Family suicides highlight economic strains

ANKARA - Two family suicides in Turkey have made headlines, shedding a spotlight on the country's social anxiety amid the economic hardships that worsened in the past year.

In one case, four siblings, ranging in age from 45 to 60, killed themselves in a flat in the popular Fatih district in Istanbul on Nov 7 with cyanide. The news shocked the whole country.

The two women and two men allegedly faced severe financial difficulties, coupled with possible psychological problems, as their household electricity had been cut off due to unpaid bills in the previous two months.