle, pistol and machete and desired to kill as many as possible. He was eventually shot dead by Austrian police. Some of the injured remain in hospital.
It was later revealed that the gunman had already been jailed in Austria for terror-related offences. He was imprisoned for 22 months in April 2019 for attempting to go to Syria to fight for ISIS, he was however paroled after just 7 months after convincing authorities that he had changed his beliefs and wished to be a contributing member of society.
A great fear of security services in Europe is that many fighters who trained and fought in Iraq and Syria during the reign of ISIS have now returned to Europe and will seek to carry out further attacks now that the organisation has been destroyed in the Middle East.
COMMENTS