Outrage in Turkey after Erdoan says fate to blame for mine explosion | Turkey

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An explosion that ripped through a state-owned mine leaving 41 dead and trapping miners underground for hours has sparked public outrage in Turkey, with simmering anger at president Recep Tayyip Erdoans statement that fate was to blame.

Erdoan rushed to the northern Black Sea coast town of Amasra on Saturday, arriving as rescue teams worked to contain a fire at least 300 meters underground that officials suggested was probably caused by the buildup of flammable gases in the mine, known as firedamp.

Erdoan initially suggested that fate was ultimately responsible for the deadly incident, before emphasizing that a team of three prosecutors dispatched to Amasra should work to find the cause of the blast. The administrative and judicial investigation will reveal what caused the blast and who, if anyone, is responsible, he said, speaking surrounded by a crowd of miners, rescue workers and local officials.

He added: It is of course unforgivable for us that accidents with significant death tolls continue to take place at our mines. We dont want to see any deficiencies or unnecessary risks at our mines.

The Turkish presidents initial suggestion that deadly mining disasters are a natural consequence of a risky industry echoed his controversial response to Turkeys worst ever mining disaster, which killed 301 people in the town of Soma in 2014, where he said that these things happen, leading to furious reactions and protests. Prosecutors also found that a second fatal mining disaster later that year that killed 18 people was preventable.

Opposition politicians, trade unionists and observers all questioned whether the governments pledges to increase worker safety in a dangerous industry in the years following the Soma disaster had succeeded, with many pointing to a severe lack of accountability for fatal errors among state officials and potentially lax enforcement of regulations.

The deadly explosion at the state-owned TTK Amasra Messese Mdrl mine in Amasra, in a region considered a bedrock of support for Erdoans Justice and Development party (AKP), presents a challenge for the ruling party, which will seek to showcase its record of overhauling the countrys infrastructure throughout the past two decades in an election expected next year. Polls increasingly show Erdoan could snatch victory from the countrys fractured opposition if they remain divided in their attempts to unseat him.

The government also sought to keep a tight grip on the official narrative, with Erdoan and even some state institutions issuing stern warnings against spreading alleged disinformation, amid demands for increased accountability to prevent further deadly mining accidents.

There are questions that have to be asked, just a day after the parliament passes a law criminalizing disinformation, so of course everyone is extremely worried that the authorities wont be allowed to do their job properly, and are scared of the truth not coming out, or a cover-up. On top of all that, the president blames fate, said Emma Sinclair-Webb, the Europe and central Asia director of Human Rights Watch.

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As search and rescue efforts at Amasra continued almost a full day after the blast on Friday evening, with rescue workers desperately trying to locate all 110 miners who were inside the facility at the time of the explosion, lawyer Sercan Aran chronicled what he said was the states efforts to prevent him from reaching the Bartin region, which surrounds Amasra, in order to help victims families. Police in Ankara stopped his car and questioned him, he said, and told him that the Bartin governors office would not allow him and other lawyers to enter the area and that we should turn back.

Local union leaders expressed outrage at what they claimed was a widespread pattern of negligence in a dangerous industry. If you send miners hundreds of meters underground without taking the necessary precautions, without inspection and without creating safe conditions, you cannot call it an accident. This is downright murder, said Emin Koramaz, the head of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects.

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