ANKARA
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on April 20 that his government would introduce sweeping measures, including digital safety measures and restrictions on gun ownership, after two school shootings last week that sent shockwaves across the country.
“The safety of our schools is at the very top of our priorities. There will be no room whatsoever for even the slightest compromise in this regard,” Erdoğan said after a cabinet meeting.
Eight students aged 10 and 11 and a teacher were killed on April 15 when a 14-year-old student opened fire at a school in the southern province of Kahramanmaras.
Authorities said the attacker, who died at the scene, had brought five firearms and was the son of a former police inspector, who has since been arrested.
A separate attack on April 14 in the southeastern city of Şanlıurfa involved a former student who opened fire at his old high school before taking his own life when confronted by police.
“Such attacks target not only the shedding of innocent blood but also, like terrorist organizations, provoking public outrage and creating anxiety, unease, fear, and distress within society.”
He also said the authorities would expand surveillance online, including by making use of artificial intelligence.
The relevant institutions would address what he described as “violence and moral decay” on TV screens, he added, calling for greater emphasis on productions that promote family values.
“Portraying perpetrators in productions themed around crime and violence as strong, influential, exempt from punishment, or even respectable undermines our youth’s connection to reality,” he said.
Mass shootings are rare in Türkiye, and the incidents have sparked public concern.
“When we look at similar attacks around the world, especially those carried out in the United States, we see that one of the perpetrators’ aims is to terrorize society,” Erdoğan said.
“We will implement additional legal regulations regarding the limitation of gun ownership.”
Penalties would be increased for firearm owners who fail to properly secure their weapons, particularly in cases where children gain access to them, he added.
Schools across Türkiye introduced sweeping new security measures, including metal detectors, turnstile entry systems, and tighter access controls, following the school shootings.
In the wake of the attacks, authorities have deployed police units around school premises nationwide, conducting identity checks on suspicious individuals and preventing unauthorized people from gathering near school grounds.
The Turkish communication authority also prepared a new child digital safety package, introducing a dedicated “child line” GSM system, tightening oversight on VPN use and limiting the number of SIM cards registered per individual, following recent school attacks.
