Gunman attempts to shoot Turkish journalist outside court, wife saves him

The gunman opened fire on Dundar and yelled 'traitor'.

Istanbul, Turkey:

An unidentified armed man attempted to shoot a Turkish journalist turned editor-in-chief of a leading opposition newspaper outside a court in Turkey's capital Istanbul. As the assailant pointed the gun at the journalist, his wife intervened and saved her husband from the gunman.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Can Dundar had been to the court for a trial of a case in which he had been accused of exposing the state's secrets.

He and his partner in crime have been convicted of treason.

After the trial, Dundar left the courtroom with his co-defendant and his wife, Dilek when he was brutally attacked by a man.

The gunman opened fire on Dundar and yelled 'traitor'. Dundar luckily survived the attack because of his wife, Dilek.

Dilek bravely fought off the assailant and protected her husband from him. The video footage shows the armed man with a silver pistol threatening Sundar and accusing him of stealing state's secrets.

'I don't know who the attacker is but I know who encouraged him and made me a target,' Dundar was quoted as saying after the brutal attack.

Watch: Turkish journalist's wife fights off armed assailant:

For exposing the state's secrets, Sundar and his partner have been sentenced to five years in prison on the charges of treason.

Police officials rushed to the spot and managed to get hold of the attacker who was later identified as a history-sheeter.