Turkiye launches internet crackdown ahead of funerals for shooting victims

Turkiye cracked down on Thursday on social media posts praising two school shootings in two days, which have left the country reeling, ordering dozens of arrests ahead of funerals for the victims, who were mostly children.

Authorities said 83 people had been detained, hundreds of accounts blocked and groups shut down after praise for the attacks — one on Tuesday, which wounded 16 people, and one on Wednesday, which killed nine and wounded 13.

Eight of the dead were children aged 10 and 11, and their teacher, 55. The suspects in both cases were also killed, authorities have said.

Tuesday’s attack, in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa, saw an ex-student open fire at his former high school. Authorities said he took his own life when cornered by police.

Wednesday’s 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.

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

They 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 Thursday in the city of Kahramanmaras.

‘Isolated’ act

Police said the 14-year-old suspect had referenced a mass shooter in the United States — 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,” the 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 Wednesday’s shooting, both the police and the prosecutors said.

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

Schools will remain closed in Kahramanmaras on Thursday and Friday.

‘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,” the police said in a statement.

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

Mass shootings are rare in Turkiye, and the attacks triggered calls for protests. Dozens of members of the main teachers’ unions gathered on Wednesday outside the education ministry in Ankara and called for a two-day strike across the country.

They carried a banner reading “We will not surrender our schools to violence”.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed sadness over Wednesday’s “tragic attack” but promised the incident would be shed light “in all its aspects”.