JINHA

ANTEP – After untraced gunshots killed two children in two separate events in a town in Turkey’s southern province of Antep, neighborhood residents are asking how many more children have to die before those responsible take protective action.

In the Şehitkamil district of Antep province, the residents of local neighborhoods are in a state of anxiety after the two children have died from stray gunshots over the last two weeks. On April 19, 9-year-old Pınar Sude Keklik was shot while sitting in her grandmother’s lap. Then on April 27, another stray bullet struck 8-year-old Yağmur Yıldız in the head. Yağmur lost her life yesterday in the hospital.

Ümmühan Keklik recalled the moment when her granddaughter died in her lap. They were sitting in her room, which faces the street. At first, Ümmühan had no idea it was a gunshot that had struck her granddaughter, who collapsed in her lap. She attempted to revive her by massaging her chest. Only when they took her to the hospital did they learn she had been shot.

Ümmühan says the stray bullet problem is widespread in the neighborhood. She called on authorities to do something about the impunity in the neighborhood.

(pz/fk/cm)