The device was reportedly discovered in the small city of Nusaybin, on the Syrian border, from which the officer had been due to drive 200 km (125 miles) northeast to Siirt, where Erdogan later addressed an outdoor audience.

The car was parked at the officer’s home in Nusaybin. The bomb was defused and an investigation was launched, Anadolu reported.

Hamza Dag, deputy chair of Erdogan’s ruling AK Party, said police had delayed releasing the information to avoid a public backlash.

In his speech in Siirt, Erdogan said he hoped that volatile foreign-exchange and inflation rates would stabilize soon, after a historic selloff in the Turkish currency, the lira.