The photos that came to symbolise a deadly attack in Turkey
- Published
One of the pictures of the victims of the Suruc bomb attack that has been circulating online
Images of the victims of a suicide bomb blast which killed more than 30 people in the Turkish town of Suruc on Monday have been shared widely on social media. But not all the stories behind them are exactly what they seem.
One widely shared image on Twitter is of a young man staring straight into the camera, wearing a long green coat - a symbol of left-wing activists in Turkey. "This is the revolutionary spirit," says the accompanying text in the tweet. "When you can't afford the coat of your dreams, you just take a picture wearing it in the shop."
Although the image dates back to October 2013, its been retweeted and favourited thousands of times this week. The man pictured is Alican Vural, who was named as one of the victims of a deadly bomb blast in the south-eastern town of Suruc. Vural was part of the group of students who were helping to rebuild Kobane, the town just over the Syrian border which has seen heavy fighting between Islamic State militants and Kurdish fighters.
"He has probably bought toys for the children in Kobane instead of buying the coat," one Twitter user speculated, external. "These youngsters will show us the way. WE WILL NOT FORGET." Another lamented:, external "Who says angels don't die?"
The photo was one of many being shared on social media in Turkey and internationally. But not all of the information circulating online was accurate. Soon after the bomb blast, photographs showing a group of women emerged, external:
Translation: "This is how we celebrated our victory. I could not come. You are gone. Goodbye my comrade Ezgi. I promise I will not forget"
And after a journalist shared one of the photos, external with the message "These young activists were so full of life. Selfie taken b4 #Suruc terror attack", rumours spread that the picture had been taken in Suruc immediately before the bomb blast, and that all three women were dead. The person who originally posted the image, Madershahi Barajyikan, external, later confirmed that only one of the women had died, and that the photo had been taken last month at a victory rally for a pro-Kurdish political party.
She urged Twitter users, external: "I am the one standing in the front. Most of the people in this photo are still alive, they have families and loved ones. Please delete the tweet you've carelessly shared."
Turkish authorities tried to clamp down on images of the aftermath of the bomb attack following a court order prohibiting their publication. That led to Twitter being shut down for a time on Wednesday. There's more information about that in this BBC Trending video:
Reporting by Emre Bal, BBC Turkish
Blog by Mike Wendling, external
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