Two school shootings in Türkiye within 24 hours have disrupted a long-standing perception: that such violence is exceptionally rare. Some unionized teachers protested today over the first incident and the lack of adequate security for teachers, and did not attend classes. In the meantime, we have witnessed the worst today. You can find a list of all recorded School Shootings in Türkiye at the end.
The Two April 2026 Incidents in Detail
Siverek, Şanlıurfa — 14 April 2026
The gunman, Ömer Ket (born 2007), was a former student who had been expelled from the school in ninth grade but continued with distance learning. He had posted threatening comments on the school’s Instagram account in the days before the attack. He arrived at Ahmet Koyuncu Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School at approximately 09:30 local time with a pump-action shotgun and fired indiscriminately in the schoolyard before entering the building. Students were seen jumping out of windows to escape. CCTV footage captured the perpetrator walking through a corridor firing at people. When surrounded by security forces, Ket committed suicide. The school suspended classes for four days, with psychological rehabilitation teams deployed for students and teachers. The motive remains unknown.[2][3][14][15][^1]
Onikişubat, Kahramanmaraş — 15 April 2026
Less than 24 hours after the Siverek attack, a 14-year-old eighth-grade student identified as İsa Aras Mersinli brought his retired police-officer father’s weapons — five firearms and seven magazines — to Ayser Çalık Middle School hidden in a backpack. He entered two classrooms occupied by fifth-grade pupils (aged approximately 10–11) and opened fire randomly. Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi described the motive as “personal”. The final toll reported by the Interior Minister stood at nine dead (eight students and one teacher) and 13 wounded, including six in intensive care. The perpetrator also died, with indications of suicide.[10][12][13][16]
Context and Patterns
Rarity and Legal Framework
Türkiye maintains strict gun control laws — ownership requires licensing, registration, mental health and criminal background checks, with severe penalties for illegal possession. This framework means that school shootings have remained genuinely rare compared to countries with looser regulations. Euronews and multiple Turkish outlets explicitly noted the April 2026 incidents as “rare” in the Turkish context.[17][1][^2]
Deadliest Incidents
Prior to April 2026, the deadliest single-location school shooting in modern Turkish history was the 2018 Eskişehir Osmangazi University shooting, where research assistant Volkan Bayar killed four colleagues (a deputy dean, faculty secretary, and two lecturers) and wounded three more. The 2026 Kahramanmaraş shooting has now become the deadliest, with nine fatalities.[12][13][5][6]
Perpetrator Profiles
Many of the most serious incidents were carried out by:
- Former or expelled students bearing grievances (1998, 2024 Istanbul principal killing, 2026 Siverek)
- Current students using family firearms, especially a parent’s registered weapons (2011 Eskişehir, 2026 Kahramanmaraş)
- Non-student adults with personal disputes (2018 Eskişehir university, 2019 Çankaya University)
Recent Escalation
Since 2024, there has been a notable cluster of incidents — the killing of principal İbrahim Oktugan in May 2024 triggered mass teacher protests, followed by additional shooting incidents in late 2024, throughout 2025, and now the two mass casualty events in April 2026. Whether this reflects a broader social trend or statistical clustering remains an open question under active public and governmental scrutiny.[17][2][^4]
School Shootings in Türkiye: A Complete Chronological Record
Overview
School shootings (incidents involving firearms at educational institutions) are rare in Türkiye compared to many countries, owing to strict gun licensing laws that require registration, mental and criminal background checks, and severe penalties for illegal possession. Nevertheless, the Wikipedia chronological list of school attacks in Turkey — which covers K–12 schools, colleges, and universities — documents a number of firearm incidents stretching back to 1978. The two incidents in April 2026 have shocked the country precisely because such mass shootings at schools remain exceptional.[1][2][3][4]
The table below focuses on firearm incidents only (excluding knife attacks and other violence), drawn from the Wikipedia list and corroborated by news sources.
All Known School Shootings in Türkiye (Chronological)
| Date | Location | Perpetrator | Dead | Injured | Description |
| 16 March 1978 | Istanbul (İstanbul Üniversitesi) | Unknown | 7 | 41 | Beyazıt massacre: Gun and bomb attack at Istanbul University; seven students killed, 41 injured.[^4] |
| 13 May 1998 | Istanbul | Murat Kurt | 2 | 0 | An 18-year-old former student shot and killed his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend and a teacher who intervened.[^4] |
| 22 November 2005 | Nusaybin, Mardin Province | Unknown | 1 | 4 | A student shot and killed a teacher and wounded four others with a rifle before being arrested.[^4] |
| 27 April 2006 | Adana | Serap M. | 1 | 0 | 17-year-old Tuğral Ülger was shot dead in a classroom by his ex-girlfriend.[^4] |
| 5 October 2009 | Adana | Unknown | 0 | 0 | A student returned to school with a shotgun, fired multiple shots at the school office (no injuries); previously attacked classmates with a knife four days earlier.[^4] |
| 4 May 2010 | Diyarbakır | Mahir Zeybek | 0 | 1 | A Dicle University student shot and wounded a lecturer he had a prior dispute with.[^4] |
| 14 November 2011 | Eskişehir | S.D. | 0 | 2 | A 13-year-old student, armed with his father’s shotgun, fired at and wounded a teacher; another student was grazed.[^4] |
| 2 August 2013 | Erzincan | Ahmet Ateş | 2 | 0 | A school employee killed a co-worker with a shotgun, then killed himself.[^4] |
| 23 April 2015 | Istanbul | Hediyetullah Y. | 0 | 2 | A 19-year-old man fired at two students in a schoolyard, wounding them.[^4] |
| 17 December 2015 | Istanbul | Unknown | 0 | 1 | A teacher was shot in the leg during an argument.[^4] |
| 22 September 2016 | Istanbul (Ümraniye) | Unknown | 0 | 1 | A driver was wounded by a gunman in front of a school.[^4] |
| 5 May 2017 | Bursa | Hasan Can | 2 | 0 | A 16-year-old shot and killed 16-year-old Nilüfer Acar inside a classroom, then fatally wounded himself.[^4] |
| 15 December 2017 | İzmir | U.Y. / İ.P. | 1 | 0 | Two 16-year-old students fatally shot principal Ayhan Kökmen at a high school.[^4] |
| 5 April 2018 | Eskişehir (Osmangazi University) | Volkan Bayar | 4 | 3 | Eskişehir University shooting: A 37-year-old research assistant shot and killed four staff members — the deputy dean, faculty secretary, and two lecturers. Bayar was later convicted and sentenced to four life terms.[5][6][^7] |
| 11 April 2018 | Bursa (Nilüfer) | B.C. | 0 | 2 | An on-duty police officer, whose child studied at a primary school, opened fire during a school meeting, wounding the principal and assistant principal.[^4] |
| 2 January 2019 | Ankara (Çankaya University) | Hasan İsmail Hikmet | 1 | 0 | A student shot and stabbed research assistant Ceren Damar Şenel to death.[^4] |
| 19 February 2019 | Iğdır | Abdullah D. | 0 | 1 | A local man shot and grazed a school principal in his office, then surrendered to the gendarmerie.[^4] |
| 17 February 2020 | Ankara | Murat Ekinci | 1 | 1 | A school security guard shot and wounded the principal before committing suicide.[^4] |
| 12 March 2021 | Çorum | Selfet Başkuş | 2 | 0 | A man shot and killed two students on a school bus, allegedly because they had fought with his son.[^4] |
| 17 March 2022 | Istanbul | İ.A / K.T. / K.S. | 0 | 0 | During a fight in front of a school, a group member fired a gun at a fleeing 14-year-old student but missed.[^4] |
| 27 April 2023 | Urfa, Şanlıurfa Province | I.D. | 0 | 3 | A student reprimanded for smoking began firing a shotgun outside school toward people inside, wounding two faculty members and a student.[^4] |
| 5 May 2023 | Bursa | Ferdi Y. | 0 | 1 | A man who claimed his daughter had been abused by school staff opened fire, wounding the assistant principal.[^4] |
| 5 February 2024 | Kayseri | Şehriban A. | 0 | 1 | A teacher was shot and wounded by his romantic partner in a classroom.[^4] |
| 6 May 2024 | Mardin | Unknown | 0 | 0 | An expelled student returned and fired a gun several times in the air as she tried to enter the school.[^4] |
| 7 May 2024 | Istanbul | Yousif K. | 1 | 0 | Murder of İbrahim Oktugan: Principal İbrahim Oktugan was shot and killed by a 17-year-old expelled student. The killing triggered nationwide protests by teachers calling for greater school safety.[4][2] |
| 16 October 2024 | Istanbul | Serdar Alagöz | 0 | 0 | A 34-year-old teacher armed with a gun and three knives attempted to shoot the assistant principal; his gun jammed. He fired as he fled but no one was hit.[^4] |
| 25 October 2024 | Karaman | A.G. | 1 | 0 | 16-year-old Mehmet Eren Parlak was shot dead by another student in a school gym.[^4] |
| 17 February 2025 | Konya (Selçuk University) | Bestami Serdar Ergüder | 1 | 1 | A student shot and wounded an assistant dean at Selçuk University, then fatally shot himself.[^4] |
| 21 February 2025 | Konya | Kerem K. | 0 | 1 | A student’s brother opened fire at a primary school, wounding a teacher.[^4] |
| 12 May 2025 | Gölcük, Kocaeli Province | Unknown | 0 | 0 | During a fight outside a vocational high school, a man shot at the school building; no injuries.[^4] |
| 12 June 2025 | Konya | Berkehan Oluk | 1 | 0 | A 27-year-old man armed with a rifle killed a guidance counsellor at a secondary school.[^4] |
| 30 August 2025 | Istanbul (Boğaziçi University) | Ayberk Kurtuluş | 2 | 0 | A 20-year-old man shot and killed a 15-year-old girl in a café on the Boğaziçi University campus, then committed suicide.[^4] |
| 23 October 2025 | Kayseri (Erciyes University) | Ferhat Karakaya | 1 | 0 | A woman was shot to death on the Erciyes University campus by her ex-husband.[^4] |
| 22 December 2025 | Mersin | M.K. | 0 | 1 | A 12-year-old student, after being reprimanded by principal Ender Kara, returned to school with a rifle and wounded him.[^4] |
| 14 April 2026 | Siverek, Şanlıurfa Province | Ömer Ket | 1* | 16 | 2026 Siverek school shooting: 19-year-old former student Ömer Ket (born 2007) entered Ahmet Koyuncu Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School at 09:30 with a pump-action shotgun and fired randomly in the yard and two classrooms, wounding 10 students, four teachers, a cafeteria employee, and a police officer. He killed himself when cornered by police.[2][8][3][9] |
| 15 April 2026 | Onikişubat, Kahramanmaraş | İsa Aras Mersinli | 9 | 13–20 | 2026 Kahramanmaraş school shooting: A 14-year-old eighth-grader (son of a retired police officer) brought five firearms and seven magazines to Ayser Çalık Middle School in a backpack and opened fire in two classrooms filled with fifth-graders. Nine people were killed (eight students and one teacher) and 13–20 wounded, six in critical condition. The perpetrator also died at the scene.[10][11][12][13] |
*The Wikipedia entry lists the Siverek perpetrator (Ömer Ket) under dead due to his suicide; official casualty counts among victims stood at 16 injured.[^4]
References
- Sixteen injured in rare Turkey school shooting in Siverek district – Video. Turkey was rocked by a school shooting on Tuesday 14 April 2026 when an 18 year old former st…
- 2026 Siverek school shooting – Wikipedia
- Sixteen injured after ex-student opens fire at high school in Turkey – Students and teachers are among those who were injured in the attack in the country’s south-east.
- List of school attacks in Turkey – Wikipedia – This chronological list of school attacks in Turkey that occurred at K–12 public and private schools…
- Eskisehir University shooting – Wikipedia – On 5 April 2018, 37-year-old research assistant Volkan Bayar shot and killed four staff members and …
- Turkey university gunman kills four in Eskisehir – BBC – A researcher shot faculty staff in Eskisehir in the north-west of the country, Turkish media says.
- 4 dead, 3 injured in shooting at university in Turkey’s Eskişehir – The suspected attacker identified as Volkan B. — a research assistant working at the university’s fa…
- Nisan 2026 Şanlıurfa lise saldırısı – Vikipedi
- Gunman opens fire at high school in Turkey, wounding at least 16 – A former student opened fire at a high school in southeast Turkey on Tuesday, wounding at least 16 p…
- At least one killed in Turkey school shooting, NTV reports – A teenage student shot at least four people dead including three fellow pupils and wounded at least…
- At Least 4 Dead in Second School Shooting in Turkey in 2 Days – A student opened fire inside a school in southern Turkey on Wednesday, killing at least four people …
- Turkey: School shooting leaves 9 dead – DW.com – The deadly shooting comes just a day after a similar incident in the country in which 16 people were…
- 13-year-old pupil kills nine in Turkey school shooting – RTE – A 13-year-old opened fire at a Turkish school, killing nine people and wounding 13, with students ju…
- Şanlıurfa’da okula silahlı saldırı: 7 yaralı – Gazete Oksijen – Gazete Oksijen
- Şanlıurfa’da lisede 13 öğrencinin yaralandığı saldırı anı kamerada – Şanlıurfa’nın Siverek ilçesinde bulunan Ahmet Koyuncu Mesleki ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi’nde bir öğren…
- School Shooting Leaves 4 Dead and 20 Injured, 8th Grader Suspected – A school shooting at a middle school in Turkey on Wednesday, April 15, left four people dead, includ…
- Siverek’te Türkiye’de nadir görülen okul saldırısında 16 … – Video. 14 Nisan 2026 Salı günü, 18 yaşındaki eski bir öğrenci Şanlıurfa’nın Siverek ilçesindeki Ahme…
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