ISTANBUL, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police on Saturday found the dead bodies of four members of a family in their apartment in the Mediterranean province of Antalya, who committed suicide days after four siblings did the same in Istanbul due to financial troubles.
The family with two kids aged five and nine were believed to commit suicide by taking cyanide over financial difficulties, local media reported, citing preliminary police reports.
According to the Cumhuriyet daily, police found a letter at the apartment written by the father Selim Simsek which read, "I apologize to everyone, but I don't have anything left to do. We put an end to our lives."
Simsek also wrote that he was unemployed for the last nine months, suffering from financial troubles.
On Wednesday, four siblings aged between 48 and 60 committed suicide at their home in Istanbul over fiscal burdens, also by taking a lethal level of cyanide.
The two tragedies triggered an outcry among many in the country over a higher cost of living with rising prices of basic foods, clothes, natural gas and electricity.
Baran Gursel, a psychologist, was quoted as saying by Evrensel, an online news portal, that growing costs of basic goods "can enhance experiences such as disappointment, frustration, deprivation, helplessness, resentment, anger, and futility."
Posts on social media urged the minister of family, labor and social services to take urgent precautions to prevent more suicides.
"2 families, 8 people have committed suicide, Mrs. Minister, do you know about this?" read a Twitter post.
"Unfortunately, we will hear more cyanide news. The entire nation is suffering from unemployment and hunger," said another tweet.
The unemployed in Turkey rose to 4.6 million in July, or 13.9 percent more year-on-year, according to the figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute.
