CHP Vice-president criticizes her party’s “mining martyrs” remarks

The vice-president of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Gokce Gokcen, criticized her party’s statement which referred to the miners who lost their lives in the coal mine explosion in northern Turkey as “mining martyrs.”

The statement made from the official Twitter account of CHP was as follows:

“We wish God's mercy on our mining martyrs who lost their lives in the explosion that took place in Bartin Amasra. We wish patience to our grieving families and their colleagues and a speedy recovery to our injured miners. We pray that the death toll does not increase…”

Criticizing the expression, Gokcen said “No, there is no such thing as a mining martyr,” and renounced the usage of the term to cover up the responsible officials, although they were warned by the Court of Accounts. 

“This is a murder,” she said and vowed to bring responsible people into account. 

On Friday, an explosion took place at the state-owned TTK (Turkiye Taskomuru Kurumu) coal mine in the Amasra district of the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin. The death toll rose to 41 on Saturday.