Erdogan promises tighter gun controls after deadly Turkey school attacks

InternationalErdogan promises tighter gun controls after deadly Turkey school attacksBy Reuters -Apr 20, 2026ANKARA: President Tayyip ​Erdogan said on ​Monday that Turkey will tighten gun-ownership rules ​and increase penalties for ‌owners whose children find the firearms, after last week’s ⁠rare, deadly school ​shootings. The second of the ​two separate attacks by students last week killed eight ​pupils and a ​teacher in a southeastern province of ‌Kahramanmaras, ⁠shocking a nation in which such school-based violence is very ​rare. Erdogan said ​the ⁠government will also take additional ​steps to monitor ​the ⁠internet as part of its response to ⁠the ​incidents. Earlier, on April 16, A 14-year-old student shot at least nine people dead ‌, including eight of his fellow pupils and wounded 13 others at a middle school in southeastern Turkey on Wednesday, officials said, in the country’s second school shooting in two days. Eight students and one ​teacher died in the attack in the province of Kahramanmaras, Turkey’s Interior Minister ​Mustafa Ciftci told reporters, adding that six of the wounded were ⁠in critical condition. Earlier, Kahramanmaras Governor Mukerrem Unluer had said ​the shooter had shot and killed himself in the commotion. “An eighth-grade student came with 5 weapons and 7 magazines – which we believe belong to his former police officer father – in his bag, entered ​two classrooms with fifth grade students, causing deaths and injuries indiscriminately,” Unluer said. Fifth-grade students ​are usually aged 10 and 11 in Turkey. School shootings are very rare in Turkey. Asked by reporters ‌if ⁠authorities would take any measures after the shootings this week, Ciftci said: “We will take necessary precautions”, without elaborating. Gun laws are generally strict in Turkey, with only individuals aged over 21 and in possession of a license ​allowed to own weapons. ​However, guns are ⁠widespread in Turkey, with many security officers allowed to carry and own arms....