Parents' grief sparks gun calls

David and Ozlem Grimason were devastated by their son's death

A campaign to tighten the Turkish gun laws has grown out of the grief of David and Ozlem Grimason.

The couple's world fell apart just over a year ago when their two-year-old son Alistair was shot dead as he slept in his pram in a cafe in Foca.

A Turkish court found Daimi Akyuz guilty of killing the East Kilbride youngster on Monday.

As the family sought justice through the courts, they also fought for action to tackle Turkey's gun culture.

In the weeks after his death the Grimasons launched a petition calling for the country to tighten its laws.

Gun culture

Speaking at the time, Mr Grimason said that the couple felt they owed it to their son.

"Although it was Ozlem's home and we thought it was safe, we actually took him on that holiday where he lost his life, so we feel as if we have got to do something," he said.

Mr Grimason said he wanted to change public perceptions and tackle the gun culture which he thought was a major factor in his son's death.

The petition collected 10,000 signatures within a matter of days, and by the time the couple took it to Turkey in December it contained about 200,000 names.

Alistair's parents organised a petition

The Grimasons handed it over to the leader of the opposition, who passed it on to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mr Grimason also addressed a major conference in Istanbul last year, where he called for the introduction of a ban on handguns.

He said the worldwide publicity which followed the case had "embarrassed" Turkey.

People in Foca have decided to change the name of the street where the killing took place to "Alistair Road" in memory of the two-year-old.

The first anniversary of Alistair's death was marked with a ceremony at the site of the incident.

It was attended by more than 35 civil organisations, who pledged to gather every year until the gun laws were changed.

New laws

Mr Grimason told BBC Scotland on Monday that he was hopeful their calls would lead to action.

"We got a letter from the Human Rights Commission telling us that they are going to work on new laws," he said.

"It could take up to a year for them to come through. They are looking at their whole law system because it needs updated.

"Even for drink-driving the punishment is very very low, so they need to update everything.

"Part of that will be the gun laws, so that is good news, I suppose."