Funeral ceremonies held for 15 police officers recently killed by PKK

ISTANBUL

HÜRRİYET photo

Funeral ceremonies have been held in several provinces for 15 security personnel killed in multiple attacks carried out by outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants, with a funeral in the capital of Ankara attended by several government officials and political party leaders.

A funeral ceremony was held on Sept. 9 in the Kocatepe Mosque in Ankara for two police officers, Fehmi Şahin and Ali Koç, who were killed in a PKK attack in the eastern province of Iğdır, with the attendance of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, former President Abdullah Gül, Republican People’s Party head Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and Nationalist Movement Party head Devlet Bahçeli, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Sept. 9.

Erdoğan and Gül stood side by side with Yavuz Şahin, the son of the fallen police officer Fehmi Şahin, Gül’s former security guard during his presidency.

Another funeral ceremony was held in the northwestern province of Bolu on Sept. 9 for police officer Yaşar Doğançay, 30, who was killed in the Iğdır attack. AKP Bolu deputy Ali Ercoşkun and CHP Bolu deputy Tanju Özcan also attended the funeral.

In the central Anatolian province of Kırıkkale, a funeral ceremony was held on Sept. 9 for police officers Bekir Ferhat Kaya and Nebi Gündoğan who were also killed in the Iğdır attack. AKP Kırıkkale deputies Oğuz Kağan Köksal and Ramazan Can along with MHP Kırıkkale deputy Seyit Ahmet Göçer also attended the funeral.

In the Black Sea province of Samsun, a funeral was held on Sept. 9 for police officer Burak Zor, 29, also killed in the Iğdır attack.

In the southern province of Adana, a funeral ceremony was held on Sept. 9 for police officers İbrahim Derindere and Yalçın Palıt, causalities in the Iğdır attack, and police officer Kadir Özkara, who was killed in an armed offensive by the PKK.

In the central Anatolian province of Yozgat, a funeral ceremony was held on Sept. 9 for 31-year-old police officer Adem Cankurtaran, a victim of the Iğdır attack. 

Another funeral ceremony was held in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak on Sept. 9 for the police officer, Ercan Hırçın, killed in a PKK attack in the southeastern province of Mardin.

Hırçın was killed after PKK militants detonated a roadside bomb in Mardin’s Dargeçit district on Sept. 8.

A separate funeral ceremony was also held in Zonguldak on Sept. 9 for the police officer Yusuf Yelkenci, 27, who was killed in the Iğdır attack. AKP Zonguldak deputies Hüseyin Özbakır and Faruk Çaturoğlu, CHP Zonguldak deputies Şerafettin Turpçu and Ünal Demirtaş, and MHP Zonguldak deputy Zeki Çakan all attended the funeral. 

In the eastern province of Van, a funeral ceremony was held on Sept. 9 for Haluk Varlı, another police officer killed in the Iğdır attack.

In the southern province of Kahramanmaraş, a funeral ceremony was held on Sept. 9 for chief police officer Mehmet Parlak, 32, who was killed in the Iğdır attack.