Reports reveal two close friends killed in separate Ankara attacks

ANKARA

Ozancan Akkuş (L), Berkay Baş, DHA Photos.

The car bomb attack in the heart of the Turkish capital on March 13 has killed a college student from Ankara’s Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) who had lost a close friend in a previous attack in Ankara several months ago.

Ozancan Akkuş, a young electrical and electronic engineering student at ODTÜ killed in the March 13 attack, had lost his close friend Ali Deniz Uzatmaz in the deadly attack outside the Ankara Railway Station on Oct. 10, 2015.

“His biggest dream was to study in Ankara; how could he know?” Akkuş had written on his personal Twitter account following the death of his friend Uzatmaz. The two friends were reportedly as close as brothers.

Berkay Baş, another student from ODTÜ, also lost his life in the latest attack, which struck central Ankara on March 13, killing at least 37 and wounding dozens of others.

ODTÜ released a written statement on March 14, expressing condolences for the friends and relatives of Akkuş and Baş.

“Our university has lost two of its children in this inhumane attack. Berkay Baş, a freshman student from the metallurgy and material engineering department, and Ozancan Akkuş, a prep student from the electrical and electronic engineering department, have both lost their lives,” said the popular university in the statement.

“Our hearts are heavy,” it added.

Media reports since the latest deadly attack have revealed the stories of dozens of other victims.

One of the victims was 16-year-old Mehmet Emre Çakar, who moved with his family to Ankara from the Central Anatolian province of Kütayha in a bid to fight liver disease six years ago. His father, Hikmet Çakar, said he was ready to donate his liver to the young boy, before he died. Çakar was on a bus bound for Ankara’s Balgat neighborhood when the explosion happened.

Kerim Sağlam, 23, came to Ankara from the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir to visit his sister. He was killed while waiting for a bus at a public transit hub in Ankara’s central Kızılay neighborhood when the bomb exploded. Kerim’s family found out the young man was among the victims after not being able to reach him by phone.