Ankara(National Times)- 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities said 83 people had been detained, hundreds of accounts blocked and groups shut down after praise for the attacks \u2014 one on Tuesday, which wounded 16 people, and one on Wednesday, which killed nine and wounded 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tuesday\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wednesday\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 \u201cintended to carry out a major operation in the near future\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The funerals will take place on Thursday in the city of Kahramanmaras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Isolated\u2019 act
Police said the 14-year-old suspect had referenced a mass shooter in the United States \u2014 where such attacks are common \u2014 in a photo on his WhatsApp profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cInitial 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,\u201d the police said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rodger \u2014 a 22-year-old American \u2014 killed six people on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, before taking his own life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to initial findings, no link to terrorism has been established in Wednesday\u2019s shooting, both the police and the prosecutors said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis appears to be an isolated act,\u201d the police added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schools will remain closed in Kahramanmaras on Thursday and Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018We will not surrender\u2019
Police also said they had detained dozens for posting in praise of the shootings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cArrest 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,\u201d the police said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, access to 940 social media accounts has been blocked, and 93 Telegram groups have been shut down, it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mass shootings are rare in Turkiye, and the attacks triggered calls for protests. Dozens of members of the main teachers\u2019 unions gathered on Wednesday outside the education ministry in Ankara and called for a two-day strike across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They carried a banner reading \u201cWe will not surrender our schools to violence\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed sadness over Wednesday\u2019s \u201ctragic attack\u201d but promised the incident would be shed light \u201cin all its aspects\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ankara(National Times)- 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n