Soma, Turkey - Turkey on Wednesday sombrely marked the first anniversary of a mine disaster that left 301 miners dead in the country's worst ever industrial accident.
Around 5,000 people, including relatives of the victims, survivors and politicians, mourned the year-old disaster with teary eyes at a cemetery near the accident site in the western town of Soma, an AFP photographer said.
In front of a row of black tombs at the cemetery, built for the victims, women recited the Koran under a blazing sun, while a few metres away, a small group of people carried banners with the names of 301 workers.
Dozens of others visited a memorial site at Soma featuring black marble monuments adorned with the miners' lanterns and the Turkish flag.
Turkish Miners' Union held a ceremony at a central square in Soma where the Koran was read throughout the day, in accordance with Islamic traditions in the majority Muslim country.
Other labour unions organised a separate commemoration event, with a moment of silence at the entrance of the disaster-stricken Eynez coal mine and the laying of carnations on the miners' memorial.
The unions also released a common statement, calling May 13 "a dark day for miners" and "an open wound for Turkey".
Meanwhile workers in several cities including Izmir, Antalya and Gaziantep went on a day-long strike in a show of solidarity with the victims' families, Dogan news agency reported.
Police clashed with protesting students at Akdeniz University in the southern province of Antalya, detaining at least 10, Dogan said.
AFP
