One student was killed and seven others were injured – three of them seriously – in a knife attack this morning at a secondary school in the Başakşehir district of Istanbul, according to Turkish authorities, in yet another incident linked to violence in schools and educational establishments in Turkey.
The incident took place this morning at the entrance to the Şeyh Şamil Imam Hatip secondary school, located in the Kayabaşı neighbourhood of Başakşehir. According to several Turkish media outlets, a 15-year-old girl, identified by the initials F.M. and who was not a student at the school but attended another centre, arrived at the scene wearing her own school uniform.
For reasons that have not yet been determined and are currently under investigation, the girl began attacking pupils with a knife as they tried to enter the school grounds. During the altercation, a total of eight pupils aged between 10 and 13 were injured.
A security guard subdued the attacker
It was a woman responsible for security at the school who, upon seeing what was happening, intervened quickly and managed to subdue the attacker by grabbing her by the arm. After the emergency services were alerted, numerous medical teams and police units were dispatched to the scene. The suspect was arrested by the police and taken to a police station.
The injured pupils received initial medical treatment at the scene before being taken to a hospital. Of the eight pupils admitted, three were in a critical condition. Ultimately, despite the efforts of the medical teams, one of the injured girls died. The other seven pupils are continuing to receive treatment, although five of them are expected to be discharged today.
The Minister of Education confirms the death of a student
Turkey’s Minister of National Education, Yusuf Tekin, confirmed the death of one of the injured pupils, stating: “We have lost one of our pupils”. The girl has reportedly been identified as Eslem Sare Bulut, a student aged just 10.
“A pupil, a student from another school, went to a secondary school wearing that school’s uniform and carried out a knife attack against our children. We have just learnt that one of our pupils was seriously injured. We have lost that pupil. She was a pupil at a religious secondary school (Imam Hatip). May God have mercy on her soul. May her place be in paradise. I offer my condolences to her family,” said Tekin.
The minister emphasised that the authorities have implemented and continue to implement numerous security measures in schools and educational institutions across the country, and that efforts are also being made to strengthen preventive measures through social media, counselling, family education and other initiatives. “But we must realise this: please, let us protect our own children…”, he added.
The attacker took a knife from her home
The investigation into the attack at a school in Istanbul has so far established that the young girl was carrying a knife she had taken from her own home, according to the news website HaberTürk. Once she arrived at the school, she attacked several pupils with the knife for reasons that have not yet been clarified.
The Turkish police have already launched an investigation to determine why the pupil, who attends a different school, went to the Şeyh Şamil Imam Hatip secondary school and what the motive for the attack was. According to the initial statement by the suspect’s mother, her daughter suffers from a social anxiety disorder.
The governor of Istanbul, Davut Gül, visited the injured students in hospital and confirmed that one of the children, who was in a serious condition, was undergoing surgery. Gül explained that the attacker lived near the school: “She lives in the same neighbourhood, very close to the school. She attends another school. She is a pupil. She entered the school wearing her uniform and stabbed the children indiscriminately,” said the governor.
Classes have been suspended for two days
Turkey’s Ministry of National Education issued a statement confirming that two education inspectors have been assigned to investigate the incident “from all angles”, and announced that “educational activities at the school in question have been suspended today and tomorrow”.
This latest violent incident comes against a backdrop marked by a series of attacks on schools in Turkey this year, the most recent of which was a shooting at a secondary school in Manisa that left 11 students injured. These events have fuelled the public debate on safety in schools and have led the authorities to step up security measures at several schools across the country.
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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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