Turkish authorities have ordered the arrests of 83 people accused of posting content online that praised two school shootings which struck the country within 24 hours of each other, as funerals for the mostly child victims were held on Thursday. Police said those detained had "engaged in posts and activities praising crime and criminals and negatively affecting public order." Alongside the arrests, authorities blocked access to 940 social media accounts and shut down 93 Telegram groups.
The deadlier of the two attacks took place on Wednesday at Ayser Calik Secondary School in Kahramanmaras, a city in southern Turkey, where a 14-year-old student armed with five guns and seven magazines opened fire in two classrooms, killing eight children aged 10 and 11 and their 55-year-old teacher. Thirteen others were wounded, six of them critically. The attacker — the son of a former police officer — was also killed at the scene. Prosecutors said digital materials found on his computer included a document dated April 11 indicating he had planned "to carry out a major operation in the near future." He had also used an image referencing Elliot Rodger, a 22-year-old American who killed six people near the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2014, as his WhatsApp profile photo. Police said initial findings show no link to terrorism and described the attack as "an isolated act." The attacker's father was detained; local media reported his mother, a teacher, was also taken into custody.
The first attack occurred on Tuesday in the Siverek district of Sanliurfa province in Turkey's southeast, when a former student opened fire at his old high school, wounding 16 people before taking his own life when cornered by police. Mass shootings are rare in Turkey, and the two incidents in rapid succession have shaken the country deeply. Schools in Kahramanmaras remained closed on Thursday and Friday, and funeral prayers for the victims were held at the city's main mosque, with three government ministers expected to attend.
The attacks triggered an immediate public reaction. Dozens of members of Turkey's main teachers' unions gathered outside the education ministry in Ankara on Wednesday evening, calling for a two-day national strike and carrying a banner reading "We will not surrender our schools to violence." President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed sadness over the "tragic attack" and promised the incident would be examined "in all its aspects."
The rapid online crackdown underlines the sensitivity of the moment for Turkish authorities, who are navigating both public grief and anger over school safety. The arrests for social media posts praising the attacks reflect Turkey's broad legal framework around online speech and public order — a tool authorities have previously used during periods of national crisis. For many families, however, the immediate reality is far more personal: one aunt described learning of her 10-year-old niece's death only when the girl's name was read out on the news.