World | Other World Stories
Turks demand stricter gun control laws
At a recent wedding, Abbas Karaca pulled his gun from his holster and began shooting in the air in celebration with other guests.
- AP
- Published: 00:00 September 5, 2006
Ankara: At a recent wedding, Abbas Karaca pulled his gun from his holster and began shooting in the air in celebration with other guests.
Moments later, a wedding musician lay dead, his neck accidentally pierced by a bullet fired from Karaca's gun.
Pianist Hakkan Kutlu was one of the hundreds killed each year in Turkey by stray bullets fired at celebrations. Critics say it is one of the world's highest death tolls from stray bullets at festivities and are demanding that the government take action to curb handgun ownership.
"Guns should only be sold to people who can prove they are capable of being responsible gun owners," said Altay Akturk of The Umut Foundation, a gun control advocacy campaign group. "People in Turkey need to learn to enjoy themselves at festivities while letting others live at the same time."
According to officials statistics, some 600 people were killed last year in gun accidents. The Umut Foundation the name means hope in Turkish estimates that at least 200 of those people were killed by revellers firing into the air to celebrate weddings, circumcisions or sports victories.
The tradition is rooted in Turkish reverence for its former imperial glory. The calls for curbing guns come as Turkey is pushing to enter the EU which has pressured the country on other cultural practices seen at odds with Western values, notably honour killings.
The government has taken action and reformed laws which in some cases will sharply boost the penalties for firing in public or accidentally taking another person's life.
But gun control advocates say that police laxly enforce the laws and that more must be done to curb the gun culture in a society that reveres its imperial past.
"The state has no real interest in doing anything to control personal weapons," said lawyer Tuncer Essizhan, who is leading the "No to Personal Armament" campaign in Turkey.
Essizhan started his campaign after his 2-year-old grandson Alistair Grimason, a British national, was killed by a stray bullet while sleeping in a stroller next to his mother in a tourist resort near the city of Izmir in 2003.
The boy's parents, David and Ozlem Grimason, have been working with the UK-based "Control Arms" campaign and Essizhan from their home in Scotland to limit arms worldwide and particularly in Turkey. Local communities fed up with the violence are looking at immediate ways of cutting down on stray bullet incidents.
After a university student was killed and five others injured by stray bullets at a celebration in the western Turkish village of Kestanealan last month, local leaders decided to ban guns at all festivities and lead a boycott against those who refuse to comply.
"I hope this decision will benefit our country by being an example to others," Hakki Baydar, leader of the local campaign and president of a regional cultural centre said.
But there is strong resistance in Turkey to the effort.
Legislator Hasan Kara told parliament's Justice Commission in July that gun owners were being portrayed in Turkey as monsters.
"We shouldn't turn our society away from weapons," the Turkish Daily News quoted Kara, who is from the ruling Justice and Development Party, as saying. "We are a martial culture and we have our traditions."
According to official statistics, some 600 people were killed last year in gun accidents.
More from Other World Stories
More from World
News Editor's choice
-
6,000 cups and counting: Addicted to that tea
This cafeteria in Al Mamzar attracts thousands of customers daily, including the rich and not so rich
-
Swimming pool horror: Twins hospitalised
Twins rushed to hospital after collapsing from chlorine inhalation at swimming pool in their villa
-
Play your cards right with credit card interest
UAE Central Bank plans to cap interest rates, but are you paying thirty-five per cent now?
