Three killed in gunfire at school during referendum voting in Turkey’s southeast

DİYARBAKIR – Anadolu Agency

DHA photo

Three people were killed in an exchange of gunfire between two groups in the schoolyard of the Yabanardı Elementary School in the Çermik district of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, with the school being used as a polling station for the April 16 referendum on whether to shift to an executive presidential system. 

Two groups of relatives reportedly started arguing at the school in the village of Yabanardı, which turned into violence in which Abdülrezzak and Şeyhmus Yıldız were shot and wounded.

As the wounded were about to board a minibus to be taken to a hospital, the villagers attacked it with guns and stones, causing İdris Yıldız to also get wounded. 

Abdülrezzak and Şeyhmus Yıldız were taken to the Siverek State Hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries. 

İdris Yıldız received initial treatment in the aforementioned hospital, before being taken to the Mehmet Akif İnan Research and Training Hospital in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, where he succumbed to his wounds. 

As a part of the investigation that was launched after the gunfire, two people, identified only by their initials as M.Y. and T.Y., were detained. 

Gendarmes carried out investigations at the scene and in the minibus that was attacked. 

While the reason for the fight remains unknown, the authorities believe it erupted due to a disagreement over land. Initial reports after the attack said there was a political disagreement between the groups. 

Gendarmerie teams were dispatched to the village and tight security measures were taken around the school in order to prevent another fight from being erupted.