Ankara:
A retired cop in Turkey shot himself during a pension protest outside the Constitutional Court — Turkey’s judicial body — last week. He died later at a hospital. Ali Sekeroglu was 60 years old and was struggling to make ends meet on his pension, according to Turkish media reports.
The incident happened on September 25 during a demonstration in Ankara, which was part of a nationwide protest. Pensioners in Turkey have been advocating for better economic conditions and have also requested a universal pay increase for public employees in 2023, which was not included in the pensions of public retirees.
A video of the incident has been posted on social media, which shows that while his peers and union representatives prepared to deliver a joint press statement, Sekeroglu turned to the nearby people and talked about his struggles to make ends meet and his family’s escalating economic despair.
He reportedly had two unemployed sons, adding to soaring living expenses. He told the crowd that he couldn’t afford even a traditional gold coin to celebrate the recent birth of a grandchild, according to a report by Intellinews.
Draped in a Turkish flag, the cop held a sign that read “Not for money, but for our honour.”
A little later, he warned onlookers not to come near him and reached for his service weapon and shot himself in the head.
Reports said Sekeroglu was rushed to Gazi University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Hours before taking his life, Sekeroglu posted a message to his Facebook page, urging his fellow pensioners to join the protest.
“In unity there is strength. Let us raise our voices for our constitutional right to live with dignity and make ends meet,” he wrote, adding, “God, you hear the cries within us. May those who govern our state and us hear them too.”
The Backlash
Turkey’s main opposition, the New Party, has blamed the government for retirees’ financial hardships and warned that their anger was nearing a “social explosion”.
The government was yet to issue any official statement on the matter.
Public immolation attempts during protests over economic desperation are not very uncommon in Turkey, but the local media censors such suicides in the name of “not promoting them”.
