Soldier and PKK militant cousins laid to rest in same cemetery

ERZURUM - Anadolu Agency

AA photo

Two relatives who grew up in the same neighborhood - one a soldier killed in an attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the other a PKK militant killed in an operation elsewhere - have been laid to rest alongside each other in the eastern province of Erzurum.

Recep Beycur was among the eight soldiers killed in an explosion caused by a remotely detonated bomb placed on the road linking Siirt to its district of Pervari during the passing of a military patrolling convoy on Aug. 19. He was laid to rest in his hometown, Erzurum’s Karaçoban district. 

Beycur’s cousin Rıdvan İpek was a PKK militant killed during clashes with Turkish security forces in the eastern province of Tunceli on Sept. 4. The two cousins grew up together and were good friends, their fathers said during the funerals. 

The family first attended Beycur’s funeral and then went to İpek’s funeral little over two weeks later. They were both buried in a cemetery in the Kırımkaya neighborhood of Erzurum, with their graves about 15 meters apart from each other. 

Beycur’s father Selahattin Beycur and İpek’s father Ramis İpek welcomed attendees of the funeral together.