Turkey: Nearly 4,000 incidents in 2022 leave 2,278 dead

According to a recent report, 2,278 people were killed and 4,231 injured in 3,984 violent incidents in Turkey in 2022.

In 85% of the incidents the assailants used firearms, while blades were used in the rest, Umut Foundation's report said. Service weapons were used in 143 incidents, and rifles including AK-47 assault rifles were used in 840 incidents.

The number of violent incidents in 2022 marks an increase of 5% compared to 2021, and the incidents were further concentrated in the Marmara region, where 28.5% of all incidents took place. It was followed by the Mediterranean region with 14.3%, the Southeast with 14.2%, the Black Sea region with 13.6%, Central Anatolia with 13.3%, the Aegean region with 12.9%, and Eastern Anatolia with 5.7%.

There were 560 fatalities in the incidents that occurred in the Marmara Region, 324 in the Mediterranean region, 368 in the Southeast, 262 in the Black Sea region, 314 in Central Anatolia, 308 in the Aegean region, and 142 in Eastern Anatolia.

Istanbul topped the provinces in terms of the number of vşolent incidents, with 519 incidents in 2022, followed by the southern province of Adana with 243, the northern coastal province of Samsun with 198, the Kurdish-majority province of Urfa with 187, the relatively lower populated western province of Sakarya with 157, the western industrial province of Kocaeli with 152, the southern province of Antalya with 143, the western coastal province of Izmir with 138.

In comment, the report said:

"While people are getting arrested for various offenses, not only those who pose with guns in social media photos go uninvestigated, but others, who have actually shot people, slain animals, exchanged rounds in streets, including drug dealers, perpetrators of femicide, molesters and rapists of minors and women, enter police stations, court houses and prisons by the front door only to leave by the back door. Then you see them on media in a fresh incident, in another murder."

It added:

"Our objective is to draw attention to firearm possession and to the increase in gun violence so that the authorities make an assessment of the situation, enact new legislation and take necessary measures."