A former teacher, who had been fired from his position by government decree, died on Nov. 21 following a workplace accident, the Kronos news website reported.
Mehmet Ali Namlı, 55, who began working as a carpenter after being dismissed from public service based on allegations related to a coup attempt in Turkey, died as a result of a fire in his workshop. The fire broke out when Namlı poured benzine into a stove, which left him with severe burns. After spending several days in the hospital, the former teacher succumbed to his injuries.
Namlı is survived by three children.
Several activists mourned Namlı’s death and expressed their sadness on social media.
“Another former teacher has tragically died while being forced to work in a field for which they had no training,” said Münir Korkmaz, a former public servant and rights advocate.
Another advocate emphasized the deep injustice that marked Namlı’s life.\
This is the latest incident in a series of work-related accidents that have resulted in the death of former public service officers who were forced into other jobs after being summarily dismissed from public office.
Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) government declared a state of emergency following a July 2016 abortive putsch that remained in effect until July 19, 2018. During the state of emergency, the AKP carried out a purge of state institutions under the pretext of an anti-coup fight by issuing a number of government decrees, known as KHKs, firing 130,000 civil servants from their jobs due to their real or alleged connections to “terrorist organizations.”
Former public servants were not only fired from their jobs, they were also prohibited from working again in the public sector and from getting a passport. The government also made it difficult for them to work formally in the private sector. Notes were put on the social security database about dismissed public servants to deter potential employers.
Many purge victims have had to work in uninsured jobs with very little workplace safety.
There have been other cases of former public servants dying due to occupational accidents in physically demanding jobs.
Last year, 41-year-old Zübeyr Topal, who started to work as a truck driver after his dismissal from civil service, was involved in a fatal traffic accident.
Emrah Yıldız (34), a former sergeant in the Turkish military who worked as a bus driver was stabbed to death by a passenger in 2022.
