Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Explosions 'happen all the time'

Turkish prime minister says mine disasters are ‘ordinary’ as his aide photographed kicking a demonstrator

Associated Press | May 15, 2014 9:03 AM ET

AFP Photo/Depo PhotosDEPO PHOTOS/AFP/Getty Images    Photo taken on May 14, 2014  shows a person identified by Turkish media as Yusuf Yerkel, advisor to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, kicking a protester already held by special forces police members during Erdogan's visit to Soma, Turkey. Erdogan was visiting the western Turkish mining town of Soma after Turkey's worst mining accident .

Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Explosions 'happen all the time'

EPA/DEPOYusuf Yerkel, a prime ministerial aide, left, was photographed kicking a person who is being wrestled to the ground by two police officers, during protests following a mine accident near Soma, Manisa province, Turkey, May 14, 2014.

EPA/DEPOYusuf Yerkel, a prime ministerial aide, left, was photographed kicking a person who is being wrestled to the ground by two police officers, during protests following a mine accident near Soma, Manisa province, Turkey, May 14, 2014.

AP Photo/Depo PhotosIn this photo taken Wednesday, May 14, 2014 a person identified by Turkish media as Yusuf Yerkel, advisor to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, kicks a protester already held by special forces police members during Erdogan's visiting Soma, Turkey. Erdogan was visiting the western Turkish mining town of Soma after Turkey's worst mining accident .

AP Photo/Emrah Guren     In this Wednesday, May 14, 2014 photo, Yusuf Yerkel, right, advisor to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stands behind Erdogan during his visit in Soma, Turkey. Yerkel was identified by Turkish media as the advisor who kicked a protester who was held by special forces police members during Erdogan's visit to Soma, Turkey. Erdogan was visiting the western Turkish mining town of Soma after Turkey's worst mining accident . 

 

An aide to Turkey’s prime minister has sparked outrage after kicking a man in Soma who was reportedly protesting the government’s handling of the country’s worst mining accident.

The explosion that tore through a mine Tuesday set off protests around Turkey, a nation plagued by poor safety conditions. Mining accidents are common in Turkey, but the most recent disaster has thrown Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s presidential ambitions off stride.

His reputation was further blackened Thursday when Turkish newspapers Cumhuriyet, Milliyet and others printed photographs they said were of his aide, Yusuf Yerkel, kicking a protester who was on the ground and being held by special forces police.

The Deputy Chief of the Cabinet of the Turkish Prime Minister’s office confirmed he was the man in the photo and said he’ll make a statement later today, BBC Turkish said.

Erdogan, who is expected to soon announce his candidacy for Turkey’s presidential election in August, was not welcome during his visit to Soma Wednesday. He was forced to take refuge at a supermarket after angry crowds called him a murderer and a thief, in reference to alleged corruption, and clashed with police.

The prime minister’s office on Thursday distanced itself from the incident, with one official saying the issue was “his own personnel matter.” The official, who was not authorized to give his name to the press without authorization, confirmed there was a “melee” as Erdogan entered a building but denied Turkish media reports that he had thrown a punch.

Rescue teams recovered eight more victims, raising the death toll to 282, with 142 people still unaccounted for.

In the western town of Soma, where coal mining has been the main industry for decades, women wailed and sang songs about their relatives as bodies were taken from coffins and lowered into their graves. Pictures of the lost relatives were pinned onto their clothing.

No miner has been brought out alive since dawn Wednesday from the coal mine where the explosion and fire took place. Many mourners said they spent their whole lives fearing something like this.
“The wives of the miners kiss their husbands in the morning. When they come back, even if they are five minutes late, everyone starts calling. You never know what is going to happen,” said Gulizar Donmez, 45, the daughter and wife of a miner and neighbor of one of the victims.

Erdogan had earlier downplayed the disaster, calling mining accidents “ordinary things” that also occur in many other countries, after giving examples of 19th-century mine accidents in Britain.
Erdogan has made no secret of his desire to become Turkey’s first popularly elected president. His party swept local elections in March despite a corruption scandal that forced him to dismiss four government ministers in December and later also implicated him and family members. Erdogan denies corruption, calling the allegations part of a plot to bring his government down.

Protests broke out in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities over the deaths and poor safety conditions at mines around the country. In Istanbul and Izmir, authorities used water cannons and tear gas to break up the protests. Turk-Is, Turkey’s largest trade union confederation representing some 800,000 workers, joined a one-day strike by other unions to demand better conditions for workers.

Workers in the mining region of Zonguldak, obeying the strike, gathering in front of a pit but did not enter it. In Istanbul, a group chanted anti-government slogans and carried a large banner that read: “It’s not an accident, it’s murder.”

With hopes for the missing miners fading, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told reporters that rescue efforts were focusing on two areas inside the mine.

Rescue operations have been suspended several times as burning coal inside created toxic fumes and too-risky conditions for the rescue teams.

“We believe that we still have brothers in two areas that we still have not been able to reach,” Yildiz said. He did not say whether authorities believed they were dead.