Protests and criticism of Erdogan over 274 mine deaths
Ankara ( AsiaNews) - Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan
was booed and his car assaulted yesterday, as he arrived in Soma for a press conference
on the mining disaster. While the country has decreed three days of mourning,
the unions have launched a one-day strike to protest against the lack of
security in the mines, which has so far caused 274 deaths in Soma.
Two days ago, an explosion and fire caused the collapse of the coal mine in the
city of western Turkey, while nearly 800 miners were underground.
At least 363 people were recovered alive in the early hours after the fire;
about 80 of them have minor injuries. This morning, the rescue operation had to
stop for a few hours due to a high concentration of gas; a fire is still
blazing in the mine and this is hampering rescue efforts. Close by hundreds of
relatives are waiting for any news on the fate of their loved ones, while corpses
and survivors are hauled from the mine.
Meanwhile the controversy over the safety of the mine is growing. Privatized in
2005, it became the property of Soma Komur Isletmeleri AS, which calls itself
the largest Turkish mining group. The
mine extracts coal, which is used to supply a nearby thermal power plant .
About 40 % of the country depends on coal.
An MP of the opposition Republican People's Party has accused the government of having blocked a
proposal in parliament for a committee for mine safety only two weeks ago.
Erdogan rejects the allegations and warned the opposition against using the
incident for political gains . It is also true that this disaster could seriously
damage the Prime Minister and his party , involved in corruption scandals and accused
of worrying more about economic gain than the population.
One of the unions that have joined the strike said that the "perpetrators
of the Soma massacre" are "those who pursue the privatization
policies, which threaten the lives of the workers to cut costs". According
to statistics from the ILO ( International Labour Office), there were accidents
involving 13 thousand miners in 2013.
Yesterday, there were demonstrations in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir. Police used
tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd .
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23/07/2008
