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In Pictures: Advisor to Turkish PM kicks protester Advisor to PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan kicks a man during a visit to the site of a mining disaster that has killed at least 282 people
News outlets and social media networks have extensively shared a photo of an advisor to Turkey's prime minister kicking a protester during anti-government demonstrations that followed a mining disaster. The picture shows Yusuf Yerkel attacking a man who was on the ground and being held by two soldiers. ## According to Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News, witness accounts said special forces were interrogating the protester after the latter kicked an official car belonging to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's convoy. "Yerkel, who saw the scene as he was preparing to take a seat in the car assigned to him, reportedly ran at the protester, kicking him three or four times." Yerkel, in a statement issued on Thursday, vowed to present an explanation of the incident. Erdogan arrived on Wednesday at the site of a mining accident in Soma in western Turkey, which killed 282 people and left hundreds still trapped. Erdogan - accompanied by his guards - hid in a supermarket as protesters attacked his car and the local headquarters of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The comments by Turkey's prime minister were a key cause for outrage against his government. During a news conference, he described the accident as an "ordinary thing" and a "work accident" that happens "in other work places, too." On Thursday, Reuters reported that four Turkish labour unions had called for a national one-day strike in protests at the disaster. Representing workers in a range of industries, the unions are furious over what they say are poor safety standards since the formerly state-run mine in Soma, located about 480km (300 miles) southwest of Istanbul, was leased to a private firm. "Hundreds of our worker brothers in Soma have been left to die from the very start by being forced to work in brutal production processes in order to achieve maximum profits," a statement from the unions said. "We call on the working class, labourers and friends of labourers to stand up for our brothers in Soma," it said, urging people to wear black. Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said the ventilation systems which pumped fresh air into the mine had been relocated and that the teams were getting ready to go back inside. But more than 40 hours have passed since the fire knocked out power and shut down ventilation shafts and elevators, and both government officials and rescue workers see little chance of more survivors coming out alive, Reuters reported. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/101383.aspx
