Filmmaker Muhammad Bayazid was stabbed in Istanbul Tuesday night on his way to a meeting with a potential investor for his latest movie. The upcoming film, The Tunnel, is about the Assad regime’s abuse and torture of a Syrian man in Tadmur prison. The prison, in Palmyra, is infamous for the killing of hundreds of Assad opponents in the 1980s.
His wife, Safi Bayazid, also a filmmaker, confirmed the attack on Facebook calling it an assassination attempt. She said, “Last night he was very unstable, he was stabbed in the chest close to the blood vessels that provide blood to the heart, so there was massive bleeding,” She adds, “It was a miracle that he survived.”
On Facebook she said, “Muhammad was lured into an elaborate trap by ‘benefactors’ who expressed keen interest in discussing ‘funding’ for his new film on Tadmor prison. This makes the Assad regime a prime suspect.”
This is the second time in less than a month that Syrian activists were targeted. In September, activists Orouba Barakat and her daughter Hala were found dead in their apartment with their throats cut.
More than three million Syrian refugees are living in Turkey since the start of Syria’s civil war six years ago. Those who oppose the Syrian government are feeling increasingly unsafe in Turkey as Assad’s victory is now within sight.