Celebratory Gunfire Kill 35 in Two Years

A banner says, "No to individual armament" (Photo: Umut Foundation)

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Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu has responded to a parliamentary question by main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) MP Ömer Fethi Güner on the number of deaths caused by opening fire into the air for celebrating events.

Firing into the air in events like weddings or celebrations for sending a person to military service is a common practice in Turkey.

Thirty-five people, including 10 children, lost their lives in between January 1, 2017, and September 1, 2018, according to the response of the Ministry. More than 600 people were injured in such incidents, 311 of them being children, the response noted.

The Ministry added that it sent a notice to the security directorates of the all 81 provinces to prevent such incidents.

The parliamentary question was submitted on September 28 Individual Disarmament Day. The Ministry replied to the question yesterday (May 9) and MP Gürer shared it with the public today.(AS/VK)