PM's Aide Kicks Senior Miner, Journalist Reveals

It turned out that Erdal Kocabıyık, a senior minor who was kicked by PM Erdogan’s Aide Yusuf Yerkel in Soma district on May 14, was interrogated by the police after being detained. It turned out that he was released after police found out that he was a miner with 10 years of experience. 

Erhan Kocabıyık is employed at another mine of Soma Mining Co and lost 7 beloved ones in the workplace murder, according to Cumhuriyet newspaper’s Alican Uludağ’s news article.

Fight against the kick

Police detained Kocabıyık upon prosecutor’s orders after he, upon the devastating events, kicked a vehicle in the Prime Ministry motorcade and Aide Yerkel attacked him. 

Released after revealing in the prosecution’s interrogation that he is a miner, Kocabıyık filed a complaint against Yusuf Yerkel to the prosecution through his attorney.

After the prosecutor summoned him, Kocabıyık went to the court of law, this time as “victim” and testified, filing a complaint against Yerkel. In addition, he included the hospital-issued battery report in the file. 

A close tie of Kocabıyık, who preferred to remain anonymous spoke, “Erdal does not want to talk to the press. We are not concerned with making the headlines. But we will also fight for our rights. We aren’t afraid of anybody. And nobody can threaten us. We are going to put up a legal fight against that kick we received. Our attorney is on the case.”

The reason for the action

Sources stated that Kocabıyık had explained to his close circle his reason for kicking the vehicles in the motorcade as follows: “I was working in Uyar Mining Co. The company’s mine was shut down as a result of last year’s fire. They did not pay my two months’ salary. On top of that, they also sat on my year and a half’s compensation. I executed the action in response to them not paying me my due.”

A landslide had occurred and then a fire broken out in Manisa’s Soma district, in Uyar Mining’s Darkale Mine on October 20, 2013.

Of the 28 workers trapped in the mine, rescue operations saved 27 in wounded condition after extinguishing the fire, while 49-year-old Yunus Güçlü passed away due to burn injuries. (EKN/PU/BM).

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.