Eight schoolgirls from a primary school in Istanbul's Başakşehir district were injured and taken to hospital after a student from another school attacked them with a knife this morning, reports the Birgunj newspaper. According to a statement by Turkish Health Minister Kemal Memisoğlu, three of the schoolgirls were taken to hospital in serious condition after the incident, BTA reported.
According to a statement from the Istanbul Governorship, the incident occurred shortly before 9:00 a.m. local (and Bulgarian) time this morning at the “Imam Hatip“ primary school (this type of school provides advanced knowledge about Sunni Islam, the Arabic language and the Quran – ed.), with the injured students being taken to hospital, and the rest of the school's students leaving the building and suspending their studies.
According to information from the Başakşehir district authorities, the student who carried out the attack is 15 years old and a student at one of the high schools in the Küçükçekmece district of Istanbul.
The reason for the attack has not yet been established, and it is assumed that it was probably a quarrel between young people. An official investigation has already been launched into the case, and the Turkish media regulator (the Supreme Council for Radio and Television – RTÜK) announced that it is imposing a ban on the publication of any news materials related to the case until the investigation is completed.
The news comes against the backdrop of increased security measures in schools in Turkey following a series of shootings in educational institutions, the latest of which was in late September when a teacher died after being shot with a gun by his nephew in the courtyard of a high school in the Osmaniye district of southern Turkey. Just a few days earlier, a 15-year-old student opened fire in front of the “Inci Yüzmez" vocational and technical high school in the Turgutlu municipality of the Turkish province of Manisa, injuring 11 people.
In April this year A 14-year-old student opened fire in two classrooms at his school in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaraş, killing ten students and teachers and wounding 13 others. The gunman was killed by police.
A day earlier, 16 people, most of them students, were injured after a former student opened fire at a high school in the neighboring province of Şanlıurfa. The gunman later committed suicide.