Taiwanese woman says farewell to slain Turkish husband policeman with traditional prayers

DİYARBAKIR – Doğan News Agency

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The Taiwanese wife of the killed Turkish police officer in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakır bid farewell to her husband with her own traditional prayers. 

At the ceremony held at the Diyarbakır police department for the 37-year-old Tansu Aydın, who was shot dead in an ambush set up in Diyarbakır on July 23, Vu Yhuy Tuanvi Aydın lamented for her loss in the Buddhist way. 

Tuanvi Aydın, who married her husband this past May, started praying on her knees as the commemoration speeches were being held, and did not let women police officers help her to her feet. 

She joined her hands over her head and then prostrated herself and kept repeating a prayer as the ceremony continued. 

The most heart-breaking scene was when Tuanvi Aydın curled next to her husband’s body in a coffin, which was put in a funeral coach to be taken to the graveyard in his hometown of Zonguldak, located on the Black Sea. 

Aydın was laid to rest in Zonguldak, where his mother, father and sister attended the funeral. 

Meanwhile, 17 suspects have been detained in the killing of Aydın and wounding of his colleague, Ali Karahan, the Diyarbakır Governor Hüseyin Aksoy announced in his speech during the ceremony. 

“Seventeen people have been detained since yesterday [July 23]. The investigation into the people who are thought to be linked with the incident is being carried out under the coordination of the public prosecutor’s office,” Aksoy said, while condemning all of the terrorist attacks the country has seen lately. 

Aydın and Karahan were shot from close range by two assailants in the afternoon of July 23 in Diyarbakır, while they were inspecting a traffic accident that had been reported. While Aydın succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, Karahan was being treated for gunshots on his foot and groin. 

Soldier laid to rest in Turkey’s southeast

Later in the day, a ceremony was held in the southeastern province of Gaziantep for the killed non-commissioned military officer in the southeastern province of Kilis. 

Mehmet Yalçın Nane was killed by gunshots from Turkey’s border with Syria on July 23, while he was on duty patrolling the border. The gunshots were fired by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) militants. Two specialized sergeants, Fatih Kurt and Necef Çakmaktepe, were injured in the clash near the 5th Armored Brigade Border Post. 

“They were taken to hospital by ambulance, and their health status is fine,” Kilis Gov. Süleyman Tapsız said after the incident.

Nane’s body was brought to the bordering province of Gaziantep from Kilis for the ceremony that was held at the 5th Armored Brigade Command, which Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, Turkish Land Forces Commander Hulusi Akar, Gaziantep Governor Ali Yerlikaya and Gaziantep Mayor Fatma Şahin attended. 

Nane’s wife, who was reported to be seven months pregnant, and his close relatives attended the ceremony.

Nane was later laid to rest at a local cemetery in the province.