Soma Commemoration Banned by Ankara Governor’s Office

The symbolic commemoration to be held in memory of 301 miners who died in Soma six years ago has been banned by Ankara Governor’s Office. Four occupational organizations previously requested permission to hold a ceremony at the Miner Memorial.

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Soma Commemoration Banned by Ankara Governor’s Office

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA) / Archive

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The Governor's Office of Ankara has not permitted the commemoration to be held in memory of 301 miners who lost their lives in Soma, Manisa.

The ceremony was to be held by the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK), Confederation of Public Employees Trade Unions (KESK), Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) and Turkish Medical Association (TTB).

They were planning to hold the ceremony at the Miner Memorial in Ankara on the sixth anniversary of the massacre tomorrow (May 13).

In response to the application submitted by the DİSK Ankara Regional Representative, Deputy Governor of Ankara Kemal Karadağ has indicated that "the statement for the press requested to be held in front of the Miner Memorial on May 13 at 12.30 is 'not deemed acceptable' due to the measures that have been taken against the pandemic."

As reported by daily Evrensel, DİSK Ankara Representative Tayfun Görgün has noted that though they informed the Governor's Office that there would be a symbolic participation and participants would pay attention to keep social distance, the commemoration has still not been permitted.

'Miners still work amid pandemic, is it acceptable?'

Görgün has also said that while a symbolic commemoration for 301 workers who died in Soma is not permitted by using the outbreak as an excuse, miners are still working amid pandemic conditions:

"Workers keep working in privately-owned mines. Though sham measures, such as distributing masks, are taken, it is still deemed acceptable that mines keep operating in this process while it is deemed unacceptable that we commemorate the ones who lost their lives in Soma with 25 people."

CLICK - We Commemorate 301 Miners from Soma with Their Names

What happened?

On May 13, 2014, an explosion in Soma coal mine in the western Manisa province caused an underground fire in the mine, which burned until May 15.

301 workers were killed and 162 were injured in what was the worst mine incident in the country's history. The trial began on April 13, 2015, and ended on July 11, 2018. There were 45 defendants and 162 injured workers as victim plaintiffs in the case.

Akhisar Heavy Penal Court sentenced Soma Coal Enterprises Inc. Board Chair Can Gürkan to 15 years in prison for "killing by negligence" and banned him from mining business for three years.

Soma Coal Enterprises Inc. General Director Ramazan Doğru, mining engineer and Deputy Operations Manager İsmail Adalı, Operations Manager Akın Çelik and mining engineer Ertan Arsoy were handed prison terms from 15 years to 22 years and 6 months.

Thirty-seven defendants, including Alp Gürkan, the owner of the company, were acquitted.

İzmir Regional Court of Justice 14th Penal Chamber upheld the prison sentences for the five defendants on April 19, 2019. Can Gürkan was released from prison on the same day. The case is at the Court of Cassation.

(TP/SD)