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Verdict Announced in Soma Trial, Families Protest
Court has announced its verdict after three years in occupational homicide trial in which 301 workers lost their lives. Can Gürkan is sentenced to 15 years, İsmail Adalı to 22.5 years, and Ertan Ersoy and Akın Çelik to 18.5 years in prison.
Click to read the article in Turkish/Kurdish
Verdict has been announced in the trial in which 301 miners lost their lives in an occupational homicide on March 13, 2014 in Soma, Manisa.
Headed by Salih Pehlivanoğlu, the court committee sentenced Soma Kömür İşletmeleri A.Ş. Board Chair Can Gürkan to 15 years in prison on charge of "reckless killing" and forbid him from mining business for three years. The court also ruled for the continuation of his arrest.
Of defendants pending trial in jail Soma Kömür İşletmeleri A.Ş. General Director Ramazan Doğru and Mining Engineer and Deputy Operating Manager İsmail Adalı were sentenced to 22 years and 6 months in prison on charge of "reckless killing and injuring".
The court ruled for the continuation of arrest of all five defendants who are pending trial in jail.
Protest by the families
After the court announced its verdict, some of miner families’ health worsened. The court committee left the courtroom upon families denouncing the decision.
Addressing that the penalties were imposed over "recklessness", lawyers of the complainants said, "The decision belongs to your committee, we side with with families" and went to the area of the families. (TP/TK)
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Hak odaklı, çok sesli, bağımsız gazeteciliği güçlendirmek için bianet desteğinizi bekliyor.
related news
301 Miners Who Lost Their Lives in Soma Commemorated
14 May 2020
6th Year of Occupational Homicide in Soma Mine: ‘Our Struggle will Continue’
13 May 2020
Soma Commemoration Banned by Ankara Governor’s Office
12 May 2020
Constitutional Court: Workers' Right to Life Violated in Soma Mine Explosion
10 March 2020
Soma Mine Explosion: Constitutional Court Rejects Request of Investigation Against Officials
26 February 2020
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13 May 2019
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We Commemorate 301 Miners from Soma with Their Names at 21st Hearing
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Turkey’s Bahçeli makes first public appearance in over two months, dispelling death rumors
The nationalist leader visited the grave of his MHP's founder to mark the anniversary of his death.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chair Devlet Bahçeli appeared in public for the first time in 66 days, putting to rest unfounded rumors of his death.
Bahçeli joined party members in visiting the grave of MHP founder Alparslan Türkeş in Ankara to mark the anniversary of his death. The 77-year-old politician was seen praying at the gravesite, as previously announced by the party.
Supporters greeted Bahçeli’s vehicle by tossing roses and chanting slogans such as “Keep going, your children are with you."
Başbuğ Alparslan Türkeş Kabri Başında Dualarla Anılıyor https://t.co/vXViQronPj
— MHP (@MHP_Bilgi) April 4, 2025
Bahçeli had not been seen in public since late January. The MHP announced that he had undergone surgery on Feb 4 to replace a heart valve, which had previously been replaced a decade earlier. The party attributed the procedure to complications that had emerged with the original implant.
Medical experts noted at the time that recovery from such a procedure could take two to three months for someone of Bahçeli’s age. Nevertheless, the extended absence gave rise to false claims that he had passed away.
In response, MHP officials repeatedly denied the rumors and noted that politicians and journalists from various backgrounds had spoken with Bahçeli by phone. Despite these reassurances, the rumors persisted until his appearance at today's ceremony.
Bahçeli has played a prominent role in shaping Turkish politics since the late 1990s. Since 2016, he has maintained a political alliance with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. That partnership was instrumental in moving Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system, with Bahçeli backing the 2017 constitutional referendum that paved the way for the change.
In his most recent political initiative, launched in October, Bahçeli proposed a new Kurdish peace process. He suggested that imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan could benefit from a legal provision known as the “right to hope” if he called on the group to disarm. Bahçeli also recommended direct talks between Öcalan and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party.
Following meetings between DEM delegations and Öcalan beginning in December, Öcalan issued a statement urging the PKK to lay down its arms.
Despite health issues, Bahçeli seems at steering wheel of Turkey’s new Kurdish initiative
6 March 2025
(VK)
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