School Shootings in Turkiye: How Combat Video Games Incite Violence Among Teenagers

Last month, Turkiye witnessed a series of deadly attacks on schools in two provinces, which were recorded as the deadliest school attacks in the country's history, and the digital gaming world was drawn into the center of the debate.

A shooting carried out by a student inside a school in Kahramanmaras in mid-April resulted in the deaths of several people, in addition to the perpetrator. This came just one day after another armed attack at a school in Sanlıurfa, perpetrated by a former student, which left dozens injured.

Following the two incidents, investigations revealed a common element in both incidents that sparked widespread controversy: addiction to combat-themed video games.

The shock of these events was not limited to Turkish society; it also reignited pressing questions in light of the growing digital addiction: Do violent games drive teenagers to pull the trigger? How do their quiet bedrooms transform into virtual training grounds that could explode in real life?

Aggressive Tendencies

Two school shootings in Turkiye last month sparked widespread shock, amid growing debate about the causes of this type of violence among minors.

The first attack occurred on April 14, when a former student of Ahmet Koyuncu High School in the Sivrik district of Sanlıurfa province entered the school with a pistol and opened fire indiscriminately, injuring 16 students before taking his own life.

The second attack took place on April 15 and was carried out by an eighth-grade student at Ayser Calik Middle School in Kahramanmaras, using five weapons belonging to his father, a retired police officer.

The attack left 10 students, aged 11 and 12, and a mathematics teacher dead.

The perpetrator of the second attack was named Isa Mersinli, who was only 14 years old, but he had been influenced by what he had seen on social media regarding similar incidents in the U.S.

He shared a photo on his WhatsApp account of Elliot Rodger, the American who carried out the attack at the University of California, Santa Barbara campus in 2014.

Mersinli’s father was arrested on the day of the attack and made shocking confessions, confirming that his son suffered from mental health problems, had recently refused to see a psychiatrist, and that he had noticed his son’s increasing interest in weapons a month before the attack.

He said his son was constantly preoccupied with computers and mobile phones, playing interactive games and speaking English, and refused to show anyone anything. This is why the family was unable to learn anything about his plans.

The game found on the attacker’s computer was Carbine, a Roblox game simulating the Columbine school massacre.

Extensive security investigations conducted by the Turkish General Directorate of Security, in cooperation with the Cyber ​​Crimes Unit, revealed a frightening organizational and digital link behind these incidents.

The suspects' records revealed their affiliation with secret communities on social media platforms and closed chat rooms known as the True Crime Community (TCC), groups glorifying serial killers and incite teenagers to carry out realistic simulations of combat video games.

The investigation also showed that the perpetrators had been planning these operations for months via platforms like Discord and Telegram, where they received encouragement and praise from their peers in these virtual groups.

This shift from mere digital fantasy to real-world criminal plots has led investigators to describe these incidents as an emerging form of digital terrorism targeting the minds of teenagers.

Addiction to violent combat video games like PUBG, Fortnite, and others poses a serious threat that goes beyond simply wasting time; it can destroy the psychological and social well-being of children and teenagers.

Research published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), one of the world's leading digital scientific resources, has shown that repetitive actions like loading weapons in games create what is known as muscle memory.

It also indicates that prolonged immersion in these games leads to a phenomenon known as desensitization, where children lose the ability to empathize with the suffering of others. Scenes of blood and killing become commonplace, even a source of digital euphoria due to the dopamine rush associated with achieving virtual victories.

This addiction creates a suffocating state of social isolation, as teenagers become detached from their family and school lives and retreat into an alternative world where they find the appreciation they lack in reality—an appreciation based on power and destruction.

Even more dangerous is the blurring of lines between the virtual and real worlds. Teenagers begin to adopt the language and actions of the games, even embracing the desire to eliminate enemies who, in their eyes, may be their peers or teachers who exert pressure or bully them.

The cybercrime communities surrounding these games act as an accelerator for this deviance, exploiting the psychological vulnerability of teenagers to brainwash them with nihilistic and antisocial ideologies. 

This transforms the game from a form of entertainment into a tool for ideological recruitment, pushing young people to commit atrocities in the name of belonging to a virtual elite group that values ​​violence.

Over time, the teenager's ability to control impulses weakens, and aggressive behavior becomes the primary response to any frustration they encounter, turning them into a ticking time bomb that threatens their own safety and the safety of those around them.

Digital Addiction

Faced with this dangerous turn of events, Turkish authorities and parliament swiftly took exceptional and decisive measures to contain the phenomenon of school violence linked to digital addiction, considering it a matter of national security.

The security measures also included launching large-scale campaigns to pursue instigators in secret groups, resulting in the arrest of dozens of people on charges of inciting minors to commit crimes.

Turkiye has tightened penalties for juvenile offenders and their families, passed a law specifically regulating social media, and imposed restrictions on television programs that incite or encourage violence.

Parliament also passed a law banning the use of social media by those under 15, while amending existing legislation such as the Social Services Law and other laws.

The law imposes stricter controls on the content of digital gaming platforms, along with more rigorous mechanisms for verifying users' ages, in a move aimed at strengthening oversight and protecting younger age groups.

Under the new amendments, gaming companies and platforms will be required to implement rigorous systems for verifying users' ages and to regulate the content they offer in accordance with legal standards. Furthermore, technical restrictions, such as bandwidth reduction, can be imposed on non-compliant platforms.

The law also stipulates a reorganization of roles within the digital gaming sector by legally separating developers, publishers, and platforms, with the aim of clearly defining responsibilities and preventing a disproportionate regulatory burden on any single entity.

The legislation requires foreign platforms with more than 100,000 daily users in Turkiye to appoint a local representative to ensure compliance with requests and notices from the Information and Communication Technologies Authority and relevant judicial and administrative bodies.

Similarly, the law mandates the provision of clear and user-friendly parental control tools, allowing parents to manage account settings and requiring parental approval for in-game purchases and subscriptions.

In another context, interpretations have varied, ranging from the ease of access to weapons to the influence of video games, which may contribute to incitement or imitation.

While some experts tend to hold these games directly responsible for the rise in aggressive tendencies among teenagers, scientific studies point to a more complex picture, where psychological and social factors intertwine with digital influences.

Academic Nursel Inci emphasized that isolation in closed rooms with violent competitive video games weakens a teenager's ability to manage their emotions and make sound decisions in real life.

She explained that a tendency toward violence in children and adolescents can be identified early on, as certain behavioral changes, such as sudden temper tantrums, defiance of rules, threatening behavior, and social withdrawal, are indicators of this tendency.

Instead of punishment, she advised focusing on transforming adolescents' mistakes into learning opportunities and training them in anger management and empathy skills before they reach a breaking point.

Statistical analyses, including a 2019 Oxford University study, have shown a slight correlation between violent video games and an increase in aggressive behavior. 

However, this effect remains confined to mood and only translates into a decision to kill in very exceptional cases linked to mental health disorders.

According to a report by the American Psychological Association (APA), there is insufficient evidence to link video games to delinquency or youth violence.

This was reinforced by the Encyclopedia Britannica website, which indicated that the scientific community remains divided on this issue, but the prevailing view is that other social and psychological factors are the primary drivers of violence.

Deadly Attacks

School shootings, once considered a phenomenon unique to the U.S., have begun to spread to other countries through digital networks that permeate cyberspace, recognize no values, and glorify only violence.

In the United States, school attackers are said to be influenced by what is known as the True Crime Community (TCC), a subculture within a fringe digital culture.

According to a former US Department of Justice official responsible for this type of crime, commenting on a school shooting in Argentina on March 30, he said, "This is no longer just an American problem."

In 2024, the suicide of a 13-year-old girl named Audree Heine in Kentucky was linked to this community.

Her mother only discovered her daughter's inner world through notes found in her diary inside her school locker.

Reports indicate that platforms like the TCC have created an online fan community that glorifies school attackers.

In this context, the case of Audrey Heine continues to be discussed in the American media, revealing the extent of parents' ignorance about their children's inner world and their inability to recognize warning signs.

In an article published on CNN on April 11 by Mina DeWerson, titled "These Moms' Daughters Were Drawn to a Community of Deadly School Attackers... What You Should Know," the article included, in addition to Audree Heine's case, disturbing information about other girls' involvement with TCC platforms.

One mother said, "I thought I knew everything about my daughter," but she later discovered that her daughter was interested in the perpetrators of the 1999 Columbine school attack and had even made T-shirts with symbols associated with them.

Audree posted a picture of herself wearing a Columbine T-shirt, but no one paid attention to this alarming sign.

Heine's mother also points out that children participate in social media chat groups with older teenagers.

She says, “My son told me that one of his classmates, a nine-year-old, was chatting with a group of people over 16, and he was wearing a fake mustache and hat.”

In another incident, 15-year-old Natalie Rubino carried out an attack on a school in Madison on December 16, 2024.

American media reported that her father posted photos of her at a shooting range in early 2024 and spoke about their joining a local gun club, with the caption, “We’re having a blast!”

As Meena Duerson wrote, Audree Heine, Natalie Rubino, and other teenagers who planned attacks admired the perpetrators of the infamous 1999 Columbine attack and shared their symbols.

That attack became an inspiration for many subsequent school attacks.

Audree Heine’s diary reveals that she felt isolated and bullied, which drove her to these online communities. It also embraced a misleading narrative that portrayed the Columbine perpetrators as victims.

In an article in The Atlantic on April 19, 2024, titled 'The Columbine Killers’ Fan Club', researcher David Cullen noted that the incident had become a myth within the culture of digital violence.

Cullen asserts that TCC followers adopted a false narrative that portrayed the killers as victims of revenge, while the victims were presented as the villains.

He also points out that the diaries and videos left behind by the perpetrators did not contain any accounts of bullying, as some have claimed.

On March 30, an incident occurred in Argentina where a 15-year-old carried out an attack at a school in San Cristobal.

Investigations indicate his connection to the TCC, with authorities asserting that the incident was not bullying but rather linked to a transnational digital culture that glorifies violence and embraces dehumanizing behaviors aimed at perpetuating and normalizing violence.

On 24 March, a 15-year-old student allegedly carried out an armed attack at a school in Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico, killing two female teachers before being detained.

Attention soon turned to the perpetrator’s online activity, which formed part of the attack’s immediate prehistory and later became relevant to questions of motive and influence.