Warning on 'Hitler and swastikas' after Turgutlu attack: The danger is much deeper

Members of the Parliamentary Research Commission, who conducted investigations at the scene in front of Turgutlu İnci Üzmez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, received a briefing from institution directors and security officials under the coordination of the Manisa Governor's Office.

Commission Chairman Yusuf Beyazıt emphasized in his statement that the attack was not merely a case of superficial peer bullying, but that the danger is much deeper and linked to digital platforms.

"Students have overcome life-threatening conditions, are speaking with their families"

Providing information about the investigations, Commission Chairman Yusuf Beyazıt said, "Under the leadership of our Governor, we received presentations together with our institution directors, department heads, and provincial directors. We evaluated the events before and after. When we evaluated the information from our Provincial Health Director, we saw that the necessary procedures were carried out immediately with ambulances, all relevant doctors were arranged, and in a sense, all these measures were taken. In the briefing given by our Family Ministry, we also saw and evaluated that social and psychological support has been provided to all these families.

Our National Education Director and Police Chief evaluated all these studies regarding this issue for us. After that, as you know, three of our children are currently in intensive care at our hospital. Thank God, they have overcome the life-threatening danger. We do not have the same fear or anxiety as we did at the first moment. Their consciousness is clear now. They have become able to speak with their families and others. But as you can appreciate, their treatments in intensive care will continue for a while longer regarding these matters," he said.

Stating that the meetings they will hold at the school and with other institutions will shed light on the situation, Beyazıt said, "We have students here today who were injured. But their wounds are extremely minor, pellet wounds. We will also visit them at our hospital and convey our get-well wishes to them. Now, we are in front of this İnci Üzmez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, and we are here regarding this incident that happened on the street, just 90 or 80 meters away. We will receive on-site information by listening to our teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, and district directors on this subject at our school. And within this information, these will certainly provide us with information in a sense for the work we will do and the evaluations we will make," he said.

"There is a very great danger"

Underlining that children should not spend more time than necessary on digital platforms, Beyazıt said, "In the presence of our press, I especially want to underline this: Although the first thing seen in the incident in Siverek, the incident in Kahramanmaraş, and the incident here might appear to be peer bullying or other things, in the background, there is a very great danger related to nihilism and violent extremism influenced by digital platforms such as Discord and various gaming systems. And I want to bring the evaluations regarding this danger to everyone's attention. Therefore, I especially want to draw your attention to the fact that mothers and fathers must follow their children's social media, digital platforms, and initiatives on this subject, without leaving this matter solely to our teachers, security measures, and security personnel. I want to warn all my citizens and all parents on this issue," he stated.

Drew attention to swastika and Hitler figures

Opening a special parenthesis on the destructive effects of extremist ideologies organized on digital platforms on young people, Beyazıt offered concrete monitoring criteria to families. Stating that children who become withdrawn and have weakened social relationships should be scrutinized, Beyazıt said, "The things we received from our Governor show that they have really started very good training regarding these digital platforms here. We have closely seen their efforts to raise awareness among teachers and administrators in this sense. Therefore, this nihilism—I mean, when they see such things as swastikas in children's hands, or things related to nationalism or Hitler, or any pictures or things like that, they need to evaluate them. If children have become withdrawn, if their social relationships have been cut off, if they cannot establish relationships with their friends, know that they have been involved in an evaluation within similar channels. In this sense, we are currently doing the necessary work. After we complete our investigations, we will prepare our report and conclude the necessary work on this subject," he said.

The commission members, accompanied by Manisa Governor Vahdettin Özkan and AK Party MKYK Member and Manisa Deputy Ahmet Mücahit Arınç, then entered the school and continued their investigations.