Clashes, Violent Protests in Turkey after Mine Blast
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Clashes erupted across Turkey as residents rally in anger at a mining accident which killed 282 people in the western Turkish town of Soma on Tuesday. Eight hundred marched on Ankara’s Energy Ministry as police fired tear gas and water cannon.
Nearly 450 miners have been rescued in the efforts.
Violent protests have been reported in Soma itself, where relatives of the dead miners are unleashing their anger at Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, RT reported.
"Those who keep up with privatization... policies, who threaten workers' lives to reduce costs... are the culprits of the Soma massacre and they must be held accountable," Turkey's Public Workers Unions Confederation (KESK) said on its official website. The body is one of the major national trade union centers in the country, representing 240,000 employees.
PM Erdogan visited Soma, the site of the disaster, on Wednesday. There, he was confronted with a spontaneous protest with locals booing and whistling at him as he made statements regarding the disaster at a news conference.
Erdogan visited Soma, the site of the disaster, on Wednesday.
"We have witnessed one of the biggest industrial accidents in our recent history… We as a nation of 77 million are experiencing very great pain," he said at a news conference.
He promised that investigations will be launched into the accident, but he rejected claims that the government was to blame.
