Rescue workers ended the search for survivors in the deadly mining accident that killed 301 workers in Soma, a town in western Turkey, after recovering the last two missing bodies Saturday morning.
"Our efforts will be coming to an end," Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said, according to the Guardian.
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Mourners gathered in the streets of Kadikoy, a district in Istanbul, on Friday to pay respect to the dead miners, and to publicly condemn the Turkish government's handling of the accident.
Turkish rescue workers gathered to pray at the site of the accident on Saturday, posing for a somber photo that signaled the end of their recovery efforts.
But as families and fellow miners grieve, protesters critical of the government's response to the disaster have descended upon Soma to voice their outrage. That anger has only grown in the past week, after the Turkish government stumbled in its efforts to deal with protesters.
A controversial photograph of Yusef Yerkel, an aide to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, surfaced on Thursday; it showed Yerkel viciously kicking a protester, as troops wrestled him to the ground.
Following Erdogan's visit to Soma, video footage emerged showing him telling a protester, "Don't behave rudely. What is done is done [in the Soma mine]. It's God's providence. If you boo the prime minister of this country, you get slapped." Later, during the same event on Wednesday, Erdogan is shown engaged in a scuffle, during which he reportedly slapped a bystander; however, the footage (above) is unclear.
This is actually a quote, you can hear it in the video: Boo me and I'll slap you, Turkish PM Erdoğan warns protester http://t.co/hhzjfD25Lh— ilhan tanir (@WashingtonPoint) May 17, 2014
Following the increased presence of protesters in Soma, riot police have set up numerous checkpoints in the area in an effort to quell further protests and general unrest, according to Reuters.
The mining accident, and the government's response to it, have set off a wave of protests throughout Turkey calling for Erdogan's ouster.