Visits and the investigations by various delegations to the area where the mining massacre took place in the Amasra district of Bartın continue. The area was visited by politicians and legal organizations on Saturday. Erkan Baş, the chairman of the Workers' Party of Turkey (TIP), Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy co-chair Rıdvan Turan and Party Assembly member Hüseyin Taka, Labor Party (EMEP) chairman Ercüment Akdeniz, Nebiye Merttürk, President of the People’s Houses, as well as legal organizations and the President of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB), Erinç Sağkan went to supervise the area.

'Number of staff reduced'

The HDP delegation reached the area on Saturday evening and went to the place where the massacre took place. Making evaluations here, Turan said that there are many deficiencies and mistakes. “If basic occupational health and safety had been taken, we would not have such a heavy death toll. Where the concepts of 'fate' and ‘fatality’ are used, it means that many things are hidden there. It means trying to cover it up. There are very important occupational health and safety violations here. The number of personnel has gradually decreased over the years, and the number of people who have to work to eliminate some malfunctions that may occur in the furnace has been reduced to a minimum.”

'We saw the same negligence in Soma'

Continuing his speech, Turan said: “If you don't take public measures, if you don't provide enough training to people working in this very dangerous field, of course there will be problems. If you employ inexperienced workers, the result will be an accident. We all know the 2019 Court of Accounts reports. There are data saying that the methane rate is increasing gradually, and this would likely cause an explosion. We saw the same negligence in Soma. There was a technical report that was not followed there, and there is also a technical report not followed here. If we are not doing the necessary things for science and technology, if you see all as an extra cost, you definitely experience similar tragedies at the end of the day.”

‘The responsibilities lie on those governing this country’

Expressing that they strongly condemned the word "destiny" used by AKP President Erdogan during his visit, Turan said: "The President's duty is not to give blood money to the nation, but to prevent these accidents from happening."

Turan said: “During the Erdogan rule, this country experienced the loss of dozens of workers. It's news when too many workers die. The people who run this country are responsible for the loss of workers."