The death toll after the tragedy that occurred this morning at a school in Turkey, following a shooting at a school in Kahramanmaraş in the southeast of the country, has now risen to 9 dead, while another 13 people were injured, several of whom remain in intensive care. The parents of the attacker, who took his own life, have been arrested as part of the investigation launched by Turkish authorities.
While the country was still reeling from the attack that occurred yesterday at a high school in Siverek (Şanlıurfa), which left 16 people injured, a similar incident shook at noon today a secondary school in the city of Kahramanmaraş, when gunshots were heard at the Ayser Çalık School, located in the Onikişubat district on the outskirts of the city. Following the incident, numerous ambulances and heavily armed special units from the gendarmerie and police rushed to the scene.
The attacker, a 14-year-old eighth-grade student at the school, entered two classrooms firing indiscriminately and ended up dying; authorities are currently working on the hypothesis that it was a suicide, although they have not ruled out the possibility that he shot himself amid the chaos. The young man was carrying five handguns and seven magazines, which he apparently obtained from his father, a former police officer.
The perpetrator of the massacre has been identified as İsa Aras Mersinli. His father, Uğur Mersinli, and later his mother, Peyman Pınar Mersinli, were arrested hours later by the police as part of the ongoing judicial investigation, to which four lead prosecutors and three assistants have been assigned. The attack also left 13 people injured, 11 of whom have already been discharged from the hospital, according to Turkish Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu, as reported by the newspaper Haber Türk.
Teachers’ unions call for the urgent suspension of all classes in Turkey
Following the horrific incident, the ministers of the Interior, Health, Family and Social Services, and Education traveled to the province of Kahramanmaraş. Türkiye’s Minister of Family and Social Services, Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, announced to the press that all necessary psychosocial support will be provided to the victims of the shooting and their families.
For its part, Turkey’s Supreme Council of Radio and Television (RTÜK) has issued a warning to the media regarding coverage of the shooting in Turkey, emphasizing that no images or traumatic content should be broadcast. Meanwhile, several education unions have announced a three-day strike following the armed attacks that occurred yesterday and today at schools in Siverek (Şanlıurfa) and Kahramanmaraş, respectively.
Ali Yalçın, president of the civil servants’ union Memur-Sen and the teachers’ union Eğitim Bir-Sen, stated that in light of the events, they have decided to extend the strike until Friday out of fear that these attacks may be repeated, and that schools throughout Turkey should be closed as a precaution: “Classes must be suspended at schools this week. Students and teachers should not attend until safety is guaranteed. The Ministry of Education must urgently close schools, including on Friday,” he insisted.
Meanwhile, as part of the investigation, authorities have identified several social media accounts that shared content inciting violence, or that glorified the perpetrators of these attacks and normalized the incidents, and have initiated legal action against those responsible for such content. The Turkish press also reported that a crowd tried to prevent the body of the young shooter, İsa Aras Mersinli, from being removed from the school, forcing it to be taken away in an armored police vehicle that had serious trouble leaving the area.
Many students jumped out the window to save their lives
The latest figures released by Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi indicate that, as a result of the attack, nine people lost their lives and thirteen were injured. Çiftçi added that eight of the deceased were students and another was a teacher at the school, initially reporting that six of the injured were in serious condition and three in critical condition. Several ministers visited the injured who were receiving treatment at various hospitals in Kahramanmaraş to see firsthand how they were doing and to gather their testimonies.
One of them was Fatma İkra Çam, a fifth-grade student who was injured in the shooting in Kahramanmaraş, who spoke to journalists during the ministers’ visit and described what she experienced during the attack on the school: “The attacker entered two classrooms and we were terrified. In the midst of the panic, I jumped out the window and broke my leg. The vice principals who were downstairs caught me. At first, we didn’t understand what was happening. Then, when we saw that my classmates were injured, everyone panicked and started jumping out the windows.”
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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