Tarkan tried to joke with the man, who had another mask lowered on his chin, that they wouldn’t let him in if he didn’t follow the rules.
However the attacker took offence, and between five and 10 minutes later he and an accomplice chased the victim and his friend as they walked away from the situation.
‘It happened so quickly,’ Tarkan told Metro.co.uk.
‘We were walking down the road to another chip shop to try and take the sting out of the situation, but out of the blue they ran after us and started attacking me. One of them hit me and they started throwing chairs.
‘I tried to defend myself but they charged into me. One of them hit me in the eye and I stumbled back. I heard one of them say, “I done him”.
‘One of the witnesses has since said that he had some kind of implement in his hand, I don’t know what it was, it could have been a knife or a pole or knuckleduster, but that’s what he hit me in the face with.
‘It’s left me with a ruptured eyeball and fractured my eye socket.
‘Just from trying to be friendly I’ve suddenly been attacked. I’ve done nothing wrong, I’ve said nothing wrong and I was walking away, they were just out looking for trouble.’
Both men, thought to be aged in their 20s, ran off after the attack.
The self-employed builder spent five days in hospital and needed surgery, and has been told by medics that he will never see out of his right eye again. He is due to have a prosthetic replacement fitted and a metal plate inserted in his cheekbone.
