Turkey: 162 detained after school shootings

ALBAWABA - Turkish authorities announced the detention of over 160 people on charges ranging from spreading misleading information to praising two deadly school shootings this week online.

Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek reported that 95 people were held and 35 more suspects were being sought. 

Gurlek mentioned that authorities blocked access to 1,104 social media accounts.

In a post on X, the minister added that Turkey had opened an investigation and identified accounts that targeted schools and suggested potential attacks. 

^{Teachers and members of education unions sit-in as a protester hold a placard which reads "Minister Resign." during a protest against school shootings, in Ankara on April 16, 2026. Photo by ADEM ALTAN / AFP}

Sixty-seven users linked to such posts directed at 54 schools have been arrested.

Yesterday, nine people were killed, and 13 others were injured, six critically, in a gun attack at Ayser Çalık Secondary School in the Onikişubat district of Kahramanmaraş province, southeastern Turkey, officials revealed Wednesday.

On Tuesday, a gun attack took place at a high school, injuring at least 18 people in Şanlıurfa city in southeastern Turkey.