Turkey launches internet crackdown ahead of funerals for shooting victims

TURKEY – Turkey has cracked down on social media posts praising two school shootings in two days that have left the country reeling, ordering dozens of arrests ahead of funerals for the victims, who were mostly children.

The authorities said on April 16 that 83 people had been detained, hundreds of accounts blocked and groups shut down after praise for the attacks – one on April 14, which wounded 16 people, and one on April 15 which killed nine and wounded 13.

The dead were children aged 10 or 11, and their teacher, 55.

The suspects in both cases also died, the authorities have said.

The attack on April 14, in the south-eastern province of Sanliurfa, saw a former student open fire at his former high school. The authorities said he took his own life when cornered by police.

The one on April 15 was believed to have been carried out by a 14-year-old student who arrived at the school in the southern province of Kahramanmaras with five guns and opened fire.

The authorities have said the student, the son of a former police officer, planned the attack in advance. Documents found on his computer from April 11 indicated that he “intended to carry out a major operation in the near future”.

The authorities said he died at the scene, though it was not immediately clear how. His father was detained, police said, while local media reported that his mother, a teacher, had also been taken into custody.

The funerals will take place on April 16 in the city of Kahramanmaras.

“Isolated” act

Police said the 14-year-old suspect had referenced a mass shooter in the US – where such attacks are common – in a photo on his WhatsApp profile.

“Initial findings from the investigation revealed that the perpetrator used an image on his WhatsApp profile referencing Elliot Rodger, who carried out an attack in the United States in 2014,” police said in a statement.

Rodger – a 22-year-old American – killed six people on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, before taking his own life.

According to initial findings, no link to terrorism has been established in the shooting on April 15, said both police and prosecutors.

“This appears to be an isolated act,” police added.

Schools will remain closed in Kahramanmaras on April 16 and 17.

“We will not surrender”

Police also said they had detained dozens for posting in praise of the shootings.

“Arrest orders were issued for 83 individuals found to have engaged in posts and activities praising crime and criminals and negatively affecting public order, and legal action has been taken against them,” police said in a statement.

In addition, access to 940 social media accounts has been blocked, and 93 Telegram groups have been shut down, they added.

Mass shootings are rare in Turkey and the attacks triggered calls for protests.

Dozens of members of the main teachers’ unions gathered on the evening of April 15 outside the education ministry in Ankara and called for a two-day strike across Turkey.

They carried banners reading “we will not surrender our schools to violence”.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed sadness over the “tragic attack” on April 15 but promised to shed light on the incident “in all its aspects”. AFP