Turkey buried the victims of its deadliest school shooting on Thursday as thousands of teachers marched through cities across the country. The killing of eight students and one teacher at a middle school in Kahramanmaraş has shaken a nation where mass shootings in schools were virtually unknown.

Why it matters

Two school shootings in 48 hours have forced Turkey to confront a form of violence it had not experienced before. The attacks are prompting urgent questions about gun access, school security, and the failure of warning systems.

What happened

On 15 April, İsa Aras Mersinli, a 14-year-old student at Ayser Çalık Secondary School in Kahramanmaraş, opened fire on classmates and staff. He killed eight students and mathematics teacher Ayla Kara, 55, who reportedly tried to shield students in her classroom. Thirteen others were wounded. Mersinli then killed himself.

Prosecutors found a document on his computer dated 11 April indicating he had been planning the attack. He used firearms belonging to his father, a former police officer.

The day before, 19-year-old Ömer Ket opened fire at a vocational school in Siverek, Şanlıurfa Province, injuring 16 people before taking his own life.

The response

Teacher unions Eğitim-İş and Eğitim-Sen declared a three-day national strike beginning on 15 April. Thousands of educators demonstrated in Ankara, Istanbul, and Kahramanmaraş, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Yusuf Tekin.

Funerals for the nine victims were held in Kahramanmaraş on Thursday. Mourners placed roses on the steps of the school.

The gun access question

Turkey has strict gun laws compared to many countries, but an estimated 25 million firearms are in civilian hands, many unregistered. The Kahramanmaraş attacker accessed weapons stored at his family home. Turkey’s opposition parties have called for an immediate audit of firearm storage compliance among current and former security personnel.

Children were murdered in their classrooms. A teacher died trying to protect them. That the weapons came from a former police officer’s home makes this a failure of the systems meant to prevent exactly this kind of tragedy.