Violence has erupted in the industrial town of Soma, Turkey, the site of a mine collapse that killed at least 238 workers, as relatives of the dead and missing direct their rage at the Turkish government.
"These are usual things," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday, one day after the blast in the coal mine.
"I went back in British history. Some 204 people died there after a mine collapse in 1838. In 1866, 361 miners died in Britain. In an explosion in 1894, 290 people died there,” Erdoğan said, inexplicably ticking off mining disasters from 19th century England. The remarks echo a speech the prime minister gave in 2010 when 30 miners died in a coal mine incident in Zonguldak. He called their deaths "fate," then, which also sparked protests over their insensitivity.
As he spoke on Wednesday, crowds gathered outside the Soma Municipality building, chanting, "Government: resign!" while whistling and booing at his remarks.
Erdoğan then left the building to confront the crowd, creating a chaotic scene that led to him fleeing into a supermarket. Protesters threw rocks and fire bombs at police, who reportedly responded with tear gas and water cannons.
Now the protests are spreading throughout Turkey. A group hosted a die-in protest in Istanbul as others gathered outside the mining company's office. In the country's west, protesters donned miner's hats in a demonstration.
http://mashable.com/2014/05/14/protests ... explosion/
Erdogan booed during Soma visit
Erdogan jeered, heckled, his car attacked as he visits scene of mine collapse
Fucking insane sultan-wannabe dictator must go already...
